železniční trať Most – Moldava v Krušných horách Water structure

Welcome to a place where the relentless power of the human spirit meets the untamed beauty and rugged nature of mountain nature. You are standing in the Dubí area, in the very heart of the beautiful and mysterious Ernest Mountains. Before you go any further, stop for a moment and look around you. Feel this space with all your senses. Do you see the steep slopes above you and the deep valleys through which the road is rolling? It is here, in this mountain environment, that a story is taking place that is deeply linked to the industrial history of our entire region. This railway line that you are now observing is not just an ordinary transport section for transporting people or goods. It is a monumental technical work that has had to overcome huge natural obstacles to bring together human destinies, economic power and cities. Can you feel the strange atmosphere? It's air full of history, technical progress and constant, age struggle between man and mountain matter.

Let us now move further into the past together so that we really understand why this place has gained such a significant weight and why it is so important to us today. To understand the essence of everything you see, we must return to the second half of the nineteenth century. That was the era when the world around us was changing because of steam, iron and especially coal. This track, which connects the Bridge with Moldova, was not built for tourist entertainment, as we may see today. Its creation had a very clear, practical and uncompromising goal. The whole region was in full bloom at the time because of intense mining. The main task of this railway was to ensure safe, fast and especially constant transport of black gold, i.e. coal, to neighbouring Saxony. Imagine the tremendous effort and logistical challenge that people were facing back then. Thousands of tons of coal had to travel every day through these steep mountains to power machines abroad and keep fires in factories and households. This line was a real artery to industrial development. Without it, economic growth in this area would not be so fast and so effective. But with time, her character began to change. In the period between the two world wars the track became a popular place for people who were looking for an escape from the urban rush and for peace in nature. The pure industrial pillar became a journey for travelers and lovers of mountain beauty who wanted to experience adventure in these heights.

Now pay attention to what is right in front of you. Although it is not a building with high towers or decorated facades, its true beauty is hidden in technical precision and in how it was able to align itself with extremely demanding terrain. This track is known in professional circles as Teplický Semmering. That name is not random at all. It reminds you of other famous mountain tracks and immediately tells you what you can expect in this environment. It is a track with a great elevation that flows through mountains and requires incredible technical skill at every metre of its lead. Feel the railroad trying to use every piece of space nature has allowed. Focus on the technical details you can see here. It is a real water work and technical art in one, because every detail had to take into account the work with water and the stability of slopes. Every stone detail, every leveling of terrain, and every way the track was put into a rock or slope, tells the story of human ingenuity. Although these details may be inconspicuous to the eye of the layman, for anyone who understands construction, they are evidence of incredible work. Take a look at the surrounding environment and see how human work strives in harmony, albeit with great effort, to align with the face of the mountain.

Although we will not find in our records the names of particular architects or famous personalities who direct this line, we must imagine them in our minds. Imagine the thousands of workers who laid every track here in difficult and dangerous conditions, in rain, in snow and in cold. Imagine the engineers who had to perform complex calculations to make each slope and every arc safe for heavy freight trains carrying coal. We don't know their faces, but their legacy is still alive and tangible here. It is a legacy of people who believed in the power of technology and in building connections between people, cities and states. This track was for them and for the people around it an eye to the wider world, a path that brought movement, life and new possibilities for the whole region.

It may seem to you that this railroad is indestructible, but nature always demands its price. I want to tell you one interesting, albeit slightly dramatic, event that took place in the recent past. In the year two thousand and seventeen something very unexpected and disturbing happened in the Mikulov region. There were landslides which were so strong that they had to lead to a complete closure of the line for all transport. This whole section, which was so historically important, suddenly quieted. People were worried that this historic journey would ever be reopened and that nature would never take possession of it. Fortunately, however, human will and technical knowledge have proved stronger than unstable soil. During the year two thousand and eighteen, the reconstruction of the section between Miklov and Moldova was completed and the track came back to life. This event reminds us of how fragile our technology can be in confrontation with the country's unsurpassed forces. And remember, since the year 2000, thanks to its exceptional historical and technical characteristics, this section, specifically between Louka and Litvinov and Moldova, has been registered as a cultural monument. This means that its value is not only in its current functionality, but in what it represents for our common heritage and our history.

Now that you've learned more about this special place and its difficult journey through time, I suggest you continue your journey. Go through the surrounding countryside, feel the silence of the mountains and the sound that still resonates. Each meter of this track has its own story, waiting for you to discover it yourself. Thank you for spending this moment with us and for taking an interest in the history of this place. We wish you a wonderful journey and many other experiences in the next survey of our historical shredders. Goodbye.