The Schwarzenberg Canal

The Schwarzenberg Canal is a water canal in the Bohemian Forest that connects one of the tributaries of the Cold Vltava River and the Austrian Große Mühl River, the Danube inlet, connecting the North Sea and the Black Sea. It was built at the request of jan from Nepomuk I of Schwarzenberg under the direction of Josef Rosenauer. The total length of the canal is 44 km, near the village of Jelení through a tunnel about 400 m long.

The canal was used to float timber from 1793 to 1962, almost 170 years, and at the time of the prewar period it belonged among the greatest pride of the Schwarzenberg manor. However, during the communist era, the canal was not maintained and was damaged and damaged in many sections. At present it is reconstructed to 15 km of original length and the part is declared with technical monuments. Besides this canal there is a second smaller waterway in the Bohemian Forest financed by Schwarzenberg - the Vchynicko-Tetov canal, whose construction was also carried out by Josef Rosenauer.

Along the Schwarzenberg Canal there are several hiking and cycling trails including the oldest hiking trail in the Šumava - Medvědí stezka (Bear´s line).

The last sailing on the Czech side took place in 1962. Although the canal was kept on the list of technical monuments, the channel in the period of communism fell significantly and in many places it was buried, completely destroyed or absorbed by the surrounding nature.

The first tourist season was  in 1998 and the first Schwarzenberg canal in 1999. Since 1997, the Canal has been organizing an Encounter with the Schwarzenberg Channel Tradition, co-funded by Czech, Austrian and European companies and foundations.

The Schwarzenberg Canal Museum is located in the village of Chvalšiny, the birthplace of the Josef Rosenauer canal builder.