The Großer Zschirnstein () is the highest hill in the
Saxon
The Saxons ( la, Saxones, german: Sachsen, ang, Seaxan, osx, Sahson, nds, Sassen, nl, Saksen) were a group of Germanic
*
*
*
*
peoples whose name was given in the early Middle Ages to a large country (Old Saxony, la, Saxonia) near the Nor ...
and
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 ...
part of the
Elbe Sandstone Mountains
The Elbe Sandstone Mountains, also called the Elbe Sandstone Highlands (german: Elbsandsteingebirge; cs, Děčinská vrchovina), are a mountain range straddling the border between the state of Saxony in southeastern Germany and the North Bohemian ...
.
Origin of the name
The name appears to be derived from the Slavic root word for "black".
Location and area
There are two climbing peaks on the Großer Zschirnstein - the Großer and Kleiner Zschirnsteinturm ("Great" and "Little Zschirnstein Tower"). There is also the ''Südwand (IV)''
climbing route
A climbing route is a path by which a climber reaches the top of a mountain, rock, or ice wall. Routes can vary dramatically in difficulty and grade; once committed to that ascent, it can sometimes be difficult to stop or return. Choice of rout ...
that ends directly at the highest point on the hill. This climbing route is one of the three exceptions to
Saxon climbing regulations
Saxon Switzerland (german: Sächsische Schweiz) is the largest and one of the best-known climbing regions in Germany, located in the Free State of Saxony. The region is largely coterminous with the natural region of the same name, Saxon Switzer ...
which state that climbing of massifs is generally forbidden.
On the south summit, near the viewing point, a Nagel Column (''Nagelsche Säule'') has stood since 1865. It recalls August Nagel, the head of survey in Saxony in the 19th century. The survey was carried out using
triangulation
In trigonometry and geometry, triangulation is the process of determining the location of a point by forming triangles to the point from known points.
Applications
In surveying
Specifically in surveying, triangulation involves only angle me ...
. Other trig points in the area are located ''inter alia'' on the Raumberg, the Lilienstein, the Cottaer Spitzberg and the Hoher Schneeberg. The column on the Großer Zschirnstein was lost around 1900. In May 2011 a replica was erected in its place.
Geology
This typical table hill is made of sandstone. On the summit plateau is a
Tertiary
Tertiary ( ) is a widely used but obsolete term for the geologic period from 66 million to 2.6 million years ago.
The period began with the demise of the non-avian dinosaurs in the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event, at the start ...
basaltic
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% of a ...
extrusion
Extrusion is a process used to create objects of a fixed cross-sectional profile by pushing material through a die of the desired cross-section. Its two main advantages over other manufacturing processes are its ability to create very complex c ...
which was quarried in a small quarry in order to win gravel.
View
The following hills, rock formations and settlements can be seen from the Großer Zschirnstein (from northeast through south to northwest):
Falkenstein
Falkenstein or Falckenstein ("falcons' stone" in German) may refer to:
Places
Austria
* Falkenstein, Lower Austria, a market town in the district of Mistelbach
Germany
* Falkenstein, Bavaria, a market town in the district of Cham
* Falkenst ...
,
Schrammsteine
The Schrammsteine are a long, strung-out, very jagged group of rocks in the Elbe Sandstone Mountains located east of Bad Schandau in Saxon Switzerland in eastern Germany. To the north they are bordered by the Kirnitzsch valley, to the south by the ...
Großer Winterberg
Großer Winterberg is a mountain of Saxony, southeastern Germany. It is the second highest mountain of the Saxon Switzerland and is located on the border between Germany and the Czech Republic
The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is ...
,
Zirkelstein
The Zirkelstein is the smallest table hill of Saxon Switzerland, in Germany. It is a wooded, cone-shaped hill with a striking summit block of sandstone rock.
Location and area
The Zirkelstein is located five kilometres southeast of Bad Schanda ...
,
Kottmar
Kottmar ( hsb, Kotmar) is a mountain of Saxony, southeastern Germany. It is part of the Lusatian Highlands
The Lusatian HighlandsPrebischtor, Mezní Louka (''Rainwiese''),
Vlčí hora
The Vlčí hora (German: ''Wolfsberg'', 581 m) is one of the most prominent peaks in the lowlands of the Šluknov Hook (''Šluknovsko'') in the Czech Republic.
Location and area
The Vlčí hora is located in the Šluknov Hook, six kilometres we ...
(''Wolfsberg''),
Jedlová
Jedlová (german: Schönbrunn) is a municipality and village in Svitavy District in the Pardubice Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 1,100 inhabitants.
Jedlová lies approximately south-west of Svitavy, south-east of Pardubice, and east ...
Růžovský vrch
The Růžovský vrch, also ''Růžák'' (German: ''Rosenberg'') is the dominant mountain (619 m) in the Bohemian Switzerland east of the River Elbe in the Czech Republic. Its almost circular cone shape makes it one of the most typical representati ...
(''Rosenberg''),
Ještěd
Ještěd (; german: Jeschken) is the highest mountain of the Ještěd–Kozákov Ridge in the north of the Czech Republic, at . It is the symbol of the city of Liberec.
On the summit is the Ještěd Tower restaurant, hotel and television tower, ...
(''Jeschken''), Klíč (''Kleis''), Bezděz (''Bösig''), Buková hora (''Zinkenstein'') (with its prominent TV tower), Lovoš (''Lobosch''), Kletečna (''Kletschen''),
Milešovka
Milešovka is with its 837 m the highest mountain of České Středohoří, Czech Republic. The height difference between the foot and summit is 300 metres. Alexander von Humboldt claimed the view to be the third nicest view in the world.
Dresden
Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label=Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth larg ...
.
Air crash
On 14 February 2010 around 8.20 pm a
Cessna Citation 550
The Cessna Citation II are light corporate jets built by Cessna as part of the Citation family.
Stretched from the Citation I, the Model 550 was announced in September 1976, first flew on January 31, 1977, and was certified in March 1978.
The ...
light aircraft crashed into the southern flank of the hill in a craggy area. The aircraft belonged to the Czech airline,
Time Air
Time Air was an airline in Canada founded in 1966 by businessman Walter “Stubb” Ross from Lethbridge in Alberta. It was called Lethbridge Air Service before becoming Time Airways Ltd. which was then shortened to Time Air Ltd. In 1993 it ...
, and was under way from
Prague
Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...
to
Karlstad
Karlstad (, ) is the 20th-largest city in Sweden, the seat of Karlstad Municipality, the capital of Värmland County, and the largest city in the province Värmland in Sweden. The city proper had 65,856 inhabitants in 2020 with 95,167 inhabitants ...
in
Sweden
Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...
. The two pilots were killed. According to an evaluation of the
voice recorder
A dictation machine is a sound recording device most commonly used to record speech for playback or to be typed into print. It includes digital voice recorders and tape recorder.
The name "Dictaphone" is a trademark of the company of the same ...
the cause of the crash was an
aerobatic
Aerobatics is the practice of flying maneuvers involving aircraft attitudes that are not used in conventional passenger-carrying flights. The term is a portmanteau of "aerial" and "acrobatics". Aerobatics are performed in aeroplanes and glid ...
manoeuvre (
aileron roll
The aileron roll is an aerobatic maneuver in which an aircraft does a full 360° revolution about its longitudinal axis. When executed properly, there is no appreciable change in altitude and the aircraft exits the maneuver on the same heading ...
) for which the aircraft is not authorised.
Sächsische Zeitung dated 3 March 2010
See also
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List of mountains in the Elbe Sandstone Mountains
This list of mountains and hills in the Elbe Sandstone Mountains contains a selection of the highest mountains, hills and crags in the Elbe Sandstone Mountains that straddle the Germany, German-Czech Republic, Czech border.
The key to abbreviation ...