Čerchov () is the highest mountain in the

Upper Palatine Forest The Upper Palatine Forest ( or ''Böhmischer Wald''; , ) is a mountain range in Central Europe that is divided between the Czech Republic and Germany. It is a part of the larger Bohemian Massif and the German Central Uplands. Geography The ...

, 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 *Czech (surnam ...

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

border. It lies on the municipal border between

Česká Kubice Česká Kubice () is a municipality and village in Domažlice District in the Plzeň Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 1,000 inhabitants. Administrative division Česká Kubice consists of seven municipal parts (in brackets population acc ...

and Pec, southwest of

Domažlice Domažlice (; ) 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 as an Cultural monument (Czech Republic)#Monument reservations, urban monument reser ...

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 German Army (1935–1945), ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmac ...

in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

the summit was intensively used by the

Warsaw Pact The Warsaw Pact (WP), formally the Treaty of Friendship, Co-operation and Mutual Assistance (TFCMA), was a Collective security#Collective defense, collective defense treaty signed in Warsaw, Polish People's Republic, Poland, between the Sovi ...

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 piano teacher. Career Kurz was born in Havlíčkův Brod, Německý Brod, Bohemia in 23 December 1873. 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 t ...

which is used today for flight safety purposes and is not accessible. The corresponding NATO communication station was located on the Hoher Bogen 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 The Soviet Ground Forces () was the land warfare service branch of the Soviet Armed Forces from 1946 to 1992. It was preceded by the Red Army. After the Soviet Union ceased to exist in December 1991, the Ground Forces remained under th ...

the site was also used by Hauptabteilung III of the

East German East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from its formation on 7 October 1949 until its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on 3 October 1990. Until 1989, it was generally vie ...

Stasi The Ministry for State Security (, ; abbreviated MfS), commonly known as the (, an abbreviation of ), was the Intelligence agency, state security service and secret police of East Germany from 1950 to 1990. It was one of the most repressive pol ...

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

reunification of Germany German reunification () was the process of re-establishing Germany as a single sovereign state, which began on 9 November 1989 and culminated on 3 October 1990 with the dissolution of the German Democratic Republic and the integration of i ...

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 image:Zell-bayerischer-wald.jpg, The village of Zell in the Bavarian Forest The Bavarian Forest ( or ''Bayerwald'' ; ) is a wooded, low-mountain region in Bavaria, Germany, that is about 100 kilometres long. It runs along the Czech Republic, C ...

and the Czech Plain. In good weather conditions, the

Alps The Alps () are some of the highest and most extensive mountain ranges in Europe, stretching approximately across eight Alpine countries (from west to east): Monaco, France, Switzerland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Germany, Austria and Slovenia. ...

may be seen. There is an

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

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