Jizera Mountains ( cz, Jizerské hory), or Izera Mountains ( pl, Góry Izerskie; german: Isergebirge), are part of the
Western Sudetes
The Western Sudetes ( pl, Sudety Zachodnie; cs, Krkonošská oblast; german: Westsudeten) are a geomorphological macroregion, the western part of the Sudetes subprovince on the borders of the Czech Republic, Poland and Germany. They are formed mo ...
on the border between 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 ...
and
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...
. The range got its name from the
Jizera River
The Jizera ( pl, Izera; german: Iser) is a river that begins on the border between Poland and the Czech Republic (in the Liberec Region in northern Bohemia) and ends in Central Bohemian Region. It is 167.0 km long, and its basin area is about ...
, which rises at the southern base of the
Smrk
Smrk may refer to:
* Smrk (Jizera Mountains), the highest mountain in the Jizera Mountains of Bohemia, Czech Republic at 1124m
* Smrk (Moravian-Silesian Beskids)
Smrk is a massif and a mountain in the Moravian-Silesian Beskids range in the Czec ...
massif. The
beech
Beech (''Fagus'') is a genus of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to temperate Europe, Asia, and North America. Recent classifications recognize 10 to 13 species in two distinct subgenera, ''Engleriana'' and ''Fagus''. The ''Engle ...
forests within the Jizera Mountains were added to the
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...
World Heritage Site
A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...
known as
Ancient and Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians and Other Regions of Europe
Ancient and Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians and Other Regions of Europe is a transnational serial nature UNESCO World Heritage Site, encompassing 94 component parts (forests of European beech, ''Fagus sylvatica'') in 18 European countr ...
, because of their outstanding preservation and testimony to the ecological history of Europe (and the
beech
Beech (''Fagus'') is a genus of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to temperate Europe, Asia, and North America. Recent classifications recognize 10 to 13 species in two distinct subgenera, ''Engleriana'' and ''Fagus''. The ''Engle ...
Lusatian Mountains
The Lusatian Mountains ( cs, Lužické hory; german: Lausitzer Gebirge; pl, Góry Łużyckie) are a mountain range of the Western Sudetes on the southeastern border of Germany with the Czech Republic. They are a continuation of the Ore Mountains ...
(
Zittau Mountains
The Zittau Mountains (german: Zittauer Gebirge, cs, Žitavské hory), formerly also called the Lusatian Ridge (''Lausitzer Kamm''), refer to the German part of the Lusatian Mountains that straddle the Saxon- Bohemian border in the extreme sout ...
) in the northwest to the
Krkonoše
The Giant Mountains, Krkonoše or Karkonosze (Czech: , Polish: , german: Riesengebirge) are a mountain range located in the north of the Czech Republic and the south-west of Poland, part of the Sudetes mountain system (part of the Bohemian Massi ...
in the southeast. The Jizera Mountains comprise the sources of the Jizera river, as well as of the
Kwisa
The Kwisa (german: Queis, hsb, Hwizdź) is a river in south-western Poland, a left tributary of the Bóbr, which itself is a left tributary of the Oder river.
It rises in the Izera Mountains, part of the Western Sudetes range, where it runs alo ...
and the
Lusatian Neisse
The Lusatian Neisse (german: Lausitzer Neiße; pl, Nysa Łużycka; cs, Lužická Nisa; Upper Sorbian: ''Łužiska Nysa''; Lower Sorbian: ''Łužyska Nysa''), or Western Neisse, is a river in northern Central Europe.granite
Granite () is a coarse-grained (phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies undergro ...
, in the northern part from
gneiss
Gneiss ( ) is a common and widely distributed type of metamorphic rock. It is formed by high-temperature and high-pressure metamorphic processes acting on formations composed of igneous or sedimentary rocks. Gneiss forms at higher temperatures an ...
es and
mica
Micas ( ) are a group of silicate minerals whose outstanding physical characteristic is that individual mica crystals can easily be split into extremely thin elastic plates. This characteristic is described as perfect basal cleavage. Mica is ...
schist
Schist ( ) is a medium-grained metamorphic rock showing pronounced schistosity. This means that the rock is composed of mineral grains easily seen with a low-power hand lens, oriented in such a way that the rock is easily split into thin flakes o ...
s, with some areas formed from
basalt
Basalt (; ) is an aphanite, 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 planetary surface, surface of a terrestrial ...
.
The weather conditions are characterized by above-average annual
precipitation
In meteorology, precipitation is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that falls under gravitational pull from clouds. The main forms of precipitation include drizzle, rain, sleet, snow, ice pellets, graupel and hail. ...
. On 30 July 1897, the measuring station at
Nová Louka
Nová Louka (german: Neuwiese or ) is a mountain meadow in Jizera Mountains (in Czech Jizerské hory) near the city of Bedřichov, district of Jablonec nad Nisou. It is situated in the north of the Czech Republic, approximately 130 km from ...
recorded a daily precipitation amounting to 345.1 mm (13.6 inches), still an unbroken European record.
Peaks
The highest peak is Wysoka Kopa (''Hinterberg'', 1,127 m, 3,698 feet) near the town of
Szklarska Poręba
Szklarska Poręba (german: Schreiberhau) is a town in Jelenia Góra County, Lower Silesian Voivodeship, in south-western Poland. The town has a population of around 6,500. It is a popular ski resort.
An important regional and national centre fo ...
in Poland. Neverteheless, a better-known mountain is Smrk (1124 m, 3,688 feet), with a recently rebuilt look-out tower. Other peaks include Jizera (1,122 m, 3,681 feet) and Stóg Izerski (''Heufuder'', 1,107 m, 3,632). The peaks in order of elevation:
* Wysoka Kopa (''Hinterberg''), 1,127 m; highest peak of the Jizera Mountains
*
Smrk
Smrk may refer to:
* Smrk (Jizera Mountains), the highest mountain in the Jizera Mountains of Bohemia, Czech Republic at 1124m
* Smrk (Moravian-Silesian Beskids)
Smrk is a massif and a mountain in the Moravian-Silesian Beskids range in the Czec ...
(''Tafelfichte''), 1,124 m; highest peak of the Bohemian Jizera Mountains
* Jizera (''Siechhübel''), 1,122 m
* Stóg Izerski (''Heufuder''), 1,107 m
* Smědavská hora (''Wittigberg''), 1,084 m
*
Bukovec Bukovec may refer to:
Places Croatia
*Bukovec, a village in the municipality of Selnica, Međimurje County
* Bukovec Zelinski, a village, Zagreb County
* Mali Bukovec, a municipality and village, Varaždin County
* Veliki Bukovec, a municipality ...
(''Buchberg''), 1,005 m; one of the highest basalt peaks in Europe
*
Hvězda Hvězda is the Czech word for "star" and may refer to:
* Rudá Hvězda Brno, a defunct sports club
* ''Rudá Hvězda Cheb'', the communistic name for a football club now known as FK Union Cheb
* Letohrádek Hvězda, a villa in Prague
See also
* ...
(''Stefanshöhe''), 959 m
*
Černá Studnice Černá may refer to:
* Černá, Semily District, a village near Lomnice nad Popelkou, Czech Republic
* Černá (Žďár nad Sázavou District), a village in the Czech Republic
* Černá v Pošumaví, a village in South Bohemia, Czech Republic
* Č ...
(''Schwarzbrunnberg''), 869 m
* Tanvaldský Špičák (''Tannwalder Spitzberg''), 831 m; skiing region near
Tanvald
Tanvald (; german: Tannwald) is a town in Jablonec nad Nisou District in the Liberec Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 6,000 inhabitants.
Administrative parts
The town part of Šumburk nad Desnou and the village of Žďár are administrat ...
prehistory
Prehistory, also known as pre-literary history, is the period of human history between the use of the first stone tools by hominins 3.3 million years ago and the beginning of recorded history with the invention of writing systems. The use of ...
. Later on,
Celt
The Celts (, see pronunciation for different usages) or Celtic peoples () are. "CELTS location: Greater Europe time period: Second millennium B.C.E. to present ancestry: Celtic a collection of Indo-European peoples. "The Celts, an ancient ...
s,
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 ...
tribes resides in the valleys until they left in 5th century. Later came
Lusatian Sorbs
Sorbs ( hsb, Serbja, dsb, Serby, german: Sorben; also known as Lusatians, Lusatian Serbs and Wends) are a indigenous West Slavic ethnic group predominantly inhabiting the parts of Lusatia located in the German states of Saxony and Brandenb ...
. In the 14th century, German-speaking colonists came and started clearing of the dense
primeval forest
An old-growth forestalso termed primary forest, virgin forest, late seral forest, primeval forest, or first-growth forestis a forest that has attained great age without significant disturbance, and thereby exhibits unique ecological featur ...
s. Permanent settlements were established. In the 16th century, several
glass
Glass is a non-crystalline, often transparent, amorphous solid that has widespread practical, technological, and decorative use in, for example, window panes, tableware, and optics. Glass is most often formed by rapid cooling (quenching) of ...
works were founded. Glassmaking had a profound effect on the
ecosystem
An ecosystem (or ecological system) consists of all the organisms and the physical environment with which they interact. These biotic and abiotic components are linked together through nutrient cycles and energy flows. Energy enters the syste ...
. The primeval forest was gradually replaced by fast-growing
spruce
A spruce is a tree of the genus ''Picea'' (), a genus of about 35 species of coniferous evergreen trees in the family Pinaceae, found in the northern temperate and boreal (taiga) regions of the Earth. ''Picea'' is the sole genus in the subfami ...
monoculture. Other important industries included tin-mining, metallurgy and textile.
The Tabulový kámen (german: Tafelstein), 1072 m) on the northern edge of the Smrk Mountain marked the border between the properties of the Counts of in Friedland,
Bohemia
Bohemia ( ; cs, Čechy ; ; hsb, Čěska; szl, Czechy) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. Bohemia can also refer to a wider area consisting of the historical Lands of the Bohemian Crown ruled by the Bohem ...
Upper Lusatia
Upper Lusatia (german: Oberlausitz ; hsb, Hornja Łužica ; dsb, Górna Łužyca; szl, Gōrnŏ Łużyca; pl, Łużyce Górne or ''Milsko''; cz, Horní Lužice) is a historical region in Germany and Poland. Along with Lower Lusatia to the ...
(Unięcice, now part of Wigandsthal) and the Counts of
Schaffgotsch
The House of Schaffgotsch is the name of an old and influential Silesian noble family which dates back to the thirteenth century.
History
Around 1240, the first Schaffgotsch appears in a Silesian document as "Sibotho de nobili Familia Ovium" (" ...
Silesia
Silesia (, also , ) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at around 8,000,000. Silesia is split ...
.
In the second half of the 20th century, the ecosystem was badly hit by emissions, produced by
lignite
Lignite, often referred to as brown coal, is a soft, brown, combustible, sedimentary rock formed from naturally compressed peat. It has a carbon content around 25–35%, and is considered the lowest rank of coal due to its relatively low heat ...
fired
power station
A power station, also referred to as a power plant and sometimes generating station or generating plant, is an industrial facility for the generation of electric power. Power stations are generally connected to an electrical grid.
Many p ...
Black Triangle Black triangle may refer to one of the following:
* Black triangle (badge), a Nazi concentration camp badge worn by inmates deemed "asocial"
** LGBT symbols#Triangle badges of Nazi Germany, Lesbian or feminist symbol reclaimed from the Nazi use
* A ...
. Weakened spruce forest, less resistant against various types of
parasites
Parasitism is a Symbiosis, close relationship between species, where one organism, the parasite, lives on or inside another organism, the Host (biology), host, causing it some harm, and is Adaptation, adapted structurally to this way of lif ...
, were on the verge of extinction. The higher parts of the mountains, once densely wooded, became largely treeless, in part also because of excessive deforestation. New roads cut through the once-secluded landscape.
The situation improved only after the
fall of communism
The Revolutions of 1989, also known as the Fall of Communism, was a revolutionary wave that resulted in the end of most communist states in the world. Sometimes this revolutionary wave is also called the Fall of Nations or the Autumn of Natio ...
in 1989.
Open-pit
Open-pit mining, also known as open-cast or open-cut mining and in larger contexts mega-mining, is a surface mining technique of extracting rock (geology), rock or minerals from the earth from an open-air pit, sometimes known as a Borrow pit, b ...
coal mines in the former
East Germany
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 ...
were closed, as well as several major power plants. Emission filters were installed at the immense
Turów Power Station
Turów Power Station is a coal-fired power station in Bogatynia, Poland. The power station, operated by state-owned Polska Grupa Energetyczna via Oddział Elektrownia Turów, is fuelled by lignite extracted from the nearby Turów coal mine
The ...
in
Bogatynia
Bogatynia (; German: ''Reichenau in Sachsen'') is a town in Zgorzelec County, Lower Silesian Voivodeship, in south-western Poland. As of December 2021, the town has a population of 16,460.
Geography
The municipal area forms Poland's "Turoszów p ...
on the Polish side of
Lusatian Neisse
The Lusatian Neisse (german: Lausitzer Neiße; pl, Nysa Łużycka; cs, Lužická Nisa; Upper Sorbian: ''Łužiska Nysa''; Lower Sorbian: ''Łužyska Nysa''), or Western Neisse, is a river in northern Central Europe.
The Jizera Mountains are an attractive location for winter sports, cycling and hiking. The centre for both downhill skiing and ski run is Bedřichov. The international cross-country races ''Jizerská 50'' and ''Bieg Piastów'' (in Polana Jakuszycka) take place there. Its summer MTB counterpart is also gaining popularity.
The towns surrounding the mountains include
Liberec
Liberec (; german: Reichenberg ) is a city in the Czech Republic. It has about 103,000 inhabitants and it is the fifth-largest city in the country. It lies on the Lusatian Neisse, in a basin surrounded by mountains. The city centre is well preser ...
,
Frýdlant v Čechách
Frýdlant (; also known as Frýdlant v Čechách, german: Friedland in Böhmen) is a town in Liberec District in the Liberec Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 7,400 inhabitants. The town centre is well preserved and is protected by law a ...
,
Nové Město pod Smrkem
Nové Město pod Smrkem (; german: Neustadt an der Tafelfichte) is a town in Liberec District in the Liberec Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 3,700 inhabitants.
Administrative parts
Villages Hajniště and Ludvíkov pod Smrkem are admini ...
Szklarska Poręba
Szklarska Poręba (german: Schreiberhau) is a town in Jelenia Góra County, Lower Silesian Voivodeship, in south-western Poland. The town has a population of around 6,500. It is a popular ski resort.
An important regional and national centre fo ...
, Desná,
Tanvald
Tanvald (; german: Tannwald) is a town in Jablonec nad Nisou District in the Liberec Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 6,000 inhabitants.
Administrative parts
The town part of Šumburk nad Desnou and the village of Žďár are administrat ...
and
Jablonec nad Nisou
Jablonec nad Nisou (; german: Gablonz an der Neiße) is a city in the Liberec Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 45,000 inhabitants. It is the second-largest city in the region. It is a local centre for education, and is known for its glass ...
.
Protections
Large parts of the Jizera Mountains are under some form of protection. In the smaller Polish parts, the
peat bog
A bog or bogland is a wetland that accumulates peat as a deposit of dead plant materials often mosses, typically sphagnum moss. It is one of the four main types of wetlands. Other names for bogs include mire, mosses, quagmire, and muskeg; a ...
s in Jizera Valley are part of a relatively small nature protection of about 5 km²; Rezerwat Torfowiska Doliny Izery. In the Czech parts, Jizera Mountains Protected Landscape Area (''CHKO Jizerské hory'') covers 368 km², or almost all of the Czech parts of the mountains. This landscape protection contains several reserves, including the Jizera Dark Sky Park (''Rašeliniště Jizery''), dedicated to star watching.
Literature
* Weiss, Siegfried (2000) Moje Jizerky - Jizerské hory v proměnách času, Mein Isergebirge - Das Isergebirge im Wandel der Zeit, My Jizera Hills - The Jizera Mountains through a changing of time, Buk
* Nevrlý, Miroslav (1996) Kniha o Jizerských horách, 3rd edition, Civitas