Jedlová peak & Tolštejn Castle

The Tannenberg in the Lusatian Mountains is the highest peak on the right side of the Elbe in the Ústí region, at an altitude of 774 metres. In 1891, the German Mountain Club for Bohemian Switzerland built a lookout tower there. The outer gallery of the tower, to which 123 steps lead, is 23 metres high, and the top of the tower is 6 metres higher. At the lookout tower there is a lodge that is in operation all year round. It was reopened together with the lookout tower in the early 90s of the 20th century.

The main European watershed runs across the top of the mountain, draining water from the area south through the Kreibitzbach, the Kamnitz and the Elbe into the North Sea and north through the Lausur, the Mandau, the Lausitzer Neiße and the Oder into the Baltic Sea.

With a good view, one can see the entire Lusatian Mountains, the crest of the Jizera Mountains, the Jeschken, nearby the Tollenstein Castle, the Bösig, the Milleschauer, the High Schneeberg and further away the crest of the Ore Mountains.

The extensive ruin of Tolštejn (Tollenstein) Castle is located 1.5 km from Jedlová Mountain in the Lusatian Mountains. It stands on a phonolite hilltop (670 m above sea level) in a sandstone area. Its name originated from the original German name Dohlenstein. The castle was one of the centres of the extensive territory of the Wartenberg branch of the Markwarting in northern Bohemia. The castle was first mentioned in the 13th century and it is known that the first owner was Vaněk von Wartenberg. The decline of the castle was finally brought about by the Thirty Years' War, during which it was set on fire and partially destroyed. In the 19th  century, Romanticism revived interest in the castle and a restaurant was built here in 1866.

The top of the rock can be reached by stairs and a bridge for a fee payable at the restaurant. From the summit above the castle, you have a view in all directions: of the mountains of the Lusatian Mountains, the Schluckenau tip, Upper Lusatia and the forest area towards Krásná Lípa. From Jiřetín it is about 500 m towards the village of Rozhled and then only about 2 km along a small road to the castle. You can combine your trip to Tolštejn Castle with a trip to the beautiful Way of the Cross in Jiřetín pod Jedlovou and a climb up Jedlová Hill, where there is a guesthouse with a restaurant and a stone lookout tower.