Sněžka-Śnieżka

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Śnieżka (Polish) / Sněžka (Czech)
Aerial photo of the summit
Elevation	1,602 metres (5,256 feet)
Location	Polish-Czech border
Range	Karkonosze/Krkonoše
Coordinates	50°44′N, 15°44′E

Śnieżka (Polish) or Sněžka (Czech) is the highest mountain in the Karkonosze/Krkonoše Mountains, part of the Sudetes mountain range, rising to 1,602 metres (5,260 ft) above sea level. In German, it is known as Schneekoppe. It lies on the Polish-Czech border, and a border stone is placed on the very top of the mountain. Śnieżka is one of the peaks forming the so called "Crown of the Polish mountains" and it is the highest point in the Czech Republic.

[edit] History

The mountain was initially called Pahrbek Sněžný in Czech and later as Sněžovka, with the eventual name Sněžka, meaning "snowy" or "snow covered", adopted in 1823. An older Polish name for the mountain was Góra Olbrzymia, meaning "giant mountain".^[1] The first recorded German name was Riseberg ("giant mountain", cf. Riesengebirge, "Giant Mountains", the German name for Karkonosze/Krkonoše), mentioned by Georg Agricola in 1546. 15 years later the name Riesenberg appears on Martin Hellwig's map of Silesia. The German name later changed to Riesenkoppe ("giant top") and finally to Schneekoppe ("snow top").

The first historical account of an ascent to the peak is in 1456, by an unknown Venetian merchant searching for precious stones. The first settlements on the mountain soon appeared, being primarily mining communities, tapping into its deposits of copper, iron and arsenic. The mining shafts, totalling 1.5 kilometres (0.93 mi) in length, remain to this day.

The first building on the mountaintop was the chapel of Saint Lawrence (Laurentiuskapelle), built ca. 1665–1681 by the Silesian Schaffgotsch family to mark their dominion, serving also as an inn 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 was built on the Silesian (now Polish) side in 1850, followed by the Bohemian hut on the Bohemian (now Czech) side in 1868, both built with the purpose of providing lodging. The Prussian hut (or "Polish hut" after 1945) was rebuilt twice after fires (1857 and 1862), and was finally demolished in 1967. The Bohemian hut fell into disrepair after 1990 and was demolished in 2004.

A wooden weather station was built on the mountaintop ca. 1900, being the only such station in Central Europe remaining intact after World War II. It was demolished in the 1980s.

[edit] The mountain today

View from the summit of Sněžka-Śnieżka

One side of the mountain is in Poland; the other belongs to the Czech Republic.

On the Polish side is a circle-shaped hotel built in 1976, a weather station and the St. Lawrence chapel. On the Czech side are the remains of the Bohemian hut, a post office, and a chairlift station, connecting the peak with the town of Pec pod Sněžkou at the base of the mountain.

Construction was expected to begin in the summer of 2004 for a new post office and observation platform to replace the current post office and the remains of the Bohemian hut.