History - Hartmanice

The original settlement was built on the municipal footway leading from Bavaria to Bohemia on the spot where the custom duty charges used to be collected. In 1273, Přemysl Otakar II permanently adjoined the entire frontier to the Czech Royal Crown. Since that year, Hartmanice started to quickly develop and started gaining on its significance. That was also due to gold mining activities in the vicinity. On June 15, 1607, Rudolf II bestows to the town the right of the weekly market, the right of two anniversary markets, the municipal coat of arms, and the right to seal using the green wax. The town’s efflorescence had been stopped by the Thirty Years’ War, the gold mines were abandoned and the town was burned down. Hartmanice remained to be left totally desolate for the period of several years. Not until the second half of the 17th century it started to be gradually populated by the Swabian Germans and had remained the German settlement until 1918. The revival of the Bohemian element in Hartmanice starts dawning after the year of 1918. The credit for that can be given to the Bohemian Elementary School, which commenced the lectures on the 1st of February 1920. After the announcement of annexation in 1938, the Hartmanice territory was legislatively and administratively adjoined to Bavarian Province. In June 1945, new Czech settlers overtake the most important stores, entrepreneurships, and farmsteads. The evacuation of the German nationality population had begun. A status of the City was bestowed upon Hartmanice in 1992. In the course of following years, the modern system of central heating based on combustion of wood waste was constructed in Hartmanice to decrease the environmental pollution in the city located on the boundary of Šumava National Park (the Bohemian Forest National Park).

Sport - Hartmanice

The Hartmanice region is a place for romantic walks through the nature into the deep forests, or for the hiking tours to the hills of the mountains. It is the landscape with a number of views to the mountain summits with an almost intact air environment. That is why this region is becoming the target of many domestic and foreign visitors. The marked hiking footways and the thick network of bicycle tracks are the important helpers for the visitors. The multipurpose field in the city provides options for enjoyment of sports like soccer, volleyball, soccertennis, and tennis. The ski lift is available in winter (a single-seater at Hamižná Hora – the length of 521 yard / 570 meters). The very easily accessible spots are the following: the riding club in Palvínov (a riding school), riding halls in Jiřičná and Divišov, outdoor swimming pool in Petrovice, and cross-country skiing tracks in the Šumava National Park. The nearby Otava River is often being utilized by water sportsmen and fishermen (trout-fishing waters).

Tours - Hartmanice

With its surroundings, Hartmanice is the area of extraordinary historical values. The dominant feature of the community is the neo-gothic Church of St. Kateřina from the 15th century, rebuilt into the baroque style in the 18th century. The statue of St. Jan Nepomucký is erected under the 400-year old lime tree at the upper Hartmanice Square, and the stone public fountain from the first half of the 19th century stands in the middle of the square. The folk architecture is represented by the farm homestead with a small balcony and black kitchen. The former synagogue built around 1883 is now under reconstruction. The Dobrá Voda place of pilgrimage is located not even two miles (three kilometers) away from Hartmanice. The Church of St. Vintíř with a unique glass altar is found here, including its glass Way to Calvary and the spring well with “healing water”. The further sights include: the Karlov Small Manor House, the Hamižná nature trail, the remainders after gold and quartz mining operations, the Šumava architecture (Bohemian Forest architecture), the Vintíř’s Footway, the Farmář’s Footway, the Vintíř’s Rock, and the Chapel of St. Vintíř at Březník. Furthermore, the pitchy oven in Radkov (engineering historical sight), the Mountains of Křemelná 1,230 yards ASL (1,125 meters ASL), Březník 1,100 yards ASL (1,006 meters ASL) and Hamižná 936 yards ASL (856 meters ASL), the Hellish Cave (inaccessible to public), the Church of St. Mořic at Mouřenec. Furthermore, the “Kepelské mokřady” (Kepel’s Wetlands) – a natural preserve, the “Kochánovské pláně“ (the Kochánov Plains), the “Hadí vrch” (Snake Hill) – extraordinary vistas are available from the Hadí vrch, the meanders of Křemelná Streamlet, the mortuary planks at Kochánov, the Mochov – a group of historical larch trees, the Křemelná Mountain, the “Sněžné jámy” (Snow Caves) – the remainders of gold mines, the “Údolí Pstružného potoka” (the Valley of Trout Creek) – towards the former “Královácký’s Rychtas” (Rychta = Office of Village Mayor), the Mouřenec – the Church of St. Mořic from the 13th century (one of the oldest Šumava churches), the baroque ossuary from the 18th century, the Annín – a glass factory (telephone + 420 376 593 381), the trout hatchery, the Prášilské Lake, the Laka Lake, the Poledník observation tower, the Vydra River, the Tříjezerní slať (the Three Lake Fen), the “Vchynicko-Tetovský plavební kanál” (the Vchynice-Tetov Navigable Canal), and the Castles of Kašperk, Velhartice and Rabí.