Pretty or ugly? HRENSKO [CZ], Schmilka and the German border. The best and worst of Hrensko and area
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- Опубліковано 3 лип 2024
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Hrensko is the gateway to Bohemian Switzerland. However, today I explore the village (highlighting the good and bad), explore the Czechia/Germany border, and the curious town of Schmilka
Filmed June 2023 | Hrensko, Czechia.
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*** TIMESTAMPS:
00:00:00 Introduction
00:01:40 Pension Ella
00:04:05 First look at Hrensko
00:08:00 Off to the lookout
00:11:43 Claryho kaple
00:13:41 Second look at Hrensko
00:22:05 Czechia/Germany border
00:24:41 Schmilka
It's always good to see a place that isn't Prague featured in a travel video from Czech Republic
Its cool to see the German/Czech border open like that. When I was in Germany, back in 1972-73, what you're doing, crossing back and forth would not have been possible. My one year trip to Germany was courtesy of the US Army. During my stay I was assigned to a listening post near the Czech border with WEST Germany. We could look across the border and see the town of Cheb, from our bunker, approx 1Km from the actual border. Of course there was the concertina/landmines/guard towers. We could look thru binoculars and watch the Czech guards looking back at us. I used to have a photo I took showing the large "Bundesgrentze" sign on the highway leading to the border.
Every one of your videos is a winner Scott. From the ordinary (e.g. bus trip from Glasgow to London) to this type of totally random destination, they are well researched, well presented and fascinating. One of the best on UA-cam. No business class travel, no ticking off destinations just for the sake of it, no outraged tantrums at the lack of a USB port on your seat on an hour long flight. You are an expert at taking the rough with the smooth. Well done and thank you. PS I live 12 miles from the UK/Ireland border on the North side. I am sure you could walk backwards and forwards across it in various places and make a mesmerising video about it.
Love a frontier as well, just the word conjures up adventurous feelings. I wonder where has the most borders in one spot, wherever it is I'd like to see you cover it on a video. Friendly wee cat on this video too :)
I'd like to see colab🎉
Thanks Steve. There are a few locations in Europe where three borders join. These points usually have tourist marker. You have me thinking....
Please go ahead and visit the village Baarle in the Netherlands, you will get a guaranteed frontgasm ;)
The famous one is the quadripoint in Africa. Zimbabwe, Namibia, Zambia and Botswana. Achieved by a very strange sliver of Namibia.
This video brings back a lot of memories for me. In 1997, as a 12-year-old boy, I went to Czechia with my parents for the first time. After spending the night at the campsite in Bad Schandau, we crossed the border the next morning at the border crossing in this video. There was no difficulty at the border, we got through it quickly. What I still remember is that even then a lot of garden gnomes were sold on the Czech side of the border. The Germans must absolutely love them.
In 1997 there were already many Vietnamese with clothing stalls. My parents allowed me to buy my first football shirt (of course a copy): a shirt of the Dutch national team. I still have the shirt.
There is no speed limit on many sections of the German autobahn, which is why the "130" does not look like the "50" and "100" (i.e. a red circle on a white background). Instead, it's square on a blue background, which just means "Recommended".
Very picturesque area
The reason why the village feels German is because it is. Well, at least in the historical context. It was always part of Czechia, but the local language was German or a dialect of German. This village is part of a region which was known as Sudetenland, which was an area of Czechia where the majority language was German. This all ended by 1946 when the locals were deported out of their homes as a reaction to World War II as the German speaking Czechs were largely seen as traitors by the Czech socialist government (Soviet satellite government). The then emptied villages and town were then repopulated by Czechian speakers from elsewhere in Czechia.
Little bit forgot autumn 1938 when czech citizens were deported, cause germany occupy this area,...
The Czech speaking population in this part of Czechia never was bigger than 5%. This was a German speaking region for the last 600 years. Even if Germany didn't deport the Czech speakers in 1938 out of the region, the total German population of Sudetenland would still be have been over 90%.
Also, your mention of Germany deporting Czech citizens in 1938 is a bit misleading because for starters, they didn't deport the German speakers which have lived in that region of Czechia for at least 600 years. Not to mention the fact they were the majority linguistical group. Secondly, the German speaking Czechs were officially under Czech law citizens of Czechia. Whether you like it or not, they were Czech citizens. So in a legal sense, Germany didn't deport most Czech citizens in 1938. What they did was deport the Czech speakers.
Also, Autumn 1938 has little relevance to the topic I'm talking about. I'm talking about the question "Why this village looks German", which like I said, is down to the fact that this region was inhabited mostly by German speakers for the last 600 years. And I gave an answer to why German isn't spoken anymore in the region, which is because of the Czech government deporting almost all German speakers out of their homes. Autumn 1938 and the deportations of Czech speakers by Germany has little relevance to the core topic we're talking about. It's not the reason why the village and its surrounding regions looks German in architecture,...
@@boilingwateronthestove In the same logic, my dear, the Germans deported in 1945-1946 were foreign citizens of the Deutsches Reich. After 6 years of war, further coexistence was impossible. You should not forget the German plans about Czechs - to germanize 1/3 of those racially useful, to deport to ural 1/3 (those racially useless but fit to work), and to kill 1/3 (those openly opposing the Nazi regime, national elite, etc.). The Germans were the first to expel their Czech and German-speaking, but Jewish neighbors, and the hostility and aggression against everything "non-German" and of "lower race" started already in 1936/37. Have a substantial part of the Germans stayed in Czechoslovakia, the Lebanon scenario (and civil war) would have been the result.
The reason why you are seeing lots of German influence is because this area was part of the 'Sudetenland' and was culturally and linguistically German, until the locals were expelled at the end of WWII by the Czechs.
Same like my grandad, who was east Prussian...
Actually wasn`t. In the area were living both nations together. When WW I. ended and nacism was raised up in Germany, people were influenced too and finally, in autumn of 1938 Germany occupied this part of the land and deported Czech citizens closer to Prague. Shame similar thing happened to German citizens too after the end WWII. Just have to mention Germans weren`t the victims,...
@@Thragura sorry yes of course both Czechs and Germans lived together there before, but this area was majority German.
Thragura, you've got to learn to separate emotion and historical facts from each other, because I've the feeling you let yourself get influenced way too much by emotions. Literally no one here is denying that the Germans oppressed Czech speakers during World War II. No one does. We all agree that Germany invaded and annexed Czechia and that obviously horrendous things happened.
But that's literally off topic, we're not talking about that. We're talking to why these villages "look German".
The fact of the matter is, is that Hřensko like many other villages and towns and even some cities in this part of Czechia were majority German speaking for the last 500 years. If not longer.
That's a fact. You can try to reject that with your emotions as much as you want, but it doesn't change the reality that these villages for hundreds of years were inhabited mainly by German speakers.
Have you ever wondered why this part of Czechia doesn't really have a distinct dialect of Czech? It's because Czech wasn't the majority language here. It wasn't for hundreds of years. Even government documents of Czechoslovakia recognised that German was spoken by over 90% of the folks in this area of the country.
The only reason why Czech is now the majority language here is because 95% of the population of this part of Czechia got deported and the empty villages were repopulated by Czech speakers from elsewhere in the country.
I'm sorry to tell you, but if you're unable to look at history through a neutral point of view and separate it from your personal emotions, then we're simply walking in circles here. Because of your emotions, you let yourself ignore and basically reject the reality that these villages were inhabited by German speakers, and in doing so, you act like 600 years of cultural history didn't happen.
Just a note: This area was part of the "Sudetenland" for only a couple of years prior to the end of WWII during which this so-called "Sudetenland" actually existed. The terms Sudetendeutsche and Sudetenländer were invented in the early 20th century by German nationalists in an attempt to create some form of unified identity of German-speakers in Czechia, taking inspiration from the term Alpendeutsche used for German-speakers in Austria proper.
This reminds me of Cheddar Gorge, that weird mixture of amazing scenery and weird tat shops.
Schnitzel for breakfast is great! 🤎
That schnitzel looks amazing :D
Greetings from the Czech Republic, Scott!
Probably not many people outside CR and Germany know that most of the Czech-German border areas are former lands of the so-called "Sudetenland" (sometimes it is used by foreigners generally for all border areas in the CR, this is however not very appreciated by Czechs since every particular region has its own name and "Sudetenland has a rather negative connotation in Czech). The area of Hřensko and basically whole Ústí nad Labem region where Hřensko lies, is a former "German region" within the Czech Republic. After the end of the WWII the Czechs saw Germans as conductors of their suffering and violently expulsed almost all Germans, seizing their properties, houses, etc. This would for a long time intensify certain "bad blood" between the Czech Repulic and Germany. During communist rule in Czechoslovakia, the expulsion would be interpreted in favour of Czechs as justified and rational, however after the fall of communism the interpretation would gradually change so today it is generally accepted by the Czech society that the expulsion was unfair and unjustified. And Czechs didn't help themselves very much as the new inhabitants wouldn't form strong links to the land they received and the land would never get as densely populated as it was in the past. That is one of the reason why this region is the poorest in the Czech Republic. (And there are many abandoned old buildings that can also be seen along the rail road from the region to Prague).
Another brilliant video. I wish we could cross land borders, it sounds fun
Very entertaining and informative. Please keep up the great work. Down to earth, no frills blogs with a personal touch. Many thanks!
Thanks scott enjoyed look forward too part 3
Why did the primary school song "Peace is flowing like a river" get stuck in my head watching this video? Very good video though Scott.
Borders. In 1990 I and a friend Hitchhiked from Manchester to Prague , When we reached the West German Border as it was till October 1991 The Crossing point of Waidhaus to Rozvadov, There was still a mile or so of No mans
Land , We decided to camp out in the forest in the middle Of The Neutral zone as it was referred to, As we'd got there early evening, As we walked from the German border police One of them shouted to us "If you have a accident or decide to beat each other up then we or the Czechs won't be able to assist you" !!! . The biggest worry was the fact that there was Wolves that lived in the woods , The forest was untouched by Humans since the end of WW2,
Just remembered it was still Czechoslovakia when we were there.
What a pure dead brilliant video. You have convinced me to go there.
Danke sehr.
Hi Scott! Border towns ALWAYS fascinate me, even between England and Scotland. In Europe, its my dream to load up my car and just do European road trips to check these fascinating places out. Thanks for the video!
Bohemian Switzerland seems to be the coming thing. I just watched a video from OurFreedomYears which featured some spectacular hiking.
It was good meeting you today, hope you have a great Father’s Day.
Some 15 years ago we decided to drive the far end of the Czech Republic for a wedding, instead of flying or taking the train. To go home, we just set the Sat Nav and let it do its thing. We passed through Bad Schandau and I remember the whole valley being really impressive (amazing rocks). I'm glad we decided to go overland as you are left with far more memories than if you fly (but it was close to 1,000 miles of driving each way).
Great video. Can’t wait to see the rest of your trip!
Hrensko looks stunning! What a find
Wow! You are right, tacky but such beautiful geography. Loved your walk through the cemetery and seeing that little chapel.
It is so pretty exactly what you would expect. Walking on that road is pretty scary. Nice scenic walk to start your day.
Done that trip (to Dresden) in February 2020 except I started in Belfast and didn’t fly at all and didn’t see a bed but to explore that area between Dresden and Decin was a great joy and well worth it. I look forward to the rest of your vlogs and thanks for sharing.
Very unique place. Beautiful place I must say. And I wonder why it’s on the border with Czech Republic and Germany. Still it is a beautiful place to visit.
"travelled for about 16 hrs, not slept in 30 hours".
Only one Scott isn't there eh? Brewed in Scotland, from Girders!
Am at Luton airport faced with a "mere" 2 hour delay on a flight to Malta.
Puts things into perspective eh?
Cheers 🎉
Hi Scott,
Interesting series of uploads which I’ve enjoyed watching. Although I was born and grew up in Glasgow, I now live and work in this part of Czech, around 100 km from where you were. Interesting to get your take on places I know well. Hrensko is very much what you said, a real mix of the stunningly beautiful and tack. The shops you highlighted are all run by Vietnamese and are basically tourist traps. Apparently, there was a large Vietnamese immigration into CZ during the Vietnam war, from one communist country, from that time to another. Today, they largely own and work in Asian restaurants, which are similar in popularity here to Indian restaurants in UK, and also in these tourist stalls in the border regions. Pity you didn’t visit the National Park before the huge fire, as you definitely didn’t see it at its very best. The fire happened during a particularly hot and dry spell last year - Global warming? - and was large to the extent you could smell the smoke in Liberec, about 100 km away, while driving in Liberec at one point was like driving through some sort of mist or fog. Keep the uploads coming - really enjoying them, best, Stewart.
Fascinating and unusual travel video. Thanks
Loved Part 1 and here is Part 2! Cheers. ✈️
Love the videos!
The Blue 130km sign you saw at the border denotes the recomended max speed but it`s not compulsary, as you mentioned there is no speed limit on the unrestricted parts of the Autobahn network though
As a new subscriber I am enjoying your videos Scott, Many thanks.
On the subject of land borders have you ever considered making a video of the Scotland /England border?
I realise lot of it passes through rural areas with little population, but where there are people who live close to each other each side of the border, how are their lives different, what are the particular advantages of each side?
I guess there would be a number of anecdotes and facts that would be of interest to viewers.
Great video Scott
Perfect viewing for a Sunday evening 👌
I walked this before glad its still easy going crossing. Hope you get to see Dresden
Here in Bielefeld
we have a tourist train
that goes up to the castle
and up it does go
so if you want to visit the castle in the summer
the best way is on the tourist "train" / bus.
Bielefeld 😳🤔!
Are you sure Bielefeld is not a hoax 🙄😏😬?
Great video scott
Nice video. Bad Schandau is just up the road and is the end of the line for the famous "Weisse Flotte" (White Fleet) of paddle steamers from Dresden - a great trip if you can manage it.
Amazing video
these videos give those of us a look at places we would never see....THANKS
Beautiful I say. Thank you Scott
Here's one for you Scott. If you ever dk go to Dresden, take the train out to Gorlitz. From there you can literally walk into Poland to a little town called Zgorzelec
We need to know amount of knee room on the tourist train 🚆 🤣
Hi fella.. Was down there last December.. From Warsaw to görlitz by bus and then to Liberec Czech and on to prague.. It was bloody freezing!.. But amazing.. See can you get to görlitz in Germany.. Have a great time.
If a speed limit's in a blue square, it's recommended, but not enforced.
Love your content Scott.....from a johnstone boy👍👍👍👍
I remember an interrail trip a couple of years ago, our trip also between Berlin-Dresden. It was a horrible two hours 😂. Our ‘cabin’ in the train had a severe smell of McDonald’s food, as some passengers before us had plunged into the fastfood takeaway world! haha. Fun memories! We really enjoy the fresh air, when we arrived in Dresden, at last! Cheers from Copenhagen.
I don't have the frontierphilia thing but I still feel something special when I cross a border for the first time. I have only been to 40 countries, I still feel that. Or arriving in a new country. It's silly but that's the way it is. Hopefully I will be able to travel soon, after 3 and a half years of covid prison. Looking forward no my Eire and Ulster experiences.
Beautiful little town and area! Reminds me of the Brother's Grimm fairy tales... If you ever get to the Cochem area of Germany, on the Moselle river, please walk through the little town of Ernst and film it. My ancestors lived there until 1853, when they moved to USA. I'd love to see some video of the town. It looks like it has a lot of vineyards there on google earth
Reminds me of Matlock Bath but without the numpties !
The reason that there are still so many ferries on the Elbe is the simple fact that except for Königstein all major tourist destination are on the right bank of the river while the railway was built on the left bank. So many stations are only connected to the towns they are serving by the ferries that have done so since the opening of the railway. The one serving the Bastei is a gier-ferry with no motor to this day.
130km/h is the „recommended“ speed on the Autobahn. Note the difference n the signs.
Suspect you now know 130 is recommended on derestricted parts of the autobahn. If you're doing more than that and you crash then it's assumed to be your fault. Nuances aside of course 🙂 great video as ever!
I think I like the interesting little spaces and ornate carvings in Hrensko better... minus the rows of touristy stalls that seemed to go on forever.
Schmilka is going back to how it used to sustain itself when it was founded, which makes one reflect.
Scott-If you haven’t yet done so,you can bag three ‘frontiers’ at once just outside Bratislava. In a field you can see where Austria,Hungary,and Slovakia meet. Living in Bratislava we found that just a few miles was a languages lesson just waiting to be had!
Czech Republic joined Schengen at the end of 2007.
What a strange area but fascinating all the same
Great video Scott..this area has German (maybe Austrian influence ( i believe may have been part of Sudatenland , which prior to the end of ww1 was Habsburg land ( Austro-Hungarian empire)
Awww you should have gone for a ride on the dotto train 😂That's what they're called in Eastbourne
I wonder if the tourist trap shops are there because it's much cheaper to operate in the Czech Republic than in Germany.
It would be a toss-up between either town to stay in, depending on price - but Schmilka looked like an excellent dining town. Wonder how often you crossed the border for dinner!
That one is easy: There is a ferry from Hrensko over the Elbe to the station of Schöna (I guess the German name for Hrensko), directly opposite. From there you can take the S1 of the Dresden S-Bahn to Königstein, Pirna and Dresden proper. With lower taxes in Chezia on alcohol and tobacco it is a popular daytrip for Saxonians in the area.
The German check point looked so modern, made me think if Czechia only joined the Schengen area recently (but it was actually 13 years before COVID so I don't know if the German side was still being used as a weigh station or what)
Some borders got closed during COVID. I live on The Bavarian border with Austria. There are two bridges that cross between Germany and Austria. At certain points when COVID was high, there were border checks between Germany and Austria, there were times when you needed a PCR to cross the border.
@@tonygrinney7115 Even besides that, they at least upgraded the border between reunification and 2007 when Czechia joined the Schengen Area
Might get used occasionally
Hehe, I do borders as well. Particular favourite are tri-points. You are nit far from the D-C-P tri-point. Which is where I was ambushed by the German po-po the second I walked from Poland into Germany. Literally one minute after I walked from Germany into Poland….
I understand the Vietnamese community in present day Czechia goes back to the days of Communist Czeckoslovakia and student exchange visits with Communist Vietnam, and grew from there.
Share your love of land borders love crossing them on foot .it’s good that a lot of Europe is border free but I kind of miss the formalities if getting your passport stamped.
As a uk passport holder my passport gets stamped now
Just for fun, in Czechia, you do not need a passport to get a stamp. Each information centre has its own stamp/s with an important monument from the area, which they will lend you for free and you can stamp it in your travel book or on a postcard.
Your not the only one whos` not going to ride the train bit looks
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Interesting to read the comments about the areas past connections with Germany and the language.
I believe even today the Netherlands is the only country to border Germany that doesn't either speak German, or have at least a small German speaking minority, generally close to the German border.
On the other- western - sjhore of the Elbe you'll find the railway and the bicycle-path
Fascinating video. Interesting about the staffing of the tacky shops that no-one buys from. No doubt a money laundering front like the Turkish Barbers in the UK and Middle Eastern Beauty Salons in Holland who are also short of customers. Plenty of UK vacancies for the Hrensko orientals in the nail bars and cannabis farms 🙁
Looks like a town in a fairytale. A lovely place to be rooting about. What's conspicuous is the lack of humans - one is a crowd . Culture knows no borders especially when it's in small countries and towns . It's great to be trying out the meal option in these places but unfortunately as you pointed out most are inhouse setups .
Its really a big shame that the village of Hrensko allows such crappy cheap Chinese type goods being sold in market stalls/booths that totally detract from the rest of the village...Otherwise, love your vlog! thank you!
Was it a great idea to give out the code for the accommodation on the internet?
It was a one-time code for him and he uploaded his video several weeks after his stay, so yes it was ok.
Hrensko looks typically european and for me has that "interesting for a single visit only" feel. I think your room and bathroom looked great
If a speed sign in Germany or Austria is blue than it is the adviced speed. Not the maximum speed.
Are you on the film set of Chittty Chittty Bang Bang or something ?? 😁
Swiss artists on the schnapps?
I guess that makes them pish artists🤔
Head to Zittau Saxony where the German , po!ish and Czech borders almost meet !
Looks a bit like Remnich, lux/German border
That schweineschnitzel made my mouth water!
Scott you gotta look after yourself! 30 hours without sleep isnt good!
Welcome to GERMANIEN ! Schnitzel, Sauerkraut, Knödel , Pilsner , Volkswagen and Skoda!
The "tourist train" in Athens didn't seem bad
I would be ok there, as i do speak German.
Scott ,I would say you're probably a Cornation street fan. I like the thumbs down for Bayern Munchen, LOL 😆 😊
Erm, Schmilka maybe?
I used to live in Germany the 130kph is the minimum speed which a vehicle needs to be doing! There are restrictions near city where you we 160kph/100mph. If you do more the 250kph the Polizei will tug you and ask why.
That's not correct, the minimum speed is only 60 kph, the 130 kph is the recommended speed on the autobahn. And near cities, its usually restricted to 100 - 130 kph
U have work commitments as well?
Thats a shame about those street stalls cross between bali and Thailand
Fire extinguisher in case the methane expelled ignites😝
"No, we will not be taking the tourist train." 😅
Those souvenir shops are just awful
Probably money laundering for organised crime
Everything is so different 🥴 -how near is that to pre war Sudentland
Wow,paused at 19:00 fake guns??
Nice room 2:48 . If it had a private toilet and shower would be even better.
God😢 a full week there. 2 days max and move on.
As a base. I'm sure most of the week was taken up visiting places close to Hresko rather than just the immediate vicinity like we see in this video.
Czech Republic joined the EU in 2004