| Abstrakt: |
Abstract: a_1Krkonoše (The Giant Mountains) was settled by a mainly German population. Germans were also dominant amongst visiting tourists. But the mountains’ proximity to Czech settlements and their symbolic importance on the Czech mental map as its highest mountains and also a "defensive wall", and the beauty of the countryside there made it a destination of interest to the Czech public. As such, from the 1890s there were endeavours to assert Czech influence there. This nationalist campaign was seen in a number of areas, in particular in the depiction of Krkonoše as a Czech and unfairly Germanised mountain range in tourism literature. In this perspective, the development of tourism was to be a tool for reacquiring the mountains. Around the turn of the century, Czech interest focused on that part of Krkonoše close to Czech settlements, which were for Czech tourists. Mountain chalets were considered the base for the Czech element in the mountains. Support for their construction and their acquisition for Czech usage was an important element of the nationalist campaign. Subsequent to 1918, the focus was on demanding Czech service in the mountain chalets, implementing Czech-German walking signs throughout the mountain range, large celebrations and the positioning of commemorative plaques and monuments in the mountains. Although the period post-1918 was marked by a clear strengthening of the Czech ethnicity’s influence in the mountains, especially in the Czech language’s status as supported by state authorities, infiltration by Czech capital lagged behind. Despite extensive attempts by Czech national activists, however, the German influence in the mountains (population, capital, nationality of visitors) remained larger. Czech-German conflicts in the mountains were also made greater by conflicts in the foothills at the language border and in towns with a Czech minority. |
