The vanished village of Zhůří near Rejštejn (German: Haidl) is located along the road from Rejštejn to Horská Kvilda. Since 1961, the area has been part of the town of Rejštejn.
A place with the special atmosphere of abandoned villages, shaped by the difficult lives of people who were born here for centuries, struggled to survive, and eventually died here.
Hikers are rewarded with stunning views of the Šumava mountain ridges and the prominent Rachel peak in the Bavarian Forest.
As early as the 14th century, the Kašperské Hory branch of the Golden Trail passed through the area. The first written record dates from 1785, though the settlement likely arose about a century earlier in connection with nearby glassworks.
In 1900, the village had 20 houses, the Chapel of St. Wenceslas, and a total of 168 inhabitants of German nationality.
In the pre-war period, on Christmas Eve 1937 at 17:37, a tragic and mysterious air accident occurred near the village. A passenger plane on the Bucharest–Vienna–Prague–Paris route crashed into the northeastern slope of Huťská hora at an altitude of 1080 meters above sea level. Both crew members and the sole passenger, Dr. Fladerka, died. Rumors spread about secret documents allegedly carried by Dr. Fladerka that were said to compromise Hitler himself.
Between 1945 and 1947, the entire population was expelled. In 1952, the village was taken over by the military and gradually demolished. According to reports, soldiers kept pigs in the partially ruined chapel for several years.
New barracks were built, and two Soviet radar stations were installed nearby. In the 1980s, a helicopter base operated here to guard the state border.
The barracks were abandoned in 1990, and the decaying buildings were demolished in 2009. Four former officer houses have been converted into vacation homes.
