Look-out Tower at Smrk Mt. / Rozhledna na Smrku (Jizera Mts., Czech Republic)
N 50° 53.360 E 015° 16.311
33U E 519120 N 5637553
Modern look-out tower you can find at the summit of Smrk Mt. (1124 m), the highest mountain of the Czech part of the Jizera Mts. (Jizerské Hory).
Waymark Code: WM7AWZ
Location: Liberecký kraj, Czechia
Date Posted: 09/28/2009
Views: 157
The first look-out tower on the summit of Smrk Mt., the highest mountain of the Czech part of the Jizera Mts., was built in 1892. The tower was built on order by citizens of town Nové Mesto pod Smrkem. The implementation of the project was left to Mr. Fritsch, a carpenter, who had to deal with the fact that no tall and long enough trees were available on the top of Mt. Smrk.
The tower, 25 m tall, was made of wood. First, it was put together in the valley: after that, it was taken to pieces and transported to the top of the mountain. The whole action was completed in 7 weeks. Later, a chalet was added to provide overnight accommodation. The tower was carefully maintained and was operated for an unbelievable 50 years. It was heavily damaged during the war and the torso of the tower collapsed at the beginning of the fifties. The following period was not a good time for development of look-out towers.
The effort to build a new tower made by local people was not successful until the nineties: in mid August 2003 the construction of a new, 20 m tall tower made of steel commenced. The new unusually designed look-out tower, work of architect Jan Duda, was opened for public use on September 21, 2003.