The Božídarský Špičák (german: Gottesgaber Spitzberg) is the third highest mountain of the Ore Mountains. It lies in the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

near the highest town in Central Europe,

Boží Dar Boží Dar (german: Gottesgab) is a town in Karlovy Vary District in the Karlovy Vary Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 200 inhabitants. Situated in the Ore Mountains at above sea level, it is considered the highest town in the Czech Rep ...

Location and surrounding area

The Božídarský Špičák lies two kilometres southwest of

on the plateau of the Ore Mountains. The summit and the southern slopes belong to the municipal territory of

Jáchymov Jáchymov (); german: Sankt Joachimsthal or ''Joachimsthal'') is a spa town in Karlovy Vary District in the Karlovy Vary Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 2,300 inhabitants. The historical core of the town from the 16th century is we ...

, the northern slopes belong to Boží Dar. At the western foot of the summit there is an observation point near the ruins of the Spitzberghäuser, including those of the inn, ''Zur Wunderblume''. To the northwest on the Černá creek is the Myslivny Reservoir.

Geology

The Božídarský Špičák is the highest nephiline

basalt Basalt (; ) is an aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the surface of a rocky planet or moon. More than 90 ...

summit (''

kuppe A ''Kuppe'' is the term used in German-speaking central Europe for a mountain or hill with a rounded summit that has no rock formation, such as a tor, on it. A range of such hills is called a ''Kuppengebirge''. In geology the term also refers to ...

'') in Central Europe.

Nature

The summit and the surrounding area with the peat bogs is protected as the Božídarské rašeliniště National Nature Reserve. For nature conservation reasons its summit is not open to the public.

History

Towards the end of the 19th century a wooden observation tower was erected on the summit, the key to which had to be borrowed from the Spitzberghäusern. However, after a few years the tower fell into ruins due to the effects of the weather and had to be demolished.

Views

From the western foot of the Božídarský Špičák there is a panoramic view of the Ore Mountain ridge towards the west between Plešivec and

Auersberg Auersberg is a mountain in the Ore Mountains in Saxony, southeastern Germany. Auersberg is a 1018.2 m above sea level. It is located in the district of Wildenthal not far from the Czech border southeast of Eibenstock and northwest of Johanngeor ...

. To the south the view offers, where it is not blocked by trees, views of the valley of the river

Ohře The Ohře () or, slightly less commonly in English sources, the Eger (, Czech also: ''Oharka'' or ''Ohara'', Celtic: ''Agara'', pl, Ohrza), is a 316 km river in Germany (50 km) and the Czech Republic (266 km), left tributary of ...

References