The best mountain hikes in Fichtelberg

You can take a good break here when you are exhausted from the climb.

The Gottesgaber Torfmoor educational trail leads through the internationally important wetland of the Božídarské rašeliniště nature reserve. A large part of the path runs over wooden boardwalks – for the safety of visitors, but above all to protect the sensitive moor and its rare animal and plant species. Along the path, twelve information boards inform you about the nature of the moor, past peat extraction, geology, as well as typical animals and plants.

Magnificent paths crisscross the vast coniferous forests

A beautiful region in summer as well as in winter, whether on foot, by bike or by ski.

The Fichtelberg near Oberwiesenthal in the Erzgebirge district is, at 1214.79 m above sea level, the highest mountain in Saxony. It was also the highest mountain in East Germany (GDR). Together with the nearby Klínovec (Keilberg; 1243.7 m above sea level) on the Czech side, it forms the most important winter sports center in the Erzgebirge. Source and further information: https://de.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fichtelberg_(Erzgebirge)

The Traktor Oberwiesenthal sports club's luge track has been out of use for 35 years. Founded in 1955, the club was dissolved in 1990, and its successor, the Oberwiesenthaler SV 1990, saw itself as its successor. The naturally iced luge track, constructed from concrete elements and opened in the winter of 1969/1970 for the GDR luge training center, has been deteriorating since 1990 and is overgrown with vegetation. However, you can still walk the entire 1,100-meter-long track with its 18 curves and admire the buildings that enrich this lost place, such as the scoring booths and observation bridge. At the first Olympic luge competitions in Innsbruck in 1964, SC Traktor athletes dominated the field. Ortrun Enderlein and Ilse Geisler won gold and silver medals in the women's race, and Thomas Köhler and Klaus-Michael Bonsack won silver in the men's race.

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.

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.