Kulmer Steig

The Kulmer Steig is a byword for transport links from the Elbe valley over the eastern part of the Eastern Ore Mountains to Bohemian Chlumec u Chabařovic (German: Kulm), hence the name which means "Kulm Trail". It is an ancient road system of partly derelict and unmetalled historic transport routes. These historic long-distance routes have been uncovered today thanks to archaeological discoveries. The routes all head south from the Elbe valley between Dresden and Pirna and cross the Eastern Ore Mountains over mountain passes on the Saxon side between Fürstenwalde in the west and Oelsen in the east. The lowest crossings are located near Mohelnice from where they continue via Habartice and the Geiersberg as well as Krasný Les and further on over the Nollendorf Pass to Chlumec. The Kulmer Steig was an especially good transport route because the road cut a passage through untamed wilderness and 30 kilometres could be covered in a day.

In places it overlaps with the Old Kings Way (Alter Königsweg or Via Regia) from Cologne to Kraków and Berlin to Prague and the Salt Road (Salzstraße) from Halle to Prague.

From a cursory examination of the geography one may wonder why the direct route from Dresden to Bohemia running south through the Ore Mountains was not preferred, or even a route along the banks of the Elbe.

Both routes had major disadvantages. The one from Dresden running south over the Freital Heights (Freitaler Höhen) crosses the Ore Mountains near Zinnwald/Cínovec at a height of at least 850 metres above sea level (at Cínovec). The ascents and the descent on the Bohemian side are very steep in places and the climatic conditions, especially in winter, are rather severe, as users of the B 170 federal road still experience today in the Altenberg/Zinnwald area each winter. The riverbank route close to the Elbe, by contrast, runs through a canyon-like ravine in Bohemian Switzerland which, taking into account security considerations, was viewed as rather unsafe by travelling merchants. All the more because the sparsely populated region offered little protection. The castles in Saxon and Bohemian Switzerland, especially after the impoverishment of their noble owners in the 15th century, also tended to favour robber baronies rather than protection of the trading routes.

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Wikipedia