Sněžka () or Śnieżka (, ) is a mountain on the border between the

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

and

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

, the most prominent point of the Silesian Ridge in the

Giant Mountains The Giant Mountains, Krkonoše, or Karkonosze (Czech: , , ), 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 Massif). The Czech–Polish bor ...

. At , its summit is the highest point in the Czech Republic, in the

Lower Silesian Voivodeship Lower Silesian Voivodeship (, ) in southwestern Poland, is one of the 16 Voivodeships of Poland, voivodeships (provinces) into which Poland is divided. It covers an area of and has a total population of 2,899,986. It is one of the wealthiest ...

, in the Giant Mountains and in the entire

Sudetes The Sudetes ( ), also known as the Sudeten Mountains or Sudetic Mountains, is a geomorphological subprovince of the Bohemian Massif province in Central Europe, shared by the Czech Republic, Poland and Germany. They consist mainly of mountain rang ...

History

Sněžka was one of the first European mountains visited by many tourists. This was mainly due to the relatively minor technical difficulties of the ascent and the fact that since the sixteenth century, many resort visitors flocked to the nearby Bad Warmbrunn (today: Cieplice Śląskie-Zdrój) and the highly visible Sněžka, visually dominant over all Giant Mountains was for them an important attraction. The first historical account of an ascent to the peak is in 1456, by an unknown Venetian merchant searching for

precious stone Precious may refer to: Music * Precious (group), a British female pop group Albums * ''Precious'' (Chanté Moore album), 1992 * ''Precious'' (Conrad Sewell album), 2023 * ''Precious'' (Cubic U album), 1998 * ''Precious'' (Ours album), 20 ...

s. The first settlements on the mountain soon appeared, being primarily mining communities, tapping into its deposits of copper, iron and

arsenic Arsenic is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol As and atomic number 33. It is a metalloid and one of the pnictogens, and therefore shares many properties with its group 15 neighbors phosphorus and antimony. Arsenic is not ...

. The mining shafts, totalling in length, remain to this day. The first recorded

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 ...

name was ''Riseberg'' ("giant mountain", cf. ''Riesengebirge'', "Giant Mountains"), mentioned by

Georg Agricola Georgius Agricola (; born Georg Bauer; 24 March 1494 – 21 November 1555) was a German Humanist scholar, mineralogist and metallurgist. Born in the small town of Glauchau, in the Electorate of Saxony of the Holy Roman Empire, he was broa ...

in 1546. Fifteen years later the name ''Riesenberg'' appears on Martin Helwig's map of

Silesia Silesia (see names #Etymology, below) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Silesia, Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at 8, ...

. The German name later changed to ''Riesenkoppe'' ("giant top") and finally to ''Schneekoppe'' ("snow top", "snowy head"). Based on paintings of

Caspar David Friedrich Caspar David Friedrich (; 5 September 1774 – 7 May 1840) was a German Romanticism, German Romantic Landscape painting, landscape painter, generally considered the most important German artist of his generation, whose often symbolic, and anti ...

and of novels from

Theodor Fontane Theodor Fontane (; 30 December 1819 – 20 September 1898) was a German novelist and poet, regarded by many as the most important 19th-century German-language Literary realism, realist author. He published the first of his novels, for which he i ...

the Schneekoppe region became a center of the first German tourism movement. In Czech, the mountain was initially called ''Pahrbek Sněžný'' ("snow hill"); later ''Sněžka'', with the eventual name ''Sněžovka'', meaning "snowy" or "snow-covered", which was adopted in 1823. An older Polish name for the mountain was ''Góra Olbrzymia'', meaning "giant mountain". The first building on the mountaintop was the Chapel of Saint Lawrence (''Laurentiuskapelle''), built c. 1665–1681 by the Silesian noble Schaffgotsch family to give thanks to God and shelter to travellers as it also served as an

inn Inns are generally establishments or buildings where travelers can seek lodging, and usually, food and drink. Inns are typically located in the country or along a highway. Before the advent of motorized transportation, they also provided accomm ...

for a brief period of time. The territory including the mines were the property of the Schaffgotsch family until 1945. The so-called ''Prussian hut'' (''Preußische Baude'') was built on the

n (now Polish) side in 1850, followed by the ''Bohemian hut'' (''Česká bouda'') on the

Bohemian Bohemian or Bohemians may refer to: *Anything of or relating to Bohemia Culture and arts * Bohemianism, an unconventional lifestyle, originally practised by 19th–20th century European and American artists and writers. * Bohemian style, a ...

(now Czech) side in 1868, both built with the purpose of providing lodging. The Prussian hut was rebuilt twice after fires (1857 and 1862), and the (after 1945) "Polish hut" was finally demolished in 1967. The Bohemian hut fell into disrepair after 1990 and was demolished in 2004. A wooden

weather station A weather station is a facility, either on land or sea, with instruments and equipment for measuring atmosphere of Earth, atmospheric conditions to provide information for weather forecasting, weather forecasts and to study the weather and clima ...

was built on the mountaintop in c. 1900, being the only weather station in Central Europe remaining intact after

World War II 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 ...

. It was demolished in the 1980s. Panorama-Sniezka-1

Today

One side of the mountain is in the Czech Republic; the other belongs since 1945 to Poland. Both sides of the border have lost their historic German-speaking populations in the wake of World War II. The area is very popular in summer with tourists from the Czech Republic, Poland, and Germany, who enjoy hiking in the alpine environment unique to this area. On the Polish side a disc-shaped observatory with a weather station and restaurant was built in 1974, and the St. Lawrence Chapel. On the Czech side are a post office, and a

chairlift An elevated passenger ropeway, or chairlift, is a type of aerial lift, which consists of a continuously circulating steel wire rope loop strung between two end terminals and usually over intermediate towers. They are the primary on-hill tran ...

station, connecting the peak with the town of

Pec pod Sněžkou Pec pod Sněžkou (; ) is a town in Trutnov District in the Hradec Králové Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 700 inhabitants. The town lies in the Giant Mountains at the base of the highest Czech mountain, Sněžka. From the town a two-s ...

at the base of the mountain. Although the mountain is the highest natural peak in the Czech Republic, the actual highest point is the top of the television transmitter on Praděd, reaching 1,652 metres (1,491+162 m). If the Polish observatory is taken into account, Sněžka peaks at 1,620 metres. In 2004 a new post office and observation platform replaced an old post office and the remains of the Bohemian hut, which had been closed since the 1980s. In March 2009 the Polish observatory suffered serious damage to the upper disc as a result of extreme weather and structural failure. The upper disc's floor broke, though a fast response from the Technical University of Wrocław saved the remaining disc from taking any further damage. The restaurant and meteo offices were reopened soon after the construction team had finished clearing the debris and securing what was left of the observatory. After detailed inspection it was determined that no further damage should occur and the building was restored to its previous state. The upper disc was restored to its 1974 design (with contemporary improvements), skipping certain "improvements" made in 1980s and 1990s which were suspected to contribute to the structural failure of March 2009. The old chairlift to the top of Sněžka was replaced by a new cable car system. Since February 2014, the four-person cabins in two sections have carried 250 visitors per hour from Pec pod Sněžkou. There are many marked tourist routes from the Polish side to the summit, mainly from the town of Karpacz. It is possible to take a

from Karpacz to Kopa (1377 m a.s.l.) which significantly shortens the way to the summit. Sněžka belongs to the Crown of Europe, Crown of Polish Mountains and Crown of Sudetes.

Climate

Due to high altitude the climate is maritime polar (

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (1951–2014), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author ...

: ''ET'') not far from a continental subpolar climate (''Dfc''). The difference should be at least 6 °C lower on annual average compared to the

in the

plain In geography, a plain, commonly known as flatland, is a flat expanse of land that generally does not change much in elevation, and is primarily treeless. Plains occur as lowlands along valleys or at the base of mountains, as coastal plains, and ...

Gallery

Schneekoppe 1900.jpg, ''Sněžka'', a photochrom print from ca. 1900 Karkonosze w chmurach - Riesengebrige in Wolken (2).jpg, Sněžka above the clouds Sněžka-od-Luční-boudy2009b.jpg, Panorama of Sněžka Schronisko na Śnieżce i kaplica św. Wawrzyńca.JPG, St. Lawrence's Chapel built in 1665–1681 Poland, Sniezka mountain - hostel.jpg, Observatory on the mountain top Sněžka, nová poštovna.jpg, Czech post office building atop Sněžka Sněžka-stanice-lanovky-a-výhled2009.jpg, Chairlift station atop Sněžka 20160430 Śnieżka 5404.jpg, Mountain trail Sněžka-od-Černé-boudy2010b.jpg, View of the mountain in winter Sniezka_mount.jpg, alt=Sniezka West View - 2021, West view

References

Notes

External links

Sněžka chairlift information
– including current status and

webcam A webcam is a video camera which is designed to record or stream to a computer or computer network. They are primarily used in Videotelephony, video telephony, live streaming and social media, and Closed-circuit television, security. Webcams can b ...

Sněžka

Sněžka

Sněžka

weatherforecastWEBCAM (high resolution) on Sněžka

Photo gallery of Śnieżka

Photo gallery of Śnieżka - na portalu polska-org.pl
Piotr Krzaczkowski's Photo.net slideshow of SněžkaHistorical photos of Schneekoppe (1890–1900)Historical travel report (1800)
by

John Quincy Adams John Quincy Adams (; July 11, 1767 – February 23, 1848) was the sixth president of the United States, serving from 1825 to 1829. He previously served as the eighth United States secretary of state from 1817 to 1825. During his long diploma ...

Historical map of Bohemia with Schneekoppe (1882)Virtual showŚnieżka – Webcam from Karpacz
{{DEFAULTSORT:Snezka Mountains of Poland Mountains and hills of the Czech Republic Czech Republic–Poland border International mountains of Europe Mountain peaks of the Sudetes Highest points of countries One-thousanders of the Czech Republic