Introductory Definition and Geographical Context
The landscape of the Central Bohemian Uplands represents an extraordinarily complex palimpsest in which geological forces intertwine with millennia of human activity. A specific and exceptionally eloquent phenomenon of this region is the extinct settlements in the so-called Sudetenland, which for centuries shaped both the economic and cultural character of the mountains, only to be irreversibly erased from the map within a fraction of historical time—during a single decade of the twentieth century. One of the most striking examples of this process, encapsulating the history of settlement, agricultural cultivation, ethnic conflict, military destruction, and paradoxical ecological restoration, is the extinct settlement of Babiny I (Pištěk, 2006; Severní Polabí, undated).
Historically and administratively, this locality was also referred to as Babina A, or in German Babina I, thereby strictly distinguishing it from the nearby settlement Babiny II (Babina B, today part of the municipality of Homole u Panny). The geographical position of Babiny I represented an extreme within the context of the Central Bohemian Uplands. With an elevation of 550 metres above sea level, it was one of the highest permanently inhabited settlements in the entire mountain range. The settlement lay on the exposed and climatically harsh southern foothills of Babinský vrch, whose summit reaches 626 m above sea level. From the perspective of the historical communication network, the village was situated at a strategically important crossroads of old mountain roads and sunken lanes connecting the settlements of Ovčárna, Čeřeniště and Lbín.
The study of the history of Babiny I requires a multidisciplinary approach combining demographic analysis, the study of cadastral sources, the evaluation of military-political changes after 1945, and, not least, the analysis of environmental impacts resulting from human absence. From today’s perspective, Babiny I represents a fascinating case study of a settlement that has undergone a complete life cycle. From both a historical and ecological point of view, however, its story is inherently paradoxical: the absolute physical destruction of human habitation and the subsequent long-term isolation of the area within a strictly guarded military zone created entirely unexpected conditions for the preservation and later protection of unique natural habitats, which we now admire as the Babinské louky nature monument.