Top 5 Mountain Passes around Altenberg

Well-developed crossing for hikers and cyclists. Cars cannot get through because of heavy stones in the middle of the path!

Immediately next to the Nollendorfer Pass (Nakléřovský průsmyk) is the Nollendorfer Höhe (Nakléřovská výšina). From the main road, past a parking lot and the Kleist monument, a rough gravel path branches off to the hill. The path can also be easily ridden on a racing bike if you have the necessary cycling skills. The largely unforested ridge plateau offers a fantastic, almost 360° panoramic view of the Bohemian low mountain range, the Elbe Sandstone Mountains and the Lusatian Mountains, as well as the nearby Schneeberg (Sneznik). From a distance you can also see the Jizera Mountains, Ještěd and the Giant Mountains with Sněžka in the east. You can also see the D8 motorway running at the foot of the mountain. To the north the road emerges from the Panenská tunnel and skirts the mountain to the east. The entire area is steeped in history: Napoleon, the Olympic flame and the Prague Spring. Before the Second World War, the terminus of the tram from Aussig (Usti) to Tellnitz (Telnice), which was inaugurated in 1912, was a popular starting point for the climb to Nollendorfer Höhe.

The Nollendorfer Pass is steeped in history. Napoleon was here, the Olympic flame was carried here in 1936 on the way from Athens to Berlin and the Red Army used this pass to crush the Prague Spring. These events are no longer visible on the pass, only a memorial stone reminds of the story. Coming from the south, the last piece on the pass is pretty tough, but you have a nice view at the top and you can rest on a shady bench.

The Geiersberger Pass, over which the well-known Alte Dresden-Teplitzer Poststraße ran until 1860, began in what is now the Graupener (Krupka) district of Hohenstein (Unčín). Here the path coming from Teplice reached the edge of the forest behind the Mariaschein monastery (Bohosudov). From there it climbed steeply past the Geiersburg (Kyšperk) and the Goldammerkreuz, which was erected before 1785, to the ridge of the Eastern Ore Mountains. This was about 1.5 kilometers east of the Mückenberg (Komáří hůrka) at an altitude of about 720 m n.m. exceeded. After that, the route branched out. One branch followed the Alte Dresden-Teplitzer Poststraße leading into the Elbe valley via the small Bohemian village of Ebersdorf, of which only a few remnants remain today. The crossing of the border was marked by the Black Cross (also erected before 1785). The Geiersbergstraße, originally leading from Hohenstein (Unčín) to the ridge, was probably carved in large parts by Graupener miners as a narrow path into the rock of the Bohemian Ore Mountain steep slope. This is still indicated today by rocky alleys, which can be seen in sections away from the current route. In the past, the descent over the Geiersberger Pass to Hohenstein (Unčín) was one of the steepest and therefore riskiest sections of the Ore Mountain passes. A travelogue from 1698 notes: “The descent from the famous Geiersberg is not something that you pass by in silence. So you learn that when we reached the edge of the chasm, which causes the traveler to tremble with holy terror, we stopped and got out of the carriage. We sat down in the armchairs, which several porters carried down the mountains. I thought about the benefit of breaking your neck while the porters jumped from one stone to another.” Source: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erzgebirgsp%C3%A4sse#Pass_am_Geiersberg

Road across the crest. Here it can sometimes pull properly and be fresh, so have your windbreaker ready. Beautiful views of the wide area make up for the hardships of the ascent. Asphalt is good so far, but sometimes has extreme extinguishers! You should be careful, especially with sun / shade combinations.