History
The first settlements in the area date back to prehistory. Later on, Celts, German tribes resides in the valleys until they left in 5th century. Later came Lusatian Sorbs. In the 14th century, German-speaking colonists came and started clearing of the dense primeval forests. Permanent settlements were established. In the 16th century, several glass works were founded. Glassmaking had a profound effect on the ecosystem. The primeval forest was gradually replaced by fast-growing spruce monoculture. Other important industries included tin-mining, metallurgy and textile. The Tabulový kámen (German: Tafelstein), 1072 m) on the northern edge of the Smrk Mountain marked the border between the properties of the Counts of Gallas in Friedland, Bohemia, the von Gersdorff family from Meffersdorf, Upper Lusatia, and the Counts of Schaffgotsch from Schreiberhau, Silesia.
In the second half of the 20 century the character of the Jizera Mountains changed completely. The German population of the area was expelled in 1945 and replaced by Poles on the now Polish and Czechs on the Czechoslovakian side of the mountains. The ecosystem was badly hit by emissions, produced by lignite fired power stations located in the Zittau basin. Weakened spruce forest, less resistant against various types of parasites, were on the verge of extinction. The higher parts of the mountains, once densely wooded, became largely treeless, in part also because of excessive deforestation. New roads cut through the once secluded landscape. The situation improved only after the fall of communism in 1989. Open-pit coal mines in the former East Germany were closed, as well as several major power plants. Emission filters were installed at the immense Turów power station in Bogatynia on the Polish side of Lusatian Neisse. At the same time large-scale reforestation projects were started.
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“The thing that struck me forcefully was the feeling of great age about the place. Standing on that old parade ground, which is now a cricket field, I could feel the dead generations crowding me. Here was the oldest settlement of freedmen in the Western world, no doubt. Men who had thrown off the bands of slavery by their own courage and ingenuity. The courage and daring of the Maroons strike like a purple beam across the history of Jamaica.”
—Zora Neale Hurston (1891–1960)
“There is one great fact, characteristic of this our nineteenth century, a fact which no party dares deny. On the one hand, there have started into life industrial and scientific forces which no epoch of former human history had ever suspected. On the other hand, there exist symptoms of decay, far surpassing the horrors recorded of the latter times of the Roman empire. In our days everything seems pregnant with its contrary.”
—Karl Marx (1818–1883)
“You that would judge me do not judge alone
This book or that, come to this hallowed place
Where my friends’ portraits hang and look thereon;
Ireland’s history in their lineaments trace;
Think where man’s glory most begins and ends
And say my glory was I had such friends.”
—William Butler Yeats (1865–1939)