Monument to the Kings of Šumava, Monument in the village of Kvilda, Prachatice district

The Monument to the Kings of Šumava is a granite obelisk taken from the Vltava River, standing on a raised spot beside a path a few dozen metres from a wooden footbridge over the Teplá Vltava near Kvilda, at the Františkov settlement. It bears a Czech–German inscription; the Czech part reads that free-minded citizens left their homeland along this trail after February 1948.

The memorial was unveiled on 19 June 2004, initiated by the Circle of Friends of Czech-German Understanding, hotelier František Talián and the Radost tourist service in Kvilda. It stands on the smuggling route called "Channel 54", used by the courier Kilián "Franz" Nowotny, and recalls the guides who led people across the closed border after February 1948. One participant of the betrayed crossing of May 1950 attended the ceremony.

The name "Kings of Šumava" refers to the smugglers and guides who led people across the closed border in the 1940s and 1950s. The memorial stands on the route called "Channel 54", used by Kilián "Franz" Nowotny. Its Czech inscription recalls citizens who left their homeland after February 1948 and those who risked their lives to guide them.

The monument stands on a raised spot beside the road linking Kvilda and Borovy Laky, a few dozen metres from the wooden footbridge over the Tepla Vltava near Frantiskov. It lies in the former border zone, closed to the public until 1989, so approach on foot from the Kvilda side. The granite obelisk and its Czech-German inscription face the old smuggling path.

The memorial stands on the smuggler route called "Channel 54", used by Kilián "Franz" Nowotny, a Czech-German smuggler and agent of the American CIC. He claimed some 2,000 illegal border crossings between Bavaria and Šumava. In May 1950 a group he led into Czechoslovakia fell into a StB trap near the memorial; Nowotny escaped back to Bavaria, and the other three were caught within three days.