Bayerisch Eisenstein – History
Up until the second half of the 18th century, the Eisensteiner Valley was a political unit spanning the area between Zwercheck, Spitzberg and Panzer in the north and Großer Arber, Geigenbach, Seebachschleife, Regenhütte, Falkenstein and Lackenberg in the south.
The documented history of this sparsely-populated, high-level forested valley begins in 1569, when under Bohemian sovereignty an ore mine with a hammer forge was built near the Eisenbach by Bavarian miners and tradesmen, the owner of which shortly afterwards bowed to Bavarian state rule.
Mining in particular must have existed long before the first written records of the area, as these records almost always contained information on ore mining and securing mining rights. In fact, the mining of iron ore is what gave the entire area around Bayerisch Eisenstein (“Bavarian Iron Stone”) its name.
Ongoing disputes over border demarcations led to mining operations being discontinued and in 1577 ultimately resulted in the sale of the estates to the Bavarian Count Christoph von Schwarzenberg. In 1627, the estate was then inherited by the Counts of Nothaft von Wernberg, who were based in Burg Runding near Cham. In 1688, the Bavarian elector granted them “Hofmark” jurisdiction, while at the same time considerably expanding their property, which enabled them to perform sovereign functions as patrons and court lords over their subjects on behalf of the sovereign. They also became patrons of the church.
From the mid-17th century onwards, the Nothafts resettled the first farmers from the Bohemian Forest and Bavarian Forest to the highland valley below Spitzberg Mountain. In 1691, these early settlers founded a glassworks on the site of the later town of Markt Eisenstein (now Železná Ruda), which attracted tradesmen and farmers to the area.
The Counts of Nothaft were the founders of the Eisenstein glassmaking industry, which encompassed some twenty glassworks during its golden age up to the end of the 19th century. In contrast, they had to discontinue mining operations in 1705 following substantial losses after recommencing mining in cooperation with the electors in 1697.
During the Spanish War of Succession, the imperial Austrian troops integrated the entire Eisensteiner Valley into the Kingdom of Bohemia, however the ecclesiastical ties to the Bishop of Regensburg remained untouched until 1809.
Constant skirmishes along the border led to the signing of a Bavarian-Bohemian agreement in 1764, which saw a large portion of the land annexed in 1708 returned to Bavaria.
The borders set by this agreement still remain to this day. There has only been a Bohemian and Bavarian Eisenstein settlement since this time, though they were ruled by the same lords during this period. These were the Bohemian Counts of Klenau as successors to the Counts of Nothaft from 1758 on.
The Klenaus sold both settlements in 1771 to the local master glassmaker Johann Georg Hafenbrädl, who considerably extended his Bohemian jurisdiction in 1775 by acquiring the Defferniker Kameralwald forest. In 1772, he received the Bavarian nobility status and became a Bohemian knight in 1783.
Five of his children became imperial barons in 1790. The glass industry in the valley peaked under the Hafenbrädls and the local residents gained considerable wealth in the process.
The “Hofmark” jurisdiction awarded to Bayerisch Eisenstein in 1773 was voluntarily given up by the Hafenbrädls in 1835. This jurisdiction was also rescinded by the state in Bohemia in 1848.
As private landowners, the Hafenbrädls sold their properties in Bohemian Eisenstein (Železná Ruda) in 1852 and in Bayerisch Eisenstein in 1872 to the Swabian Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen dynasty.
The political municipalities of “Markt Eisenstein” (Železná Ruda) and “Dorf Eisenstein” (Špičák) were founded on the Bohemian side of the border, and these belonged to the Austrian Empire.
The town attained the status of a climatic spa resort in 1877, when the railway line from Plattling to Pilsen was completed and Bayerisch Eisenstein, which has only carried this name officially since 1951, became the border station.
With the arrival of the railway, the town began to develop on the back of the timber industry and tourism between the older Neu-Waldhaus settlement and the station.
The construction of a pass road also forged a connection to the upper Bavarian Forest.
Timber and tourism brought a new economic upturn to the region after the decline of the glassworks. In 1918, Czechoslovakia was created on the other side of the border after the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian empire.
The population of Markt Eisenstein (Zelezná Ruda) was still largely German at this time.
After the Munich Agreement, German troops occupied Markt Eisenstein in 1938, which joined Bavaria as the capital of a new county up until May 1945. At this point, American troops rolled into both Bavarian and Bohemian Eisenstein.
Bohemian Eisenstein was subsequently handed over to the newly created Czechoslovakia. The German population in Markt Eisenstein and Dorf Eisenstein were driven out in 1946 and the border was soon closed for decades by the “Iron Curtain”.
Very moderate cross-border road traffic only resumed in 1969. However, after the border was opened, the small community was overwhelmed by traffic, so that a traffic light had to be installed which only allowed a certain number of vehicles into the village at any one time.
It was therefore a new milestone in Eisenstein’s history when the efforts of the then mayor together with the local council and politician Ernst Hinken succeeded in pushing through the reopening of cross-border railway traffic.
This event was celebrated by the local population on 2 June 1991, together with the Federal Chancellor Helmut Kohl and numerous high-profile figures.
Since the Czech Republic’s accession to the EU in 2004, border controls have become a thing of the past, and border crossings have therefore become uncomplicated and free of formalities. Bayerisch Eisenstein has also grown into a popular holiday and winter sports resort free of the hustle and bustle of busy tourist resorts, instead offering peace and relaxation among unspoilt natural surroundings.
Year after year numerous tourists are drawn to the border town for its the state-approved climatic health resort status, its unique location in the Bavarian Forest Nature and National Park, directly on the border to the Bohemian Forest, at the foot of Großer Arber Mountain and in the heart of the Bavarian Forest National Park holiday region, as well as its range of recreational activities throughout the year.