The Village of Adršpach
History, Rock Explorations and Settlement

In the prehistoric period the region in which the Adršpach rocks are situated was covered by a vast primeval forest. The whole complex of the present Czech-Polish border mountains including the Giant and the Eagle Mountains was called Hercynian forest in the times of the Romans. In the prehistoric times a passage connected the Labe River lowlands and the East Bohemian settlement region via Branka u Náchoda with the Klodzko basin and the Baltic Sea. This passage was a much sought-after amber collecting locality. Unique discoveries of an arched bowl and ceramic pieces dating back to the La Téne culture were made in Svatá hora near Adršpach. Before the Premyslide state was established, the entire East Bohemian territory was the domain of the Slavníkovci dynasty. The scroll of Henry VI lists that the region had been assigned to the second dynasty of the Charvats in 1086. The consolidation process and establishing of the Premyslide domain was distorted by Boleslaw the Courageous' invasion of Bohemia in 1003.

As long as the thick forest spread over the landscape, the local rock formations were hardly distinct. The border forest was a term coined when first settlements in the area came into being. The forest served as a natural guard that protected Bohemia. First historical reports mentioning the local sandstone rock formations speak about the Broumov Walls (Broumovské stěny). This rock range separating the Police and Broumov Basins was known even to the prehistoric man. The fitting title Walls was first documented in 1213. The Břevnov Monastery scrolls listed this title in 1229. At that time, the colonization of the area approached the group of Adršpach-Teplice Rocks from two directions. From the east the settlements followed the Metuje River; westward settlements progressed along the Dřevíč (Olšovka) creek. The colonization is said to have originated in Stárkov. The village of Teplice, as well as the castles of Střmen and Adršpach, were built in the end of the 13th century on the Metuje River. Later a third castle named Skály (Rocks) was erected in the area. All three castles served as points of protection it the wild landscape.