Nová Louka

Nová Louka (german: Neuwiese or ) is a mountain meadow in Jizera Mountains (in Czech Jizerské hory) near the city of Bedřichov, district of

Jablonec nad Nisou Jablonec nad Nisou (; german: Gablonz an der Neiße) is a city in the Liberec Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 45,000 inhabitants. It is the second-largest city in the region. It is a local centre for education, and is known for its glass ...

. It is situated in the north of the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

, approximately 130 km from

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

. There is Blatny brook (in Czech Blatný potok) flowing through the meadow. Nová Louka is an important cross-road of tourist paths in Jizera Mountains. There is sometimes used an alternative, less common name for the meadow which is Šámalova louka after the Czech politician

Přemysl Šámal is a Czech masculine given name. The Polish alternative is Przemysł or Przemysław. Famous bearers Czech royals * Přemysl the Ploughman – mythical founder of the Bohemian royal dynasty of Přemyslids * Přemysl I Otakar – king of Boh ...

who resided in the house on the meadow. Šámal was the head of the Office of the President of Czechoslovakia during the

First Czechoslovak Republic The First Czechoslovak Republic ( cs, První československá republika, sk, Prvá česko-slovenská republika), often colloquially referred to as the First Republic ( cs, První republika, Slovak: ''Prvá republika''), was the first Czechoslov ...

; he took part in resistance movements during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and II, and ultimately died in the Nazi prison in

Moabit Moabit () is an inner city locality in the borough of Mitte, Berlin, Germany. As of 2016, around 77,000 people lived in Moabit. First inhabited in 1685 and incorporated into Berlin in 1861, the former industrial and working-class neighbourhood i ...

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

. The meadow is a protected area with peat moor and several protected plants, including

hellebore Commonly known as hellebores (), the Eurasian genus ''Helleborus'' consists of approximately 20 species of herbaceous or evergreen perennial flowering plants in the family Ranunculaceae, within which it gave its name to the tribe of Helleboreae. ...

. It was created in 1630 when the trees were cut for the construction of houses in

Jičín Jičín (; german: Jitschin or ''Gitschin'') is a town in the Hradec Králové Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 16,000 inhabitants. The historic town centre is well preserved and is protected by law as an Cultural monument (Czech Republi ...

and

Liberec Liberec (; german: Reichenberg ) is a city in the Czech Republic. It has about 103,000 inhabitants and it is the fifth-largest city in the country. It lies on the Lusatian Neisse, in a basin surrounded by mountains. The city centre is well preser ...

, two important industrial cities in the region. The meadow was first used as a pasture for cows. In 1756, Mr. Riedel built a glass works there, together with a residential timbered house. He was operating the works until 1817. Twenty years later, the works was demolished. In 1844, the residential house was sold to the Clam-Gallas family, local nobility, which reconstructed the house in a spectacular hunting hut. Today, the hut is called Šámalova chata. On 29 July 1897, the local meteorological station measured 345 mm of rainfall which has been a European record until today. {{DEFAULTSORT:Nova Louka Tourist attractions in the Czech Republic Meadows Geography of the Czech Republic Grasslands of Europe