The Bohemian Forest – Šumava (Böhmerwald)
The Bohemian Forest is located at a mountain range or region within three countries: in Czechia, it is known as „Šumava“, in Germany as “Bavarian Forest“ (Bayerischer Wald) and in Austria as “Bohemian Forest“ (Böhmerwald).
The Czech part of Šumava was historically a predominantly German-speaking area with cultural ties to neighboring countries Germany and Austria. After some decades of fascist and communist occupations of totalitarian regimes, this region was isolated by the “Iron Curtain“. Today this region is once again the scene of intensive tourism cooperations in between and around the borders.
In the following, individual parts of Šumava are presented within the boundaries of political districts from the time of the first Czechoslovak Republic from 1918 to 1945, in which Czechs and Germans lived together for the last time.
The city of České Budějovice (Budweis) lies in the middle of the Budějovické Basin. The administrative center of South Bohemia was founded in 1265 right at the confluence of the rivers Vltava (Moldau) and Malše (Maltsch), initiated by the Czech king Přemysl Ottokar II. The region was Czech speaking except for České Budějovice and a few surrounding villages of the České Budějovice. In this linguistic enclave German was the main language.
The southern part of Bohemia is located near the border to Austria. Along the rivers Vltava (Moldau) and Malše (Maltsch), historical trading routes, castles and residences were established such as the town of Kaplice (Kaplitz). In the past the area was controlled by the Rožmberk monarchie (Rosenberg monarchy) family who founded the Rožmberk Castle (Rosenberg Castle) and the Cistercian monastery in Vyšší Brod (Hohenfurth).
Later the estates were given to the Count of Buquoy who economically and culturally developed the Novohradsko region and initiated the creation of one of the oldest European nature reserves, the Žofín Forest (Sophien-Urwald).
Český Krumlov (Böhmisch Krumau or Krummau) is one of the most famous places in Bohemia - thanks to the extensive area of the castle and the chateau, the ancient winding streets and the location of the city following a winding course of the Vltava (Moldau) river. The residence of the princes of Krumau were placed on the UNESCO world heritage list since 1992. The city inspired the famous painter Egon Schiele and the regional photographer Josef Seidel. Since the beginning of the 19th century, the Passion plays a dramatic performance representing Christ's Passion from the Last Supper to the Crucifixion, which takes place in Hořice (Höritz). Adalbert Stifter, one of the most important German-speaking authors, was born in Horní Planá (Oberplan). Not far from his birthplace on the opposite side of the Lipno reservoir, lies the highest peak of Šumava, the Plechý mountain (Plöckenstein), 1379 meters above sea level.
The history of Prachatice (Prachatitz) is connected to the Golden Path (Goldener Steig), a system of trading routes where salt was transported to Bohemia, including grain and other raw materials found their way through Bavaria. Thanks to the thriving trade at the town of Prachatice, it grew rich and acquired its Renaissance cultural appearance shown today on the existing old streets.
One of the trading stations of another route was the town of Vimperk (Winterberg), where the publishing house of Johann Steinbrener produced prayer books for the whole world in the 19th century. The town of Volary (Wallern) was founded along the Golden Path, once known for its wooden houses built in the Alpine style, which were mostly razed after the Second World War. Two important Protestant and Catholic personalities in church history also came from this area: the reformer Jan Hus, burned at the stake in Constance in 1415, and Saint Jan Nepomuk Neumann, a missionary and bishop in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.
The Bohemian King Přemysl Ottokar II expanded the predominantly Czech-speaking city of Sušice (Schüttenhofen) to a royal city with a modern weir system. It is about 16 km away to Kašperské Hory (Bergreichenstein), where German was the main language due to German gold miners who settled down in the 13th century. Thanks to the acquired economic wealth, the importance of the city grew. Thus King Charles IV established and built another branch of the Golden Path and which he founded Kašperk Castle (Karlsburg). Special privileges were granted to the royal yeomen (mainly German settlers) who then lived in remote mountain areas, which inspired Karel Klostermann, to write novellas about the inhabitants of the middle Bohemian Forest.
The region of Klatovy (Klattau) is crossed by the oldest Šumava railway line which passes through the Bavarian border near Železná Ruda (Eisenstein). This borderline even runs through the building of the railway station which was opened in 1877. Železná Ruda has been the center of Šumava tourism since the 19th century with popular destinations, including the glacial lakes Černé Jezero (Schwarzer See) and Čertovo Jezero (Teufelsee). The train passes the 1747 meter-long Špičácký tunnel on the way from Nýrsko (Neuern) to Klatovy (Klattau), a well-known historic town with an unique “White Unicorn Baroque Apothecary” with a pharmaceutical exhibition mapping the work of pharmacists from 18th to 20th century.