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A Bohemian track (german: Böhmischer Steig, cz, Česká stezka) or Bohemian way (''Böhmweg'') refers to various communication routes over the ridges of the Vogtland, the Ore Mountains, the Elbe Sandstone Mountains and the Lusatian Mountains, which linked the region of the
A Bohemian track (german: Böhmischer Steig, cz, Česká stezka) or Bohemian way (''Böhmweg'') refers to various communication routes over the ridges of the Vogtland, the Ore Mountains, the Elbe Sandstone Mountains and the Lusatian Mountains, which linked the region of the March of Meissen
The Margravate of Meissen (german: Markgrafschaft Meißen) was a medieval principality in the area of the modern German state of Saxony. It originally was a frontier march of the Holy Roman Empire, created out of the vast ''Marca Geronis'' (Saxon ...
and Upper Lusatia with Bohemia
Bohemia ( ; cs, Čechy ; ; hsb, Čěska; szl, Czechy) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. Bohemia can also refer to a wider area consisting of the historical Lands of the Bohemian Crown ruled by the Bohem ...
from the late 11th century. In 1118 there is the first indirect reference to the existence of such a link in a document in which there is mention of a customs post in the vicinity of the present-day town of Zwickau.
The first direct reference is in 1143 when a document records a ''semita bohemica'' that ran from Altenburg
Altenburg () is a city in Thuringia, Germany, located south of Leipzig, west of Dresden and east of Erfurt. It is the capital of the Altenburger Land district and part of a polycentric old-industrial textile and metal production region betw ...
via Waldenburg and Zschopau to Bohemia. Another reference appears in 1185. In the description of the border of the territory of Altzella Abbey
Altzella Abbey, also Altzelle Abbey (german: Kloster Altzella or ''Altzelle'', previously ''Cella'' or ''Cella Sanctae Mariae''), is a former Cistercian monastery near Nossen in Saxony, Germany. The former abbey contains the tombs of the Wetti ...
we read: " ... ab illo per antiquam Boemie semitam ...". This was a route that went from Waldheim via Sayda and the saddle near Deutscheinsiedel to Most (now Brüx).
Colloquially many of these Bohemian trails were also called salt roads. One example ran from Leipzig past present-day Neuhausen and over the Deutscheinsiedler Saddle towards Prague.
See also
*Ore Mountain passes
The Ore Mountain passes (german: Erzgebirgspässe) are crossings and passages over the crest of the Ore Mountains in Central Europe, over which tracks, roads, railway lines and pipelines run from the Free State of Saxony in the Federal Republic o ...
* Salt trade
A salt road (also known as a salt route, salt way, saltway, or salt trading route) refers to any of the prehistoric and historical trade routes by which essential salt was transported to regions that lacked it.
From the Bronze Age (in the 2nd m ...
Literature
* {{Authority control Ancient roads and tracks Elbe Sandstone Mountains Lusatian Mountains Ore Mountains Vogtland Bohemia