Bohemian Switzerland – hiking trip to the almost forgotten border region

Introduction

The region bohemian Switzerland (Czech: České Švýcarsko) got its name from the neighbouring German area Saxon Switzerland (German: Sächsische Schweiz) which presumably goes back to the Swizz artists Adrian Zingg and Anton Graff who visited Dresden 1766 and described the area as following:

From their new, adopted home they look eastwards and saw,
about a day's walk away, a hill range.
It had a strange, flattish profile, without any actual summits […]
— according to Lothar Kempe

Nowadays it is a popular area for rock and free climbing and hiking trips. Due to the soil erosion of the sandstone the national park has restricted these activities and only allows it in marked areas.

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the castle on top of the hill to the right, the Elbe in the middle

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Děčín – head quarter of the trip

We chose to stay in Děčín, because it is in the middle of two nice villages “*Tisá*” and “*Hřensko*”. Děčín is a good start for everyone arriving by public transport and also want to have a bit of a city life after a day in the nature. The city has the most important connection between Germany and Czech Republic, because it is part of the North / East Sea – Prague railway connection and a long tradition in trading. Already in the 10. Century the Přemyslids built a wodden fortification on the location of the nowadays castle to secure the trade routes along the river. Děčín has around 50.000 inhabitant and is with 153m above sea level the deepest located city in Czech Republic, even it’s propinquity to the mountain range.

Tisá – Ski and climbing area

Tisá is a small village in the furthest north of Bohemia close to the German border. It is about 30 minutes by bus from Děčín. The bizarre rock formations make it to a popular destination for hikers and families. Due to the massive erosion of the sand stone it is only

permitted to hike on the marked routes to prevent further erosion. Most of the rocks are opened up for climbing. Located 550m a.s.l. you got a beautiful view over the surrounding region. Highlights are plenty of castles and lookout towers and the tisa walls. Around the area of the hill Sněžník an interesting event during the WW2 happened: the Russian Liberation Army or Vlasov army stopped here in April 1945 for recovery. It was collaborationist armed forces, primarily Russian, that fought under German command during World War II. After changing the sides to fight for the allies in the last day of the war, parts of the army managed to go on us-controlled soil, the other part got into Russian imprisonment (including Andrey Vlaslov) and got executed.

Hřensko – gorges and the sand stone gate

Hřensko is the second village we visited during our weekend trip. You can easily reach it by bus within 20 minutes. With 115m above sea level it is the lowest situated place in Czech Republic, even though it is in the middle of the Elbe Sandstone Mountains. It is the entrance to the Bohemian Switzerland National Park and offers a variety of free time activities. The most famous sight surely is the Pravčická brána (German: Prebischtor) which is the largest natural sandstone arch in Europe.

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The Pravčická brána to the left and the Azure Window to the right

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Physicists were wondering how such a natural phenomenon can sustain, until they found that two independent of each other rocks build the gate. Personally it reminds me on the “Azure Window” in Malta, which broke down after a storm in 2017. After hiking we had a boar tour through the peaceful gorges of Hřensko.

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With a bit of fantasy, you can spot different creatures and animals in the rock formations. The tour guide will help you out, by pointing them out. Both, the national park and the boat tours require to pay a small fee of 75,- and 80,- CZK (approx. 3EUR each). After a long weekend full of hiking we arrived back in Prague on Sunday evening. I only can recommend to spend a weekend hiking and climbing in this beautiful piece of nature.

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For further information feel free to write in the comments or see the official website: http://www.tisa.cz/ & https://www.hrensko.cz/ .
And do not forget to upvote and resteem.
Cheers, yours MAMO =)