The High Snow Mountain - One of the most beautiful stone lookout towers in the Czech Republic
Děčínský Sněžník (Hoher Schneeberg) (724 m) is a sandstone table mountain that rises 7 km north-west of the town of Děčín.
From the edges of the summit plateau, you can enjoy distant views of the Lusatian Mountains and Saxon & Bohemian Switzerland in many places.
The most important vantage point is the 33-metre-high stone lookout tower from 1864, one of the oldest in the Czech Republic. 153 steps lead to an open platform with battlements. The lookout tower has a cafeteria and a mountain hut modelled on the original inn, as well as a small lake.
Originally, the tower was used for geographical measurements. It was a generously proportioned triangulation tower of the first order, which the owner of the Tetschen estate, Count Franz Anton von Thun, had built at his own expense for the Austrian, Saxon and Prussian surveyors.
The summit of the mountain can be reached from several directions via marked hiking trails. The shortest access is by bus or car to the district of Jilemnice Sněžník on the western side of the mountain. From this starting point, it is approx. 2 km on foot to the lookout tower with a height difference of 130 metres. The variants starting in Jílové (green markings, approx. 5 km / 460 m) or Děčín (red markings, approx. 9 km / 600 m) are more challenging.
From the edges of the summit plateau, you can enjoy distant views of the Lusatian Mountains and Saxon & Bohemian Switzerland in many places.
The most important vantage point is the 33-metre-high stone lookout tower from 1864, one of the oldest in the Czech Republic. 153 steps lead to an open platform with battlements. The lookout tower has a cafeteria and a mountain hut modelled on the original inn, as well as a small lake.
Originally, the tower was used for geographical measurements. It was a generously proportioned triangulation tower of the first order, which the owner of the Tetschen estate, Count Franz Anton von Thun, had built at his own expense for the Austrian, Saxon and Prussian surveyors.
The summit of the mountain can be reached from several directions via marked hiking trails. The shortest access is by bus or car to the district of Jilemnice Sněžník on the western side of the mountain. From this starting point, it is approx. 2 km on foot to the lookout tower with a height difference of 130 metres. The variants starting in Jílové (green markings, approx. 5 km / 460 m) or Děčín (red markings, approx. 9 km / 600 m) are more challenging.
Place of inspiration for Caspar David Friedrich
The High Snow Mountain with its characteristic, elongated peak, which was sketched in August 1806, appears again and again in paintings and drawings by Caspar David Friedrich.
Friedrich used the Hoher Schneeberg with its peculiar coffin-like shape as a motif several times:
Woman in front of the setting sun, oil, around 1818
Elbe valley landscape, oil, around 1820
Coffin at the grave, pencil, around 1836
Coffin at the grave, sepia, around 1836
Hiking tips: From Rosenthal over the Grenzplatte to the Hoher Schneeberg
From Bad Schandau to the Hoher Schneeberg
