Jasánky

Jasánky is a natural monument in the Šumava mountains, in the Český Krumlov district, right on the Czech-Austrian border, eight kilometers west of Přední Výtoň. The site sits in the valley of the Světlá stream and forms part of the Šumava Protected Landscape Area, managed by the Šumava National Park Administration. Its name comes from a former village once known by its German name, Asang, which no longer exists.

Why was this area protected?

The Jasánky natural monument covers 132 hectares and was designated in 1992. It protects plant communities that include endangered orchid species, along with the wildlife that depends on them. The landscape was first settled in the early Middle Ages, and after the postwar expulsion of the German population it was left to develop naturally for decades. That long period without human intervention allowed the meadows and woodland to return to a near-natural state while still preserving visible traces of the earlier settlement.

What can you see there?

The area carries many marks of past land use. Remnants of old agricultural terraces survive, along with the ruins of a mill and the outlines of foundations from several houses that once made up the village of Jasánky. A bridge crosses the site over the Schwarzenberg Canal — a 44-kilometer waterway that, between 1793 and 1892, was used to float timber, including logs up to 24 meters long, all the way to Vienna. Nearly 8 million cubic meters of firewood were transported along this route, making the canal one of the most significant examples of historical landscape engineering in the region.

The area is sometimes described as part of the so-called "Land of Sorrowful Silence" — a term used for the belt of abandoned villages south of the Lipno Lake shoreline, emptied out after the Iron Curtain was erected in the 1950s. Today the quiet and wildness of these places stand in contrast to their former agricultural character.

Within the same cadastral territory as the Jasánky natural monument lie four additional nature reserves — Ježová, Otov, Otovský stream, and Světlá — together forming a larger complex of protected land along the Austrian border.

Frequently asked questions

Where exactly is Jasánky located? In the Šumava mountains, Český Krumlov district, on the border with Austria, about eight kilometers west of Přední Výtoň, in the valley of the Světlá stream.

When was the natural monument established? It was designated in 1992 and covers an area of 132 hectares.

What does the site protect? Mainly plant communities with endangered orchid species and their associated wildlife, along with historical traces of earlier settlement and farming.

What is there to see on site? Mill ruins, outlines of former house foundations, remnants of agricultural terraces, and a bridge over the Schwarzenberg Canal.

What was the Schwarzenberg Canal? A 44-kilometer waterway built in the late 18th century, used to float timber to Vienna between 1793 and 1892.