Stachelberg Fortress

The fortress is easily accessible and the road to it is well marked. If you are coming from Hradec Králové or Jičín, just follow the signpost to Žacléř and the Stachelberg fortress. The road then leads through the village Babí and serpentines to the top above the village, where there are information boards and parking, from where you can walk to the fortress on the asphalt road (approximately 350 meters).

From the bus station in Trutnov, a bus stops directly on the top above Babí, stopping at the Trutnov - Babí stop, a fortress, from where it is also approximately 350 meters to the fortress.

What can you see here?

It is then possible to take a guided tour on site, including an exhibition in an infantry cabin and a tour of the extensive underground. There are foundation slabs of fortress buildings, ditches, gazebos, a lookout point and an educational trail called the Fortified Trutnov Region begins here.

Schalberg Fortress began construction in 1937 and was to form part of the border fortifications against Germany. It was the largest Czechoslovak artillery fortress and one of the largest fortresses of its kind in the world. However, construction was interrupted by the Munich Agreement and the withdrawal of the border by Germany. The fortress was originally supposed to have 12 bunkers, connected underground, but in one year only one bunker and underground spaces were built.

The guided tour includes an infantry cabin T-S 73 with a military-historical exhibition, an underground fortress under construction and a light fortification with armaments.

Visitors can also see two infantry cabins under construction T-S 72 and T-S 74, of which only the base plates were built.

Author: Andrera Štyndlová