Čerchov (german: Schwarzkopf) is the highest mountain in the

Upper Palatine Forest The Upper Palatine Forest (german: Oberpfälzer Wald or ''Böhmischer Wald'', cs, Český les) is a mountain range in Central Europe that is divided between Germany and the Czech Republic. It is part of the larger Bohemian Massif and the German ...

, at above sea level.

Location

The peak of Čerchov lies about 2 km from the

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus' Places *Czech, ...

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

border. It lies on the municipal border between Česká Kubice and Pec, southwest of

Domažlice Domažlice (; german: Taus) is a town in the Plzeň Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 11,000 inhabitants. The historic town centre is well preserved and is protected by law as an urban monument reservation. Administrative parts The tow ...

History

After its use by the

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmacht''" replaced the previous ...

in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

the summit was intensively used by the

Warsaw Pact The Warsaw Pact (WP) or Treaty of Warsaw, formally the Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance, was a collective defense treaty signed in Warsaw, Poland, between the Soviet Union and seven other Eastern Bloc socialist republic ...

until the 1990s as a surveillance station and was placed out of bounds to the public. In addition to the observation tower erected in 1904 by

Vilém Kurz Vilém Kurz (23 December 1872 – 25 May 1945) was a Czechs, Czech pianist and renowned piano teacher. Career Kurz was born in Havlíčkův Brod, Německý Brod, Bohemia in 1872. He became a professor at the State Conservatory in Lviv and Vi ...

and known as the Kurz Tower, a second, larger tower was built in 1987 by the

Czechoslovak Army The Czechoslovak Army (Czech and Slovak: Československá armáda) was the name of the armed forces of Czechoslovakia. It was established in 1918 following Czechoslovakia's declaration of independence from Austria-Hungary. History In the fi ...

which is used today for flight safety purposes and is not accessible. The corresponding NATO communication station was located on the

Hoher Bogen The Hohe Bogen (archaically often Hohenbogen) is a roughly 8-kilometre-long mountain ridge in the Bavarian Forest. It rises in the Bavarian province of Upper Palatinate in the county of Cham and is almost equally divided between the municipalit ...

about 20 km away to the southeast. Other surveillance posts were sited ''inter alia'' on the Velký Zvon (German: ''Plattenberg'', with a tower of very similar design built in 1978 and which had line-of-sight to the Čerchov site) and the Dyleň. As well as the

Soviet Army uk, Радянська армія , image = File:Communist star with golden border and red rims.svg , alt = , caption = Emblem of the Soviet Army , start_date ...

the site was also used by Hauptabteilung III of the

East German East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...

Stasi The Ministry for State Security, commonly known as the (),An abbreviation of . was the Intelligence agency, state security service of the East Germany from 1950 to 1990. The Stasi's function was similar to the KGB, serving as a means of maint ...

as a listening post (codenamed RUBIN). Following the opening of the border and

reunification of Germany German reunification (german: link=no, Deutsche Wiedervereinigung) was the process of re-establishing Germany as a united and fully sovereign state, which took place between 2 May 1989 and 15 March 1991. The day of 3 October 1990 when the Ge ...

the listening posts were closed and from July 2000 the Kurz Tower has been accessible once more. The mountain offers an all-round view of the

Bavarian Forest The village of Zell in the Bavarian Forest The Bavarian Forest (German: ' or ''Bayerwald''; bar, Boarischa Woid) is a wooded, low-mountain region in Bavaria, Germany that is about 100 kilometres long. It runs along the Czech border and is con ...

and the Czech Plain. In good weather conditions, the

Alps The Alps () ; german: Alpen ; it, Alpi ; rm, Alps ; sl, Alpe . are the highest and most extensive mountain range system that lies entirely in Europe, stretching approximately across seven Alpine countries (from west to east): France, Sw ...

may be seen. There is an

amateur radio Amateur radio, also known as ham radio, is the use of the radio frequency spectrum for purposes of non-commercial exchange of messages, wireless experimentation, self-training, private recreation, radiosport, contesting, and emergency communic ...

on the mountain.

References

External links

Die Geschichte des Čerchov

Čerchov-Diashow auf ''waldberge.de''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cerchov One-thousanders of the Czech Republic Mountains and hills of the Czech Republic Observation towers in the Czech Republic Mountains and hills of the Upper Palatine Forest