Riesengebirge

Riesengebirge (i.e. 'Giant Mountains'), a mountain-range about 23 miles long by 16 broad, separating Bohemia from Prussian Silesia. Seen from Silesia on the north they look like a gigantic wall of rock, pierced at places by deep ravines. On the south they fall away more gradually. The highest peak is the Schneekoppe (5260 feet), the loftiest mountain in this part of Europe. Granite and crystalline schists, especially mica-slate, are the principal geologic constituents of the range. There are only three passes: one in the east, with a railway, from Landeshut in Silesia to Trautenau in Bohemia; one in the west, from Hirschberg to Reichenberg; and one in the middle, from Hirschberg to St Peter in the upper Elbe valley in Bohemia. These mountains are a favourite tourist resort of the Germans. They figure in popular legend as the home of the mountain-spirit Rubezahl, called also 'Herr Johannes,' who rules the weather. See Meyer's Reisehandbuch by Letzner (6th ed. 1888); and Rubezahl, seine Begründung in der deutschen Mythe (Prague, 1885).