Lookout tower on Královka

You would find this stone lookout tower on the Nekras hill, about 2 km north of Bedřichov and about 15 km northeast of Jablonec nad Nisou. It stands at an altitude of 859 meters and was opened in 1907.

The total height of the lookout tower is 23.5 meters, the viewing platform is located at a height of 20.5 meters and leads to it 104 steps. The reward for overcoming them will be a view of the Giant Mountains, the Jizera Mountains, Bohemian Paradise, Jablonec nad Nisou and Ještěd.

If you want to go to the lookout tower by car, you can park directly at the lookout tower, but only for one hour. You can get here from the north of the village Bedřichov towards Hrabětice. If you are not a client of the cottage, it is better to park your car about 2.5 km from Královka. A blue tourist sign leads here from Bedřichov.

The opening hours of the lookout tower are the same as at the Královka restaurant, ie every day from 9 am to 10 pm.

The hill, where today there is a lookout tower and a tourist hut, used to be called Nekras. Since 1888, there has been a wooden lookout tower 19 meters high, which had two floors and an observation deck. It was born on the initiative of the Genoa section of the German Mountain Association for the Ještěd and Jizera Mountains. The land where the lookout tower was built was donated to the association by a local farmer König, after whom the hill was named Königshöhe, ie Královka. In 1906, it demolished the building of the storm.

The construction of the new lookout tower did not delay much. Already in the spring of 1907, the construction of a massive stone tower, designed by Stephan Arnold, began here. Its grand opening took place on September 8, 1907. In the years 1934-36, a tourist cottage was built near the lookout tower.

In the period after the Second World War, Královka passed through the hands of several owners. Until 2000, it was owned by the Práce publishing house. At present, its peak is used by mobile operators, who have placed their antennas here.

Author: Andrea Štyndlová