14.Mikulov – soutok Moravy a Dyje
Lenght: 37 km
Border checkpoints:
Valtice – Schrattenberg (A,T)
Poštorná – Reintal (A, T)
Břeclav – Hohenau (R)
Other sights:
Lednicko-valtický areal (www.lednicko-valticky-areal.cz))
Mikulov (www.mikulov.cz)
Description:
From the border crossing Mikulov – Drasenhofen, near which there is a former Border Guard troop house, the service road leads to the east, along the railway track. After several kilometres it gets near to Sedlec, where used to be another Border Guard troop. From there the road leads to the south to Úvaly, which the service road encircles and continues to the border crossing Valtice/Schrattenberg. There the service road climbed to the Border Guard building Valtice – Rajsna, where the clearing stripe in the wood is well visible. A little way further it bypasses a chateau park and continues to another troop house Valtice – Celnice.
From there it leads to the south-east towards the village Boří Dvůr, where used to be an eponymous Border Guard troop. The service road bypasses the village and turns to the north-east. At the beginning of the wood, which is circa 2 km from Boří Dvůr, the road turns to the east and continues to the Natural Reserve Františkův pond and goes along its southern bank to the railway track Břeclav /Hohenau. Nearby there is a place, where one can unofficially, but easily cross the border to Austria. There used be the guard post Vašek, which was the least popular among the Boarder Guard members .It was near the railway bridges over Dyje at Poštovná and it guarded the bridges and their access paths. It was not liked especially, because the troop house was near, so the soldiers used to be inspected often by their superiors. On the bridge there used to go trains pulled by very noisy Austrian locomotives.
At the railway track the red KČT path connects and the service road follows it to the Border Guard bridge over Dyje at Pohansko. The river is shallow in one place there. In 1974 or 1975 it was used by three eastern Germans to emigrate to Austria. They were lucky. The young Boarder Guard soldier fell asleep in the watch tower and the signal wall malfunctioned, which was not unusual, because it was time of floods and heavy rains. From there the road leads to the south along the fence of the deer-park Soutok. The fencing of the deer-house uses parts of the iron curtain. The original gates of the Border Guard have been preserved in the fencing. After 4 km we get near a hunting lodge Lány, where used to be another Border Guard troop house. The road leads to the south then and after five kilometres we get to another Border Guard troop house - Ruské domky. In this area we can see an embankment, which was to protect the area from frequent floods.
In this area and in the whole Břeclav region, served the 4th battalion of the Border Guard Břeclav. The battalion was founded in 1951 as a part of the 4th border brigade of MNB, transformed in January 1952 to 4th border brigade of MNB. In 1955 it was renamed to 5th battalion and in 1964 it returned to its original name. It ceased to exist in 1966. The 4th battalion of the 4th brigade of the Border Guard was renewed in 1973. Its definitive end came in 1991 when the Border Guard was abolished. The service road continued to the south then and after five kilometres it reaches the confluence of rivers Morava and Dyje, where the Czech part of the former iron curtain ends.