Zaniklá sídla jako místo paměti českého pohraničí / Abondoned settlements as site of memory of the Czech borderland

Abstract

The paper deals with the issue of post-war abandoned communities and settlements in the Czech borderland and the current form and function of these places in society and in the countryside. The paper will first describe the development of abandonment and demolition of the border settlements in its historical and social context. Most of the extinct settlements in the Czech borderland described were levelled in the first years after World War II or during the reign of the communist regime in Czechoslovakia. Most of these settlements were destroyed because of the displacement of Germans from the Czech lands, as they remained permanently abandoned. Other settlements disappeared due to the establishment of a border zone or military training areas. The study will go on to discuss in more detail the theme of the collective recollection of the extinct border settlements from their former inhabitants, in this case mainly among the displaced Germans from the Czech lands. In the next part of the study, some specific activities to popularize and revive the abandoned settlements that occurred mainly after 1989 and are ongoing to the present day will be documented and critically evaluated directly in specific border regions.

Keywords

• abandoned settlements
• migration
• the czech borderland
• collective memory
• 20th century