140 years. That's how many years have passed since the Mountain Club for Northern Bohemia was founded. And that's certainly a serious reason for a fitting commemoration. Not only the founding of the Mountain Club and the anniversary being commemorated, but also the fact that the founder and first chairman of this club, Dr. Johann Hille (1852–1925), died 100 years ago. All of this is further emphasized by the fact that the founding meeting of the Mountain Club took place on December 13, 1885, in the Hotel DeutschesHaus (later Beseda) in Krásná Lípa. The town of Krásná Lípa will commemorate this important anniversary on September 20, 2025, in the House of Culture and the adjacent amphitheater. The hosts and main organizers are the Krásná Lípa Czech Tourist Club and the Upper Lusatian District Sports Association from Görlitz. The town of Krásná Lípa and the administration of the Bohemian Switzerland National Park will be participating. During the day's activities, we will primarily focus on the significance of the founding of the mountain club for future tourism and sporting activities. Soon after (in 1889), the Czech Tourist Club was founded. The establishment of a German club on Czech territory holds great symbolic value, and therefore it is significant that our partners from Görlitz and Zittau are participating in the celebrations.
With them, we plan hiking and cycling tours on the designated day to places symbolically connected to the Mountain Club, its chairman Dr. Hille, and Rudolf Kögler (1899–1949). Rudolf Kögler—the club's vice-chairman—created the relief geological map in Zahrady and the educational trail—now the Kögler Trail. We will see Dr. Hille's memorial plaque in the Khaatal valley, his grave and Rudolf Kögler's grave in the Krásný Buk cemetery, walk a section of the Kögler Educational Trail, visit the Dymník (Smoke Hill) observation tower (dedicated to the Mountain Club upon its completion), commemorate the place where the club was founded 140 years ago (the German House, now the Hotel Beseda in Krásná Lípa on the market square), and visit Dr. Hille's residence. Hille and the house where he probably had a medical practice, as well as the house of Mr. R. Kögler.
A delegation of honored guests will lay wreaths and bouquets at the memorial plaque in the cemetery and at Mr. Kögler's house. At the special request of some, we will also visit the reconstructed tomb of Krásná Lípa's greatest patron, Karel Dittrich, later this morning.
We could offer more, but the morning is short, and after lunch, from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m., music awaits us at the cultural center in Krásná Lípa – Nový Liberecký Dixieland and brass band music from Sebnitz. From morning until the end of the festivities, the cultural center will offer refreshments, tourist badges, maps and guides for the Kögler Nature Trail, maps of the Varnsdorf and Krásná Lípa regions, and other souvenirs. Every active participant will receive a commemorative certificate, a badge, and a short booklet with texts and photos about the history of the Mountain Club for Northern Bohemia.
The organizers of the celebration are looking forward to seeing you.
Program:
From 7:00 am to 1:00 pm we will follow in the footsteps of the mountain club, Dr. Johann Hille (chairman of the club), Rudolf Kögler (deputy chairman and creator of the nature trail):
- 23 km to the memorial plaque of Dr. Hille in the Khaatal (present from 7:00 am, guided route, but individual travel also possible).
- 11 km towards Dymník (Rauchberg) and Krásný Buk (Schönbüchel) cemetery to the graves of Dr. Hille and Rudolf Kögler (present 7:30 – 10:00 guided route, but also possible individually).
- 12 km towards Krásný Buk (Schönbüchel, Sněžná (Schnauhübel Cemetery), Dlouhý Důl (Langengrund, via Kyjov (Khaa) Felsenweg (available 7:30 a.m. – 10:00 a.m., guided route, but also possible individually).
- 3 km following in the footsteps of Hille and the mountain club (city tour with a visit to the Dittrich crypt).
- 35 km cycling – a pleasant and undemanding circular tour through the area around Krásná Lípa.
10:00 a.m. Wreath and flower laying ceremony at the graves of Dr. Hille and R. Kögler in the cemetery in Krásný Buk (Schönbüchel).
10:30 a.m. Laying of flowers at the memorial plaque for R. Kögler at his former residence in Zahrady (Gärten).
11:30 a.m. Wreath and flower laying ceremony at the memorial plaque for Dr. Hille in Khaatal.
1:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. Cultural afternoon. Performances by "New Liberec Dixieland" and "Blasmusik aus Sebnitz".
The Czech Tourist Club Krásná Lípa, the Upper Lusatian Sports Association Görlitz, the town of Krásná Lípa, and the Bohemian Switzerland National Park cordially invite you to the festival. This event is part of the project "140 Years of the Mountain Club for Northernmost Bohemia," Reg. No.: ERN-0680-CZ-29-07-2025, which is funded by the Euroregion Neisse through the Small Projects Fund of the Interreg Czech Republic-Saxony Programme 2021-2027.
Refreshments will be available all day at the cultural center, along with the sale of maps and tourist badges.
Every participant will receive a festival badge and a commemorative certificate. We look forward to seeing you!
