A land of quiet oblivion, where the borders fell silent and nature took charge once more. Today Český les is coming alive with stories that lay buried for decades under the fog of the past. Vanished villages, the return of the wild and the sensitive renewal of places such as Resort Český les show that even a landscape marked by history can breathe again. Discover a region where the past meets the present, calm meets inspiration, and people meet a countryside that has finally been given a second chance.
The borderland that vanished from the maps
Český les. A region that knows nothing of tourist crowds, but knows the power of silence. The belt of border mountains running along the western edge of the Czech Republic was once full of life… hamlets with German names, schools, churches, inns. Until the middle of the 20th century this was a world where cultures, languages and stories all mingled.
Then came the war. The displacement of the original inhabitants, the creation of the border zone and a ban on entry. Whole villages disappeared - Frančina Huť, Pleš, Železná Huť, Waldorf and dozens more. The houses fell apart, the roads grew over with grass, the region fell silent.
All that remained were names on old maps and crosses by the roadside. The people left, but the forest stayed and slowly began to cover over the scars the past had left behind.
A landscape that heals itself
Unlike Šumava, which saw a tourist boom once the borders opened, Český les stayed off the radar for a long time. Perhaps that is exactly why it is so exceptional today. The woods here have grown together into impenetrable deep forest, the animals have returned to their natural habitat, and nature has taken charge of everything people left behind.
Today's Český les Protected Landscape Area is a mosaic of meadows, beech woods, old ponds and forgotten paths that are waking back to life. On the slopes around Bělá nad Radbuzou, Dybowski's sika deer graze; in the Srdíčko game park, mouflon and fallow deer roam. And where a border patrol once stood, walkers now pass by.
A landscape that witnessed such loss has become a place of renewal, ecological and human alike.
Life returns: when history gets a second chance
The symbolic heart of this rebirth has become the village of Železná u Smolova. On its edge there once stood a military compound border guard – a concrete building ringed by a fence, once full of bustle and discipline. After years of decay it has found new meaning thanks to investment, courage and a love of the place.
The Karhan family, father Jindřich and son Ondřej, began transforming the former border post and a derelict school into a modern resort here in 2020. “We wanted to give this region back the life it had lost,” says Jindřich Karhan, chairman of the supervisory board of the investment group KARHAN GROUP, which is behind the project.
Three years of renovation gave rise to Resort Český les - a place that brings together history, architecture and nature. The former barracks became Aparthotel Železná with design apartments, a wellness zone and the restaurant Hvozd, where dishes are made from local ingredients. The former First Republic school, in turn, became Boutique Apartments Železná, whose atmosphere is rounded off by names inspired by the poems of Jaroslav Vrchlický: V mechu (In the Moss), Na křídlech (On Wings), V oblacích (In the Clouds).
History that never disappeared
The architect Barbora Mluvková from the studio Konceptual approached the renovation with exceptional sensitivity. She kept the original reinforced concrete frame, which was converted in an environmentally sound way, and connected the interiors with the nature outside. Oak grain, pine-needle motifs and the texture of iron ore in the flooring are reminders that even the name “Železná” (the Iron One) has its roots in the landscape.
Locals often say that the hotel stands “in a place where the past meets the present”. Within sight lies Smíření Park (the Park of Reconciliation), a restored part of the former chateau garden that today stands for peace and for coming to terms with the past. Legend has it that this was once the site of the chapel of St Barbara, the patron saint of miners, which the army destroyed when it built the border post. Today a new chapel of St Hubert rises nearby as a reminder of the bond between people and the forest. A bond that is being reborn in Český les.
A landscape that makes sense
The resort is not only a place to rest. It is also a symbol of a new era for Český les - proof that even an abandoned place can become a space that inspires. It combines sustainable architecture with green technology - solar panels, heat pumps and a heat recovery system. For this the resort was awarded the international Green Key certification, confirming its environmental responsibility.
The project also includes the Nadační fond Český les (the Český les Endowment Fund), which supports the renewal of the landscape, the planting of trees and the development of the region. This approach gives the whole idea a deeper meaning - it is not just about a hotel, but about bringing life back to a place that was silenced for a long time.
The forest that whispers
Today people are returning to Český les who are looking not for bustle but for calm. Travellers who want to experience nature as it really is. Couples who say their “I do” here. Artists who find their inspiration here.
When you step out onto the terrace in the morning and watch the mist rise over the meadows, you understand why locals speak of “the land of quiet forgetting”. It is not the silence of emptiness, but the silence of return. A silence that makes room for thoughts, for breath and for balance.
A place that was once a symbol of borders has become a place of meeting. A border post has become a place of calm and inspiration. And a forgotten region has become a region that breathes again.
Today Český les is more than a geographical name. It is a reminder that even a landscape that has been silenced can speak again when we listen to it with respect.