1 – The most famous historical route
The most famous historical route is the Golden Trail. Its oldest route is its Prachatice branch, sometimes called the Lower branch. It has existed since the early 10th century, even though its name “Golden” comes from the 16th. It led from Passau through Salzweg, Waldkirchen, Grainet, Bischofsreut, it crossed the border by Marchhäuser and continued across České Žleby, Volary, Cudrovice, around the Hus castle, through Albrechtovice and to Prachatice. It is questionable which ones of the named places already existed, or if there was yet any kind of settlement. The first mentions of the villages date from later on and they most likely grew up alongside the already existing trail. In Prachatice the trail split and continued in a couple of directions, the most important one towards Netolice, where it connected with the trail from Vodňany and continued through Písek to Prague.
On the Bavarian side, duty was collected in Fürholzu, so somewhere before a forest (vor dem Holz), which gave the settlement its later name. Thanks to the traffic on the trail, the settlement grew, by the 17th century there are records of four inns and seven wine houses. The duty was collected by nuns from the Niedernburg convent, which was given to them by the emperor Henry II in 1010. In the 12th century it was given to the bishops of Passau, so the administration of the trail passed onto them. On the Bohemian side, the Prachatice (meaning today’s Staré (Old) Prachatice; the new town was only founded in the second half of the 13th century) duty went to the Vyšehrad Chapter. The collection was done by Vyšehrad clerks themselves. The duty was partly used for the trail’s maintenance. This was done by the local subjects overseen by Chapter clerks.
It is through here that the majority of salt enters Bohemia. Findings of chipped archaeological industries from late Palaeolithic period leads us to wonder about a possibility of the trail having been used since the Prehistoric Age. Other archaeological findings from around the trail date back to the Hallstatt period, the La Tène period and the Early Middle Ages. Prachatice had a constant stream of income from the salt trade. In 1382, Václav IV confirmed the town’s right to salt stores. Prachatice thus became the only town, where it was possible to buy Passau salt. In 1399, a similar store was established in Passau. The exchange trade with Passau caused a boom in malting. Václav IV also ruled that all goods imported from Bavaria to Bohemia, or vice versa, must go through Prachatice. He also allows Passau citizens to import Bohemian grain, which was not to be stopped by high prices nor by war. There was however a problem in carrying this out which was caused by a small yield due to bad weather (dry, hailing).
The town on the trail was also visited by a number of other merchants, who brought with them goods and information. Students, artists and diplomats all used the trail and so the education levels of the local people grew as well. The Prachatice school from the late 14th century educated many future scholars. The Prague University employed the master and rector Václav Menšík from Prachatice, astronomer, doctor and rector Křišťan from Pracahtice, Michal from Prachatice was the University notary. The local school was allegedly attended by Jan Hus as well.
Prachatice went through its biggest boom in the 16th century, during the Rožmberk rule. The wealth of local citizens is of course related to the salt trade and is still reminded to us by the beautiful renaissance houses which were built at the time. The town hall with a façade and renaissance windows covered with a judiciary-themed chiaroscuro was built between 1570 and 1571. The facades of the houses in the square were decorated with renaissance fresco paintings: Rumpál house, Sittr house, Bozkovský house, Knížecí house, Haydl house, Hus house and others. The 1570 list of townsmen who partook in the slat trade includes the owner of the abovementioned house, Šebastián Rumpál, who was to take 10 prostice of salt weekly. During and after the Thirty Years War, the salt trade began to falter. It was significantly affected by Ferdinand II’s 1630 charter which allowed the import of Austrian salt into Bohemia and Leopold II’s 1692 charter which put a high customs duty on Passau salt. The Passau bishopric responded by ceasing to purchase grain, malt and Prachatice brandy. This was the end of the famous era of the Prachatice branch of the Golden Trail.
The Vimperk (Middle) branch of the Golden Trail is younger. It is only first mentioned in 1312. The trail separated from the Prachatice branch by Ernsting and led through Hinterschmiding and Herzogsreut, below Kunžvart to Horní Vlatavice and through Solná Lhota to Vimperk. The trade on this trail continued to grow, which the people of Prachatice did not like. The dispute between the Vyšehrad provost and the owner of the Vimperk estate Kaplíř of Sulevice was decided in 1404 by king Václav IV in favour of the provost, meaning in favour of Prachatice. The people of Vimperk were set a maximum number of 12 salt traders per week. In the second half of the 16th century, the trade on this trail picked up again, but likewise began to fall after the Thirty Years War. The suitable location of the Golden Trail was later used by king Ferdinand and cartographer František Klose to build a modern road following the original almost perfectly.
The Kašperské Hory (Upper) branch was built around 1356. It led across today’s Röhrnbach, Freyung, Mauth, Finsterau, Bučina, Kvilda, Horská Kvilda, Červená (after the Hussite Wars through Kozí Hřbety – there was a custom house too) to Kašperské Hory and then to Sušice.
At the same time, king Charles IV rules to build the Golden Road. A document has survived from that year which has Charles IV granting Heinczlin Bader hereditary use of land between Malá Losenice and Červená in return for his help during the construction of a road from Passau to Bohemia. Ten years later, Charles IV ordered all merchants travelling on the road to stay overnight in Kašperské Hory. Failure to oblige meant a fine of 100 talents. Merchants also payed the town a fee of one haler per horse. The collected fine was then equally split between the Royal Chamber and the town of Kašperské Hory. At the same time, the Kašperk castle was forbidden from collecting any customs duty from merchants on the trail, apart from gold and silver. The Golden Road (Gulden Straß) diverted from the Golden Trail in Horská Kvilda and led through Filipova Huť, Blaue Säule, Grafenau to Passau. A legend says that there used to be gallows right by Blaue Säule which served to warn thieves who would take bread from the local stores without paying. Later on, many human bones were allegedly dug out here. The Golden Road then exited Vilshofen, which lied a bit more against the current of the Donau. The traffic on this road was preferred by the governor in Straubing, leaseholder of Kašperk and the favourite of the king, Jan of Leuchtenberk, who expected large personal profits from administrating the road. By founding the St Oswald Monastery and elevating the villages of Hals and Grafenau into town statuses, he also managed to elevate the importance of the road. However, after king Charles’ death, trade mostly returned to the Upper trail. When Václav IV granted Sušice the right to annual markets in 1404, he ruled that all merchats must travel with their goods through Kvilda and Hartmanice. During the Hussite Wars, it was dangerous to travel on these routes. Several villages on and around it were burned down both on the Bohemian side and on the Passau side. The Golden Trail was likely used by Hussite troops, which stormed into Bavaria in 1429. The duty of merchants to spend the night in Kašperské Hory introduced by Charles IV was renewed by the next leaseholder of the castle Zdeněk of Štemberk. The Golden Trail continued from Kašperské Hory, through Bohdašice and Dlouhá Ves to Sušice. On the first military map, the road is marked as the most important connection between Kašperské Hory and Sušice. Even a 16th century map which lied in the state archive in München depicts a digression from Kašperské Hory towards Hartmanice as well as the straight continuation of the road to Sušice. Trade was revived after 1560, when the Golden Road was partly renewed by the Bavarian duke Albrecht, as the road was administered by the Bavarian Duchy, unlike the Passau-administered Golden Trail. Both sides thus often got into conflict with one another. On top of that, some travelling merchants made their own detours in order to avoid paying the customs fee. For example, they went straight from Kozí Hřbety to Rejštehn, where they traded on a black market. At that time, the merchants would pass Kašperské Hory with almost 12 000 prostice of salt annually. There were also disputes at the border between the Zdíkov estate and Kašperské Hory. In the 17th century the salt trade begins to slowly disappear, despite the town of Grafenau building summer shelters for the travellers in 1611. The merchants then only trade with grain and a century later the trail is described as completely desolate. In Kašperské Hory, there is still the former 14th century salt warehouse on Bohdana Týbla street (no. 17). A significant part of the Golden Train, and not just the Kašperské Hory branch, has survived to this day. Animals’ hooves, wheels of carriages and heavy rainfalls left their unmistakable marks on the landscape.
Another trade route was the Vintíř trail. The Benedictine monk Vintíř most likely only renewed it. The trail is mentioned on a 1029 document of Konrád II. The trail led from Niederaltaich, through Riedl, Zwiesel, Lindberg, Jagerschachtl, Vysoké Lávky, Hartmanice and to Sušice. From here it led through Prácheň towards Blatná and then to Prague. The recently discovered Celtic settlement at the bank of the Křemelná river by Frauenthal, which lies on the trail can be a testimony to there being a sort of service village for the trade route.
Customs duty was collected from the 13th century in Hartmanice, later in Vysoké Lávky. According to some sources, the trail was derailed during the 17th century towards Zwieslerwaldhaus, Debrník and Železná Ruda. In 1772, the Hartmanice trail is referred to as the Old road.
The Zwiesel Road or The High Road led from Vilshofen through Zwiesel (where it got its name and crossed the Hartmanice road) through the Železná Ruda basin to Klatovy. Its exact course or how it changed throughout the years is not yet fully known. One of the customs collection points for beasts of burden in the first half of the 16th century is the town of Strážov. It seems that the trail might have led from Strážov though Onen Svět, Můstek and into the valley of the Řezná river. A diversion to Prenet, Dešenice and Nýrsko is also possible. It is mostly oral tradition which connects the founding of the trail to the Přemyslid dynasty or even further back to the Celtic age. But, related to this claim, the names of the roads around Zelená Lhota found in the cadastre are interesting: Ober and Unter Boja Steig.
Other trails crossing the Šumava forests were the Nýrsko Trail, leading from Cham through Nýrsko to Klatovy, in the west and in the east the Hornoplánská (High-plain) Road, which began in Waldkirchen and had two variants: through Nová Pec or through Zvonková, the Dolní Vltavice Trail from Aigen through Dolní Vltavice and Kájov to Český Krumlov, Frymburk Trail from Haslach thorugh St Thomas and Frymburk to Český Krumlov and the Vyšší Brod Trail from Bad Leonfelden through Vyšší Brod to Český Krumlov.
It is through here that the majority of salt enters Bohemia. Findings of chipped archaeological industries from late Palaeolithic period leads us to wonder about a possibility of the trail having been used since the Prehistoric Age. Other archaeological findings from around the trail date back to the Hallstatt period, the La Tène period and the Early Middle Ages. Prachatice had a constant stream of income from the salt trade. In 1382, Václav IV confirmed the town’s right to salt stores. Prachatice thus became the only town, where it was possible to buy Passau salt. In 1399, a similar store was established in Passau. The exchange trade with Passau caused a boom in malting. Václav IV also ruled that all goods imported from Bavaria to Bohemia, or vice versa, must go through Prachatice. He also allows Passau citizens to import Bohemian grain, which was not to be stopped by high prices nor by war. There was however a problem in carrying this out which was caused by a small yield due to bad weather (dry, hailing).
The town on the trail was also visited by a number of other merchants, who brought with them goods and information. Students, artists and diplomats all used the trail and so the education levels of the local people grew as well. The Prachatice school from the late 14th century educated many future scholars. The Prague University employed the master and rector Václav Menšík from Prachatice, astronomer, doctor and rector Křišťan from Pracahtice, Michal from Prachatice was the University notary. The local school was allegedly attended by Jan Hus as well.
Prachatice went through its biggest boom in the 16th century, during the Rožmberk rule. The wealth of local citizens is of course related to the salt trade and is still reminded to us by the beautiful renaissance houses which were built at the time. The town hall with a façade and renaissance windows covered with a judiciary-themed chiaroscuro was built between 1570 and 1571. The facades of the houses in the square were decorated with renaissance fresco paintings: Rumpál house, Sittr house, Bozkovský house, Knížecí house, Haydl house, Hus house and others. The 1570 list of townsmen who partook in the slat trade includes the owner of the abovementioned house, Šebastián Rumpál, who was to take 10 prostice of salt weekly. During and after the Thirty Years War, the salt trade began to falter. It was significantly affected by Ferdinand II’s 1630 charter which allowed the import of Austrian salt into Bohemia and Leopold II’s 1692 charter which put a high customs duty on Passau salt. The Passau bishopric responded by ceasing to purchase grain, malt and Prachatice brandy. This was the end of the famous era of the Prachatice branch of the Golden Trail.
The Vimperk (Middle) branch of the Golden Trail is younger. It is only first mentioned in 1312. The trail separated from the Prachatice branch by Ernsting and led through Hinterschmiding and Herzogsreut, below Kunžvart to Horní Vlatavice and through Solná Lhota to Vimperk. The trade on this trail continued to grow, which the people of Prachatice did not like. The dispute between the Vyšehrad provost and the owner of the Vimperk estate Kaplíř of Sulevice was decided in 1404 by king Václav IV in favour of the provost, meaning in favour of Prachatice. The people of Vimperk were set a maximum number of 12 salt traders per week. In the second half of the 16th century, the trade on this trail picked up again, but likewise began to fall after the Thirty Years War. The suitable location of the Golden Trail was later used by king Ferdinand and cartographer František Klose to build a modern road following the original almost perfectly.
The Kašperské Hory (Upper) branch was built around 1356. It led across today’s Röhrnbach, Freyung, Mauth, Finsterau, Bučina, Kvilda, Horská Kvilda, Červená (after the Hussite Wars through Kozí Hřbety – there was a custom house too) to Kašperské Hory and then to Sušice.
At the same time, king Charles IV rules to build the Golden Road. A document has survived from that year which has Charles IV granting Heinczlin Bader hereditary use of land between Malá Losenice and Červená in return for his help during the construction of a road from Passau to Bohemia. Ten years later, Charles IV ordered all merchants travelling on the road to stay overnight in Kašperské Hory. Failure to oblige meant a fine of 100 talents. Merchants also payed the town a fee of one haler per horse. The collected fine was then equally split between the Royal Chamber and the town of Kašperské Hory. At the same time, the Kašperk castle was forbidden from collecting any customs duty from merchants on the trail, apart from gold and silver. The Golden Road (Gulden Straß) diverted from the Golden Trail in Horská Kvilda and led through Filipova Huť, Blaue Säule, Grafenau to Passau. A legend says that there used to be gallows right by Blaue Säule which served to warn thieves who would take bread from the local stores without paying. Later on, many human bones were allegedly dug out here. The Golden Road then exited Vilshofen, which lied a bit more against the current of the Donau. The traffic on this road was preferred by the governor in Straubing, leaseholder of Kašperk and the favourite of the king, Jan of Leuchtenberk, who expected large personal profits from administrating the road. By founding the St Oswald Monastery and elevating the villages of Hals and Grafenau into town statuses, he also managed to elevate the importance of the road. However, after king Charles’ death, trade mostly returned to the Upper trail. When Václav IV granted Sušice the right to annual markets in 1404, he ruled that all merchats must travel with their goods through Kvilda and Hartmanice. During the Hussite Wars, it was dangerous to travel on these routes. Several villages on and around it were burned down both on the Bohemian side and on the Passau side. The Golden Trail was likely used by Hussite troops, which stormed into Bavaria in 1429. The duty of merchants to spend the night in Kašperské Hory introduced by Charles IV was renewed by the next leaseholder of the castle Zdeněk of Štemberk. The Golden Trail continued from Kašperské Hory, through Bohdašice and Dlouhá Ves to Sušice. On the first military map, the road is marked as the most important connection between Kašperské Hory and Sušice. Even a 16th century map which lied in the state archive in München depicts a digression from Kašperské Hory towards Hartmanice as well as the straight continuation of the road to Sušice. Trade was revived after 1560, when the Golden Road was partly renewed by the Bavarian duke Albrecht, as the road was administered by the Bavarian Duchy, unlike the Passau-administered Golden Trail. Both sides thus often got into conflict with one another. On top of that, some travelling merchants made their own detours in order to avoid paying the customs fee. For example, they went straight from Kozí Hřbety to Rejštehn, where they traded on a black market. At that time, the merchants would pass Kašperské Hory with almost 12 000 prostice of salt annually. There were also disputes at the border between the Zdíkov estate and Kašperské Hory. In the 17th century the salt trade begins to slowly disappear, despite the town of Grafenau building summer shelters for the travellers in 1611. The merchants then only trade with grain and a century later the trail is described as completely desolate. In Kašperské Hory, there is still the former 14th century salt warehouse on Bohdana Týbla street (no. 17). A significant part of the Golden Train, and not just the Kašperské Hory branch, has survived to this day. Animals’ hooves, wheels of carriages and heavy rainfalls left their unmistakable marks on the landscape.
Another trade route was the Vintíř trail. The Benedictine monk Vintíř most likely only renewed it. The trail is mentioned on a 1029 document of Konrád II. The trail led from Niederaltaich, through Riedl, Zwiesel, Lindberg, Jagerschachtl, Vysoké Lávky, Hartmanice and to Sušice. From here it led through Prácheň towards Blatná and then to Prague. The recently discovered Celtic settlement at the bank of the Křemelná river by Frauenthal, which lies on the trail can be a testimony to there being a sort of service village for the trade route.
Customs duty was collected from the 13th century in Hartmanice, later in Vysoké Lávky. According to some sources, the trail was derailed during the 17th century towards Zwieslerwaldhaus, Debrník and Železná Ruda. In 1772, the Hartmanice trail is referred to as the Old road.
The Zwiesel Road or The High Road led from Vilshofen through Zwiesel (where it got its name and crossed the Hartmanice road) through the Železná Ruda basin to Klatovy. Its exact course or how it changed throughout the years is not yet fully known. One of the customs collection points for beasts of burden in the first half of the 16th century is the town of Strážov. It seems that the trail might have led from Strážov though Onen Svět, Můstek and into the valley of the Řezná river. A diversion to Prenet, Dešenice and Nýrsko is also possible. It is mostly oral tradition which connects the founding of the trail to the Přemyslid dynasty or even further back to the Celtic age. But, related to this claim, the names of the roads around Zelená Lhota found in the cadastre are interesting: Ober and Unter Boja Steig.
Other trails crossing the Šumava forests were the Nýrsko Trail, leading from Cham through Nýrsko to Klatovy, in the west and in the east the Hornoplánská (High-plain) Road, which began in Waldkirchen and had two variants: through Nová Pec or through Zvonková, the Dolní Vltavice Trail from Aigen through Dolní Vltavice and Kájov to Český Krumlov, Frymburk Trail from Haslach thorugh St Thomas and Frymburk to Český Krumlov and the Vyšší Brod Trail from Bad Leonfelden through Vyšší Brod to Český Krumlov.