The municipality of Křinice, also known as Weckersdorf to the German-speaking population, is located in the north of the Czech Republic, on the border with Poland in the Star Mountains. The University of Königgrätz has put a small topotheque online here as a study object, in which it shows some old views of the village, mostly from the holdings of the Braunauer Heimatmuseum in Forchheim and the Benedictine Abbey of Rohr.
They show that the landscape around Weckersdorf was also used for tourism early on. For example, the summer resort with the whimsical name Amerika ‘idyllically situated below the Sterngebirge mountains directly by the forest’ offered ‘tourists and summer holidaymakers the most pleasant stay’. The view to the north towards nearby Braunau provides a stark contrast between the wooded landscape of Weckersdorf and the modernised city with its high-rise buildings.
It is to be hoped that what began as a university project will ignite the enthusiasm of the community to allow this Topotheque to continue to grow!
P.S.: If you can’t immediately find the village on our cover picture: it is marked on this photo.