Czech nobility consists of the noble families from historical Czech lands, especially in their narrow sense, i.e. nobility of Bohemia proper, Moravia and Austrian Silesia – whether these families originated from those countries or moved into them through the centuries. These are connected with the history of Great Moravia, Duchy of Bohemia, later Kingdom of Bohemia, Margraviate of Moravia, the Duchies of Silesia and the Crown of Bohemia, the constitutional predecessor state of the modern-day Czech Republic.
Noble titles were abolished by law (No. 61/1918 Sb. z. a n.)[1] in December 1918, shortly after the establishment of the independent Czechoslovak Republic. During the period of Nazism and communism, representatives of Czech noble families were often persecuted. After the Velvet Revolution in 1989, the property confiscated by the communists was returned to the nobility.
- ^ Exact wording of this "Law of 10 December 1918, which abolished the nobility, medals and titles" is available on the Czech Wikisource