Winter photos of the Šumava mountains
Deep forests. Vanished hamlets. Treacherous bogs. Wild nature. Šumava mountains in Southern Bohemia is a feast for the eyes.
For centuries, the Šumava mountains (German Böhmerwald) was an almost uninhabited place. Just a few trails serving merchants for exchange between Bohemia and Bavaria cuts the infinite woods. Hostile to humans, friendly to wild animals.
The biggest change came at the end of 18. century with the Schwarzenberk’s channel designed for floating of woods. Massive deforestation and transformation of the virgin forest into the industrial-growth forest were followed by draining works.
Nature got the second chance, for a wrong reason, after the expulsion of the German-speaking population from borderlands after the Second World War and closing the borders during the Cold War.
Nowadays, it is protected as the National Park Šumava and many areas are left to natural processes.
