The Sudetenland border still remains a frontier

The historical border of the Sudetenland still creates a divide between the population of the Czech Republic. Although it has not formally existed since the end of the Second World War, it is still visible in various demographic and social phenomena. A study by SYRI National Institute researchers Pavlina Netrdová and Matěj Korčák proved this. They chose the Sudetenland, which was home to a predominantly German-speaking population until the expulsion, to study and measure the effect of the so-called phantom border.

Phantom borders are former political borders that have not existed for decades, but their presence is still visible in the current socio-geographical differentiation. "It may seem that borders are no longer important in today's hyperconnected world where capital, goods and people move without many barriers. But this is a mistake, because they still have a significant impact on everyday life, and the Sudetenland is no exception in this sense. We see differences on both sides of this phantom border in education, demographic characteristics and other phenomena. However, they differ depending on the historical context and subsequent spatial processes, and are thus not identical along the entire length of the border," says Pavlína Netrdová of the National Institute of SYRI and Charles University.

 Read more: Full article: Measuring and mapping the existence of phantom borders at a local scale: example of Sudetenland in Czechia (tandfonline.com)