History
The stone tower, dating back to 1864, is one of the oldest of its kind in Bohemia. The tower was originally built for precise geographical measurements as one of the basic triangulation points at the request of Austria, Saxony, and Prussia. These states asked the owner of the estate to either clear the forest on the mountain top or build a wooden structure towering over the trees. However, Count František Thun of the Děčín estate chose a completely different approach and requested a design for a stone tower from Dresden architect Hänel. Hänel designed a 33-meter-high stone tower, which was both a functional structure and an aesthetically pleasing work influenced by the Elizabethan style. Construction began in 1863, and the tower was completed in the autumn of 1864, with the considerable cost of 20,000 gulden.
The first users were indeed Austrian, Saxon, and Prussian land surveyors, whose good cooperation was soon disrupted by the Prussian-Austrian war. The picturesque tower began to attract many tourists, who could, for a small fee, climb the observation platform and take in the view. In 1865, a small inn was established next to the tower. Tourists, school trips, cyclists, and even members of the Saxon royal family visited the site.
In 1936, Professor Fäber succeeded in receiving a television signal from Berlin on our territory for the first time, during the Berlin Olympic Games broadcasted from the Berlin transmitter. Even long after 1945, Sněžník continued to be visited as one of the most beautiful places in the Bohemian Switzerland. Several filmmakers climbed to the top, and the memorial film “Windy Mountain” was shot here, among others.
Inn
The current Sněžník guesthouse was newly built in 1999 as a faithful replica of the original inn that stood here from 1865, just one year after the completion of the 33-meter-high stone lookout tower on the top of Děčínský Sněžník, from which there is a beautiful view of the city of Děčín, the Elbe Sandstone Mountains, the Bohemian and Saxon Switzerland, the Czech Central Highlands, Milešovka, the Lusatian Mountains, Ještěd and the Ještěd Ridge, the Krkonošsko Mountains, the Ore Mountains, and parts of Germany.
After the renovation of the lookout tower and the construction of the current guesthouse on the original site, this area became a popular tourist destination for hiking, cycling, and mountaineering.
Come and enjoy the peace, nature, and fresh air in summer and winter on Děčínský Sněžník.