The Schwarzenberg timber fl oating canal connects Světlá, which is one of the tributaries of the Studená Vltava River, and the Austrian river Große Mühl, a tributary of the Danube River, thus connecting the drainage basin of the Nothern Sea and the Black Sea. It was built at the request of Prince Johann Nepomuk I of Schwarzenberg under the management of Josef Rosenauer. The entire length of the canal is 44 km, while near the village Jelení it passes through a tunnel with a length of approximately 400 m. The waterway enabled the water transport of wood logs from Šumava and its transport to customers in Vienna, thanks to which it was possible to use the forest’s wealth in the hitherto inaccessible Šumava forests. The canal served for transport of timber from 1793 to 1962, i.e. almost for 170 years, and in the period before the war it was one of the greatest prides of the Schwarzenberg domains. In 1999-2001 the Administration of the Šumava National Park and Protected Landscape Area performed an extensive reconstruction of this unique work.
Attraction:
Visit the exhibition of the Schwarzenberg Canal – forester’s house at Jelení vrchy No. 13, where you can fi nd information about the history of the canal, Šumava forests, history of Šumava population and transport of timber. The exhibition is open during the season.