The best running trails around Ústecký kraj

Always worth a trip

The large peace bell on the Fichtelberg had to remain silent for six months in 2024. Stone throwing in May 2022 had so badly damaged the bell that its sound suffered. It was decided to stop ringing it and replace it with a new one. The old bell rang for the last time on Easter Monday 2024. Just in time for the mountain service on German Unity Day on October 3, the new bell was officially rung for the first time in the fall of 2024. The idea of using a peace bell to commemorate the peaceful revolution of 1989 in the GDR and German reunification in 1990 came from watchman Gerd Schlesinger and night watchman Jörg Eller from the Ore Mountains town of Schwarzenberg. The bell was also intended to be heard in neighboring Czechia and thus ring for a united Europe. The cast steel bell, already ninety years old at the time, was rung for the first time in 2010. The new bell was cast in Innsbruck by the Grassmayr company. At 2,700 kilograms, it is about 1,100 kilograms heavier than the old bell.

The first weather observer on this summit was the innkeeper of the Fichtelberghaus. He recorded his weather observations from 1890 onwards, but from 1898 onwards only intermittently, and from 1910 onwards not at all. The head of the Royal Saxon State Meteorological Observatory, Paul Schreiber, suggested the construction of a permanent weather observatory. Temperature, wind speed, and precipitation amounts have been continuously recorded here since January 1, 1916. The strongest storm recorded here was on January 3, 1976, with a peak gust speed of 216 kilometers per hour. The coldest day on the summit was February 9, 1956, with minus 30.4 degrees Celsius; the warmest was July 27, 1983, with plus 30.8 degrees Celsius. The highest snow cover was measured in March 1944: 3.35 meters. The year 1951 was bad for Fichtelberg tourists: it held the record for foggy days with 315.

Since 1977, a 3.2-kilometer-long nature trail on wooden planks has led through the Božídarské rašeliniště peat bog nature reserve. It features twelve stations with information panels. The 11.61-square-kilometer area has been protected since 1965. It encompasses a series of raised bogs with spruce, pine, Scots pine, dwarf birch, heaths, and meadows. A carnivorous plant characteristic of peat bogs, the round-leaved sundew, also grows here. The largest peat bog in the Ore Mountains lies at an elevation of 940 to 1116 meters; its specific mountain climate creates challenging conditions for animals and plants.

The station is located on the summit next to the Fichtelberghaus, but is not accessible.

Oberwiesenthal is moving into the 21st century and now offers payment via the 'Easypark' app. Simple and convenient.

a very nice view

Mountain station for the cable car, chair lift and drag lift at the Himmelsleiter. All slopes are accessible from here.