Plöckenstein


The Plöckenstein is a mountain, high, in the Bohemian Forest on the Austro-Czech border. Its summit is the highest point in the Bohemian Forest in both countries, and also the highest point in the regions of Mühlviertel and South Bohemia. It is well known as a result of stories by Adalbert Stifter.

Location

The Plöckenstein lies between the Austrian village of Schwarzenberg to the south and the Czech village of Nová Pec to the NE. Northeast of, and below the summit on Czech soil, is the lake of Plöckensteiner See, the southernmost of eight glacial lakes in the Bohemian Forest; the northern mountainside is the core zone of the Bohemian Forest National Park. The Jezerní potok stream rises on the mountain. About 7 km northeast, in the Czech Republic, is the western end of the Lipno Reservoir.

Tripoint and extreme point

The Plöckenstein lies about 1.3 km east of the tripoint between Germany, Austria and the Czech Republic. The tripoint is roughly east of the Bavarian Plöckenstein. The area of the tripoint is also called Dreiecksmark and links the two Plöckensteins over a saddle.
West of the Plöckenstein is Austria's northernmost point.

Sights

During the Cold War the border area of the Bohemian Forest was inaccessible to citizens of the Eastern Bloc because the Iron Curtain ran through it. The new government under Marián Čalfa, which came to power on 10 December 1989, dismantled the border fortifications in December 1989.
Among the sights and attractions in the area of the Plöckenstein are the following :