Golden Road

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Bundle of ravines on the Golden Road, ground monument near Hirschau

A land connection between Nuremberg and Prague is known as the Golden Road . The designation “ gulden straß ” can be traced back to 1513 for various late medieval trade routes. The origin of the name is traced back to Charles IV , who was located on a territorial connection between his Bohemian ancestral lands and the imperial cities of Nuremberg and Frankfurt . Today follow the B 14 between Nuremberg and Hirschau, then from there - deviating from the B 14 (!) - the further north via Kohlberg - Weiden - Bärnau, as well as the Dálnice 5 from Prague to Pilsen and only from there To the north-west roughly the course of the old roads. It remained - leaving the direct east-west direction ("Forbidden Road" via Waidhaus- Rozvadov / Roßhaupt) - thus in the territorial area of ​​the Kingdom of Bohemia and in the so-called "New Bohemia". The BAB 6 as part of the European route 50 is called Via Carolina and represents the direct east-west connection. The so-called "Goldene Steig" describes another historical connection that leads further south over / through the Bohemian Forest to Bohemia.

history

The Golden Street has been the most important trade route between Nuremberg and Prague since the 13th century . The route lies on a connection that was used in prehistoric times. However, their heyday began under Emperor Charles IV as a connection between Bohemia and the west of the empire.

Hiking trail Goldene Straße Schild in the old town of Weiden idOPf.

Charles IV acquired the Upper Palatinate in the fifties and sixties of the 14th century through purchase, marriage, pledging, inheritance and diplomacy . The area was now called New Bohemia . Before the time of Charles IV, this was a torn territory with many owners. The expansion of the country enabled Charles IV to get from Prague to Nuremberg safely and without paying customs duties . This also gave him the opportunity to represent and a good opportunity to show closeness to the people. In addition, the connection guaranteed the emperor a comfortable and inexpensive journey to his Luxembourg domestic power goods, which is why the route was actually designed from Prague to Luxembourg.

The importance of the street is also evident in the military protection of the street: numerous caretaker offices and castles lined its path. Nevertheless, there were reports of raids from time to time, so in 1395 a Strasbourg embassy was captured near Tachau and another near Bärnau was robbed. Nevertheless, late medieval trade routes mainly consisted of the traces that the wagons had created over time.

Wall painting Goldene Strasse (Weiden, Königstrasse 15).

Charles IV declared this road to be the imperial road and decreed that only on it the Bohemian kings should take their way to the imperial diets and imperial elections. He himself traveled 52 times on Golden Street, which also gave him and his family the opportunity to appear in public and to present themselves.

In addition to the political, the Golden Road was also of great economic importance. From Bohemia came hides, wax , spices, copper , tin , iron , herrings, tallow , ham, salt, loden and oxen. Flemish cloth, seeds, grain, wine, wool and iron goods were delivered to Bohemia. The German Hanseatic League, the most important economic association of the Middle Ages and early modern times, also used the Golden Road as a trade route.

But the Golden Road was not only a witness of politics and economy, a reformer of religion once traveled along it: In 1414 Jan Hus went from his native Bohemia to the council in Constance , where he ended up at the stake. His followers , who saw themselves as his avengers, in turn used them for warlike purposes. On their campaigns, which they ironically called “lovely journeys”, they invaded the Upper Palatinate several times and spread fear and terror. The German armies that opposed them marched three times between 1422 and 1430 on the Golden Road to their rallying point Weiden, from where each time they went into a crushing defeat.

With the fall of the Iron Curtain , the Golden Road was able to regain at least some of its importance as a trade route . The historically grown trade route is now ideal for cycling and hiking, for example on the hiking trail between Sulzbach-Rosenberg and the state border (93 km), which is signposted by the Upper Palatinate Forest Association , or the section from Nuremberg to Sulzbach-Rosenberg (58 km) maintained by the Franconian Albverein .

origin of the name

The name Golden Street has been the proven name for the northern route from Prague via Pilsen and Tachov through the “New Bohemian” area ( Bärnau , Weiden , Sulzbach , Lauf ) to Nuremberg since 1513 . The southern and shorter route variant from Pilsen via Pfraumberg and Waidhaus via the territory of the Landgraves of Leuchtenberg is also mentioned as the Forbidden Road in the late Middle Ages . However, there is no evidence of a usage ban for this route, although it did not have the privileges of the northern variant.

course

According to the will of Charles IV, the connection between Nuremberg and Prague was to be made by a road that only touched Bohemian territory. Therefore, the route was precisely defined:

Around 1490 there were complaints mainly from the cities of Tachau, Bärnau and Weiden, because the southern and alternative route between Hirschau and Stříbro (Mies) is becoming more and more common

was used.

The further course:

In the first German road map by the Nuremberg cartographer Erhard Etzlaub from 1501, however, the route via Weiden and Bärnau is still the only connection between Nuremberg and Prague. Etzlaub certainly relied on the information provided by Nuremberg traders.

The extension of the Golden Street from Nuremberg to the imperial city of Frankfurt a. Main (variant):

Wilhermsdorf- Emskirchen- Neustadt adAisch -Markt Bibrach -Markt Einersheim -Iphofen -Mainbernheim -Kitzingen -Rottendorf -Würzburg / Heidingsfeld -Kist -Warmbrunn -Homburg a.Main - Kreuzwertheim-Hasloch -Wertheim -Schollbrunn -Rohrbrunn -Hessenthal -Oberbessenbach -Hessenthal -Oberbessenbach -Hessenthal Aschaffenburg -Babenhausen -Seligenstadt -Sachsenhausen / Frankfurt a.Main

Web links

Commons : Via Carolina  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d Ulrich List: Golden Street. Historical Lexicon of Bavaria , March 18, 2011, accessed June 4, 2011 .
  2. ↑ http://www.goldene-strasse.de
  3. ^ The Golden Road in Bavaria and Bohemia. Retrieved April 22, 2014 .