Třeboňsko Protected Landscape Area, Protected landscape area in South Bohemia, Czech Republic

The Wittingauer Becken is a protected landscape in South Bohemia with wetlands, forests, and extensive fishponds watered by two main rivers. This landscape mosaic developed over centuries through the transformation of swamps into a system of water surfaces and cultivated land.

The first written record of settlement dates from the 12th century, when a small hamlet called Vítkův Luh, held by Vítek z Prčic, grew into the town of Třeboň. In the 14th century the Rožmberk family acquired Třeboň and the first fishponds were founded. Under Petr IV, Josef Štěpánek Netolický built the artificial Zlatá stoka canal, and in the 16th century Jakub Krčín z Jelčan added many more ponds for the last Rožmberks.

The name Třeboňsko comes from the town of Třeboň, which grew out of the 12th-century settlement Vítkův Luh. Fishing shaped the region: the Zlatá stoka canal, built by Josef Štěpánek Netolický, still feeds the ponds, and Jakub Krčín z Jelčan added many more under the Rožmberks. The Rosenberg tomb stands on the bank of a Třeboň pond.

The protected area covers 687 km² between 406 and 541 m above sea level, with its highest point east of Mirochov. The administration and the Dům přírody (House of Nature) are based in Třeboň, a useful starting point for orientation. Paths run along the artificial canals and fishponds, so expect wet ground in the peat-bog and wetland sections.

The area contains 16 sites of European importance and plays a surprising role as one of Europe's largest freshwater fish producers. This economic distinction is often invisible to visitors at first glance, yet shapes the entire region in subtle ways.