Acta onomastica

Published date: 2024

Author: Ptáčníková, Martina

Abstract: Famed for the impressive sandstone towers, deep ravines and powerful spirit of the place, the Adršpach-Teplice Rocks in the north-east of Bohemia are a popular tourist spot. This contribution investigates the toponymy of the Rocks from the 18th century, when tourists started to flock here, until present. Readers are reminded of place names that were conceived as having a strong advertising function – this is because their aim was to attract new tourists. These include e.g. Švýcarské údolí (Swiss Valley), Itálie (Italy), Krakonošova harfa (The Lord of the Mountains’ Harp), and Goetheho jeskyně (Goethe’s Cave). Place names created by gamekeepers and filmmakers are also mentioned – the former include Stalinova paseka (Stalin’s Clearing) while U partyzána (At the Partisan’s) is an example of the latter. We seek to provide a contrastive analysis of the toponymy of the Adršpach-Teplice Rocks and other areas with sandstone rocks situated elsewhere in the Czech Republic, also focusing on how the post-Second World War demographic transformation of the Czechoslovak border areas was reflected in the toponymy of the Rocks. The conclusion of the contribution also addresses place names found in information panels that are some of the constituents of the contemporary linguistic landscape of the Rocks.

Range of pages: pp. 169–190

Peer reviewed state: peer reviewed

License: CC BY 4.0