Memorial of Josef Bohdanecký

The Memorial of Josef Bohdanecký is a small woodland monument above the Svitava valley near Bílovice nad Svitavou in Moravia. A boulder set with an inscribed plaque honors forester and forestry writer Josef Bohdanecký, whose thinning method for spruce stands earned recognition from foresters abroad around the turn of the 20th century.

Who was Josef Bohdanecký?

Josef Bohdanecký was born on 1 March 1846 in Vráž u Písku and died on 11 September 1920; he is buried in the family tomb at Staré Sedlo. From 1883 to 1911 he served as head forester on the Schwarzenberg estate at Orlík, where he developed his own method of early, intensive thinning of spruce forests. His approach drew attention from foresters outside the Czech lands and helped reshape forest management practices of the era. Bohdanecký was also an active forestry publicist, writing extensively on modern timber management. In recognition of his services to forestry, he was made a Knight of the Order of Francis Joseph on 2 December 1898.

Why was the memorial placed here?

The monument does not stand at a site tied directly to Bohdanecký's own career, but in woodland that once belonged to the Liechtenstein estate and was, from 1923, managed as a teaching forest by the Forestry Faculty of the then Agricultural College in Brno (today part of Mendel University), based at Křtiny. In June 1929, on the tenth anniversary of the faculty's founding, that same institution had the boulder erected in his honor, choosing a spot with a view over the teaching forest near Adamov. The memorial is one of several similar monuments scattered through the surrounding woods, locally known as the "Forest Slavín" — a kind of pantheon dedicated to notable figures of Czech forestry.

What does the memorial look like, and where exactly is it?

The monument takes the form of a rough conglomerate boulder quarried at nearby Babí lom, fitted with a dark marble plaque bearing an inscription to Bohdanecký. It stands at the edge of a broad meadow below the Jezírko forest lodge, at the end of a yellow-marked trail branching off from the Mufloní studánka junction. Sitting at roughly 424 meters above sea level, the spot commands a view down into the Svitava valley, making it as much a scenic viewpoint as a historical waypoint.

How to get there

Most visitors start from Bílovice nad Svitavou, a popular riverside recreation town well connected by rail and road to Brno, some fifteen kilometers away. From the village center, marked trails lead into the forest toward the Svitava valley as far as the Mufloní studánka junction, from where the yellow trail runs directly to the memorial. The route crosses the kind of forested, hilly terrain typical of this part of Moravia, popular with hikers and cyclists from Brno and the surrounding area.

When to visit

Because the site sits deep in the forest with no shelter, spring through early autumn is the best window, when trails are dry and easy to follow. The memorial pairs well with a longer walk through the Svitava valley and the other markers of the "Forest Slavín" nearby, making it easy to build into a fuller day of exploring the Křtiny teaching forest.

Frequently asked questions

Who was Josef Bohdanecký? A Czech forester and forestry writer (1846–1920) who managed the woods of the Schwarzenberg estate at Orlík for nearly three decades and developed a thinning method for spruce stands that was recognized abroad as well as at home.

Who erected the memorial, and when? The Forestry Faculty of the Agricultural College in Brno had the boulder placed in June 1929, marking the faculty's tenth anniversary, as a tribute to the respected forester.

What is the memorial made of? A conglomerate boulder quarried at Babí lom, fitted with a dark marble plaque bearing an inscription.

How do you reach the memorial from Bílovice nad Svitavou? Follow the forest trails toward the Svitava valley to the Mufloní studánka junction, then take the yellow trail to the Jezírko forest lodge, where the memorial stands at the edge of a nearby meadow.

Is there more to see nearby? Yes — the Bohdanecký memorial is part of the so-called "Forest Slavín," a scattering of similar monuments to notable foresters found throughout the Křtiny teaching forest in the Svitava valley.