Goethe's lookout tower in Karlovy Vary

The brick lookout tower is located on the Height of Eternal Youth, approximately 2 km to the east of Karlovy Vary. It is located at an altitude of 638 meters and its total height is 42 meters. It was built in 1889-1889 and officially opened on July 21, 1889.

The viewing platform is located at a height of about 34 meters and leads to it 165 steps. After overcoming them, you will have a magical view of the Ore Mountains, the Slavkov Forest and the Home Mountains.

A yellow tourist sign will take you to the Goethe lookout tower from the public transport stop with number 8 in Hůrky. The journey to the lookout tower from here takes approximately 30 minutes.

It is also possible to get to the lookout tower from Hřbitovní Street via Tři kříže hill around Otova vrch. This path will take you about two hours to walk and is about 5-6 km long.

If you go to the lookout tower by car, you can get there from the road from Karlovy Vary to Prague. Just turn to the settlement of Hůrky and continue to the grand hotel Pupp to the public transport stop in Hůrky. But you still have to walk, because then the entry ban already applies. The walk to the lookout tower is about 1 km long and leads along the asphalt road.

At present, the lookout tower is closed to the public.

Goethe's Lookout Tower is the oldest lookout tower in Karlovy Vary. It was opened in 1889 and has a very flashy appearance. It is located on the Height of Eternal Youth east of the center of Karlovy Vary. Its original name was the Lookout Tower of Crown Princess Stefanie, but after the First World War its name changed to Stifter's Viewpoint, after 1945 it was called Stalin's Lookout Tower. The lookout tower was given its current name in the 1960s. It was named after Johan Wolfgang von Goethe precisely because this hill was a popular place for his botanical walks.

The design of the lookout tower was prepared by the Viennese architects Fellner and Helmer, who also designed other buildings in Karlovy Vary. The lookout tower was built in the period 1888-1889 and was completed ten months after the start of construction.

The whole building is brick and bears the stamp of neo-Gothic style. The lookout tower has been extremely popular with tourists since its inception. Even before the war, city officials considered setting up a cable car to connect the lookout tower to the city center, but these plans were unfortunately disrupted by the war.

During the 1990s, the building was closed to the public and fell into disrepair over time. It was not until 2002 that the building was rented by businessman František Gaspar, who restored the building and, thanks to the felling of the surrounding trees, the view from the tower also improved. Unfortunately, the lookout tower was only accessible for two years.

The following two years (since 2006) the building was abandoned and it did not acquire a new tenant until 2008. It was Gastro-Vimaya. It originally had large plans for the building in the form of a complete reconstruction and construction of a mini-amphitheater. Shortly afterwards, however, she terminated the tenancy and a new tenant was selected in a new tender. It became the company PP 89. Unfortunately, it did not start operating the construction either. In 2011, it was considered that the prospect would be managed by the Karlovy Vary Observatory.

Author: Andrea Štyndlová