Paper short abstract:

This paper analyses the Tatras as a space where the conflict between nature, man, and technology takes place in the era of state socialism. Technocrats wanted to carry out plans to transform nature into a tourist landscape and scientists pointed to the irreversible destruction of the environment.

Paper long abstract:

During the 1960s, the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic, as part of the Eastern Bloc, gradually emerged from international isolation and began to open up to foreign tourists. Tourism profits became an important source of foreign convertible currencies compared to exporting goods. So, the state was interested in maximizing the number of visitors to Czechoslovakia, especially so-called 'dollar tourists.' The number one tourist destination became the Tatras. Ever since the 19th century, its crystal-clear lakes, lush forests, and unpolluted air have been highlighted by travelers and hikers. That is why the socialist technocrats wanted to carry out experiments and megalomaniac plans to transform nature into a tourist landscape. New car roads, campsites, cable cars, and hotels were built. Some futuristic technologies such as Alweg monorail were planned. After the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships in 1970, however, the technocrats came into open conflict with scientists and environmentalists, who pointed to the irreversible destruction of the natural environment of the High Tatras and Štrbské Pleso. Scientists warned against similar projects in national parks and started talking about sustainable tourism. The conflict came to a head in the early 1980s when an Olympic complex was to be built in the Tatras for Czechoslovakia to host the 1984 Winter Olympics. The paper will analyse the Tatras as a space where the conflict between nature, man, and technology takes place in the era of state socialism.