The Beginnings and Development of Fish Farming on the Krajíř of Krajk Estates in the Nová Bystřice and Southern Třeboň Regions

During the 16th century several pond systems were established in southern Bohemia. In the area of Nová Bystřice and Chlumec, the beginnings of a systematic fish farming business are connected with the Krajíři of Krajk (Kreiger von Kreig / Kraiger von Kraig) family. Ponds were important not only for economic profit, but also for providing enough fish for the inhabitants, cultivating marshes and preventing floods. The end of the fish farming activity here came in the second half of the 16th century, when the family was no longer able to finance the fish ponds, ceased building them and had to gradually sell their estates. The article illustrates the gradual construction of the pond system based mainly on the research of fragmentary written and iconographic sources and identifies individual water works that determined the specific landscape character in the eastern part of the border region of South Bohemia and have been preserved to this day. It thus creates an information base for further study of the origin and development of these specific landscape features.

Keywords: pond system; 15th and 16th century; Nová Bystřice domain; Landštejn domain; Chlum u Třeboně domain; Krajířové of Krajk; Mikuláš Ruthard of Malešov