A summit cross (german: Gipfelkreuz) is a
cross
A cross is a geometrical figure consisting of two intersecting lines or bars, usually perpendicular to each other. The lines usually run vertically and horizontally. A cross of oblique lines, in the shape of the Latin letter X, is termed a s ...
on the
summit of a
mountain or
hill
A hill is a landform that extends above the surrounding terrain. It often has a distinct summit.
Terminology
The distinction between a hill and a mountain is unclear and largely subjective, but a hill is universally considered to be not as ...
that marks the top. Often there will be a
summit register (''Gipfelbuch'') at the cross, either in a container or at least a weatherproof case.
Various other forms of marking or symbol such as
cairn
A cairn is a man-made pile (or stack) of stones raised for a purpose, usually as a marker or as a burial mound. The word ''cairn'' comes from the gd, càrn (plural ).
Cairns have been and are used for a broad variety of purposes. In prehi ...
s,
prayer flags or
ovoo
Ovoo, oboo, or obo ( mn, овоо, bua, обоо, kjh, обаа, Traditional Mongol: , "heap"; Chinese: 敖包 ''áobāo'', lit. "magnificent bundle .e. shrine) are sacred stone heaps used as altars or shrines in Mongolian folk religious pr ...
s may be found around the world on passes and hills, in particular on
sacred mountains. In the Italian Alps a
Madonna is sometimes placed at the summit instead of a cross.
Summit crosses are normally about two to four metres high and are usually made of wood or metal. In April 2010, the world's first glass summit cross was erected on the ''Schartwand'' (2,339 m) in
Salzburg's
Tennengebirge
The Tennen Mountains (german: Tennengebirge) is a small, but rugged, mountain range in the Northern Limestone Alps, which lies in front of the Eastern Alps for its entire length. It is a very heavily karstified high plateau, about 60 km² in ...
mountains. Summit crosses are mainly found in Catholic regions of 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 ...
, especially in Austria, Switzerland and Bavaria, mountainous regions of Poland, but also in America. They usually stand on mountains whose summits are above the
tree line, but they are also found in the German
Central Uplands
The Central UplandsDickinson (1964), p.18 ff. (german: die MittelgebirgeN.B. In German die ''Mittelgebirge'' (plural) refers to the Central Uplands; das ''Mittelgebirge'' refers to a low mountain range or upland region (''Mittel'' = "medium" and ...
, for example in the
Black Forest
The Black Forest (german: Schwarzwald ) is a large forested mountain range in the States of Germany, state of Baden-Württemberg in southwest Germany, bounded by the Rhine Valley to the west and south and close to the borders with France and S ...
on the
Herzogenhorn
The Herzogenhorn is a mountain, , in the southwest German state of Baden-Württemberg. It lies within a nature reserve in the municipality of Bernau im Schwarzwald.
Location and surrounding area
The Herzogenhorn is the source region for thre ...
.
History
By the end of the 13th century a few large crosses had been erected in passes and on hills. Examples from this period include the ''Confin Cross'' in
St. Valentin
St. Valentin (also referred to as ''Sankt Valentin'') is the most westerly town in the district of Amstetten in Lower Austria in Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern pa ...
on the
Mals Heath, which also acted as a boundary marker, or crosses on the
Arlberg
Arlberg () is a massif between Vorarlberg and Tyrol in Austria. The highest peak is the Valluga at . The name ''Arlberg'' derives from the tradition of the "Arlenburg", who are said to have once established themselves on the Tyrolean side of the A ...
, the
Gardena Pass
Gardena Pass ( it, Passo Gardena; german: Grödnerjoch; lld, Ju de Frara or ''Jëuf de Frea'') is a high mountain pass in the Dolomites of the South Tyrol in northeast Italy.
At an elevation of above sea level, the pass connects Sëlva in the V ...
or
Birnlücke
The Birnlücke () is the border pass at the western end of the Hohe Tauern mountains in Austria, between the Venediger Group and the adjoining Zillertal Alps. The border between Austria and Italy has run over the pass since 1919. The pass forms th ...
.
An early example of a large cross, visible from the valley floor, being set up on a mountain top, occurred during the first successful climb of
Mont Aiguille
Mont Aiguille () is a mountain in the Vercors Massif of the French Prealps, located south of Grenoble, in the commune of Chichilianne, and the département of Isère. The mountain, known as one of the Seven Wonders of Dauphiné, is a relat ...
in 1492, when three crosses were put up at the corner of the summit plateau. In the 16th century crosses were erected with increasing frequency on mountain peaks, especially for the purpose of marking alpine pasture and municipal boundaries. In the 17th century, especially during the
Thirty Years' War, these religious symbols gained importance. The crosses of this period were mostly simple wooden ones hewn from branches found near the site, or
house crucifixes. During this time crosses were often made with two cross beams in the form of so-called
patriarchal cross
The Patriarchal cross is a variant of the Christian cross, the religious symbol of Christianity, and is also known as the Cross of Lorraine. Similar to the familiar Latin cross, the patriarchal cross possesses a smaller crossbar placed above t ...
es (or
Scheyern crosses). These "weather crosses" were intended to supersede the old pagan superstitions associated with thunder, storm and hail. Further layers of Christian imagery as perceived by the
Romantic generation made summit crosses a motif favoured by the painter
Caspar David Friedrich
Caspar David Friedrich (5 September 1774 – 7 May 1840) was a 19th-century German Romantic landscape painter, generally considered the most important German artist of his generation. He is best known for his mid-period allegorical landscape ...
in more than one of his mystic landscapes.
During the 19th century the summits of many mountains were adorned with what were usually simple, wooden crosses during the course of
mountaineering expeditions or
survey work, both of which were on the increase. Large summit crosses in the modern sense — that is pieces designed specifically for mountain tops by expert craftsmen — were not really introduced until the end of the 19th century. One known exception is that of the
Kleinglockner and
Grossglockner, which were given large summit crosses in 1799 and 1800 as part of their first ascent.
These crosses, in addition to their religious function, were also used, for example, as
lightning conductors, and fitted with meteorological instruments such as
barometer
A barometer is a scientific instrument that is used to measure air pressure in a certain environment. Pressure tendency can forecast short term changes in the weather. Many measurements of air pressure are used within surface weather analysis ...
s. During the 19th century there were several attempts to erect secular symbols such as pyramids, obelisks or flags instead of crosses, usually dedicated to secular rulers. One example was the construction of the so-called Emperor Obelisk on the
Ortler
Ortler (; it, Ortles ) is, at above sea level, the highest mountain in the Eastern Alps outside the Bernina Range. It is the main peak of the Ortler Range. It is the highest point of the Southern Limestone Alps, of South Tyrol in Italy, of T ...
in 1888. The 20th century introduced modern materials and technology: a summit cross erected in 1977 on
Carrauntoohil
Carrauntoohil or Carrauntoohill ( ; ga, Corrán Tuathail , meaning "Tuathal's sickle") is the highest mountain in Ireland at . It is on the Iveragh Peninsula in County Kerry, close to the centre of Ireland's highest mountain range, MacGillycud ...
, the highest summit in Ireland, originally featured a windmill that powered light bulbs on the cross.
What summit crosses may express can be exemplified by the crosses erected and re-erected on the comparatively insignificant ''Butte de Warlencourt'', a pre-Christian
tumulus on the
Somme, only some 20m above the surrounding terrain but a scene of intense fighting during World War I, when it was the objective of costly and fruitless British attacks during the
battle of the Somme: "this
pagan memorial was Christianized by bombardment and large numbers of dead," and claimed with first a British cross (1917), then a German one (1918), the latter being removed during the interwar period and replaced by soldiers of the Wehrmacht, in "a symbolic conflict of ownership fought with cruciform images."
The erection of summit crosses experienced a boom in the early 20th century. After the First World War and even after the Second World War, many new crosses were erected. Communities often organized this sometimes very expensive and logistically difficult task on very high mountain peaks in the memory of the fallen, and war veterans in particular were often involved in their installation.
A superlative example is the
Heroes' Cross on Caraiman Peak, in the Bucegi mountains of Romania at an altitude of 2291m — the largest construction of this sort in the world (as recognized in 2013 by the
Guinness World Records). Built between 1926 and 1928 to honor the fallen heroes of the First World War, great efforts were put into its construction, the location being so high and so remote.
Marie of Edinburgh
Marie (born Princess Marie Alexandra Victoria of Edinburgh; 29 October 1875 – 18 July 1938) was the last Queen of Romania as the wife of King Ferdinand I.
Marie was born into the British royal family. Her parents were Prince Alfred ...
, Queen of Romania, and King
Ferdinand of Romania
Ferdinand (Ferdinand Viktor Albert Meinrad; 24 August 1865 – 20 July 1927), nicknamed ''Întregitorul'' ("the Unifier"), was King of Romania from 1914 until his death in 1927. Ferdinand was the second son of Leopold, Prince of Hohenzollern and ...
initiated and supervised its construction, supported by war veterans' associations, local businesses and many local volunteers. The Cross is 36m high, with its horizontal arms spanning 14m; it has many light bulbs covering its entire face on the
Prahova Valley side, and at commissioning it had an electrical generator in its base and its light could be seen from a great distance. Nowadays it is connected to the electrical grid. Under the Communist regime, it was endangered by plans to transform it into a totally different symbol, by removing the horizontal arms and adding a red star on top.
Another famous example from this period is the cross at the
Zuckerhütl, whose construction in 1947 was dramatized on film a year later.
Today summit crosses are often put up by the local
tourist
Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring (disambiguation), touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tour (disambiguation), tours. Th ...
association or branch of the
Alpine Club
The first alpine club, the Alpine Club, based in the United Kingdom, was founded in London in 1857 as a gentlemen's club. It was once described as:
:"a club of English gentlemen devoted to mountaineering, first of all in the Alps, members of whic ...
.
Gallery
File:Jakobskreuz tirol winter.jpg, The St. James' Cross ( Pillerseetal, Tyrol) in the first snowfall
Steirischekalkspitze0001.JPG, The Steirische Kalkspitze in the Schladming Tauern
The Schladming Tauern''Outline of the geology of Austria and selected excursions'', Volumes 34-35. Geologische Bundesanstalt (Austria), 1980. pp. 62/3. . (german: Schladminger Tauern) are a subrange of the Austrian Central Alps within the Eastern ...
in winter
File:Gipfelkreuz Zugspitze.jpg, The cross on the Zugspitze, Germany's highest mountain
File:Maldonkopf Imster-Klettersteig.JPG, Cross on the Maldonkopf in the Lechtal Alps
File:Hintere Bachofenspitze Gipfelkreuz HQ.jpg, Summit cross on the Hintere Bachofenspitze in the Karwendel Alps
The Karwendel is the largest mountain range of the Northern Limestone Alps. The major part belongs to the Austrian federal state of Tyrol, while the adjacent area in the north is part of Bavaria, Germany. Four chains stretch from west to east; ...
File:Dumbier 01.jpg, The ''Scheyernkreuz'' cross on the Dumbier (Slovakia)
File:Gipfelkreuz Vorderskopf.jpg, Summit cross on the Vorderskopf in the Karwendel
The Karwendel is the largest mountain range of the Northern Limestone Alps. The major part belongs to the Austrian federal state of Tyrol, while the adjacent area in the north is part of Bavaria, Germany. Four chains stretch from west to east; i ...
File:Crucea_Caraiman-vedere.jpg, Largest summit cross in the world, on Caraiman Peak, Romania
File:Cruz de Gorbea 01.jpg, Summit cross on the Gorbea
Gorbea () or Gorbeia () is a mountain and massif in the Basque Country, Spain. It is the highest summit in Biscay and Álava, with a height of above sea level. The massif covers a wide area between the two provinces. The main summit is a round ...
in the Spanish Basque country
File:Cross atop Montecalvo.JPG, Summit cross atop Montecalvo, Italy
File:Pinneberg höchster Punkt.jpg, Cross on the Pinneberg on the North Sea island of Heligoland, Germany
File:Zeddy on aconcagua summit.jpg, Aconcagua
Aconcagua () is a mountain in the Principal Cordillera of the Andes mountain range, in Mendoza Province, Argentina. It is the highest mountain in the Americas, the highest outside Asia, and the highest in the Southern Hemisphere with a summ ...
, Argentina, 6,961 m
File:Sintra DSC 0287 (3032270007).jpg, ''Cruz Alta'' in the summit of Sintra Mountains, Portugal, 529 m
See also
*
Wayside shrine
A wayside shrine is a religious image, usually in some sort of small shelter, placed by a road or pathway, sometimes in a settlement or at a crossroads, but often in the middle of an empty stretch of country road, or at the top of a hill or mo ...
References
Sources
* Werner, Paul (1991). ''„Zum Beweise, daß wir dagewesen …“ Zur Geschichte unserer Gipfelkreuze.'' In: ''Ars Bavarica.'' 63/64, p. 112–143.
* Werner, Paul and Werner, Richhilde (1991). ''Vom Marterl bis zum Gipfelkreuz. Flurdenkmale in Oberbayern.'' Plenk, Berchtesgaden, .
* Mathis, Claudia (Paganini, Claudia) (2007). ''Dem Himmel nah … Von Gipfelkreuzen und Gipfelsprüchen.'' 2. Auflage. Berenkamp, Innsbruck, .
External links
History of the summit cross
Photo collection of beautiful summit crossesGuinness World Records recognizing the Mount Caraiman cross in Romania
{{Authority control
Hiking
Mountaineering
Crosses by function
Summits