Biskupská kupa

The stone lookout tower has stood on the Biskupská hora hill since 1897. It is located near the border with Poland near the Golden Mountains, about 20 km east of Jeseník. The lookout tower with a total height of 19.3 meters is located at an altitude of 889 meters and was officially opened to tourists on August 26, 1898.

A total of 90 steps will take you to the viewing platform. It is located at a height of 17.8 meters and has a beautiful view of the Golden Mountains, Hrubý and Nízký Jeseník and part of Poland.

You can get to the lookout tower, for example, along the green tourist sign from the Golden Mountains. This road is approximately 2.5 km long. You can also walk from the parking lot at Petrovy Buda, where you can of course park your car. The road continues along the green tourist sign and is about 1 km long.

In the period from May to October, the lookout tower is open every day from 9 am to 6 pm. From November to April you can get here on weekends and public holidays between 11 and 15 o'clock. If you would like to visit the lookout tower outside this date, you can arrange your own.

The lookout tower on Biskupská hora is located in the Jesenice promontory near the border with Poland. The qualities of this hill and the predestination for the construction of the lookout tower were discovered by a group of enthusiasts as early as 1875. They took a few stones here on their own initiative, from which they then created a basic vantage point. In 1876, however, its dismantling was officially ordered.

The Zlatohorské section of the Moravian-Silesian German Tourist Association, which was founded in 1881, began to think about the classic lookout tower. The lookout tower was not built here until 1889. It was 13 meters high, had a beam structure and the shape of a truncated pyramid. Shortly afterwards, Rudolf's cottage was added in its vicinity, offering refreshments for tourists. However, the duration of this first lookout tower on Biskupská kupa did not last long. It was damaged by a storm in 1895 and fell a year later.

However, the construction of the new lookout tower did not delay much. The members of the association started the new construction two years after this event. The tower, 19 meters high, was then designed by Josef Planitta. It was ceremoniously opened to tourists on August 26, 1898, and because the then year marked the 50th anniversary of the reign of Emperor Francis Joseph I, the lookout tower was named after him.

During both world wars, the lookout tower served military purposes. However, in the period between the two world wars, it was frequently visited, and so Rudolf's original cottage was expanded.

Under the previous regime, no one cared about the lookout tower, it fell into oblivion and fell into disrepair. In 1967, a transmitter was placed on its gallery and it was completely closed to the public. The cottage was used as a silk factory and an ugly sheet metal shed was built near the lookout tower. From the cottage, which disappeared, today only the foundations remain.

The lookout tower was repaired in 1996 and opened to visitors again on August 3, 1998. At present, the lookout tower is taken care of by the Club of Friends of the Golden Mountains.

Author: Andrea Štyndlová