The Death Rock is a striking sandstone monument carved into a cliff face near Kunratice u Cvikova, where a local legend of a knight and a miller's daughter has been immortalized in stone for over a century. It's a small detour that rewards curious hikers with a genuinely unusual sight.

The 15-metre-high sandstone wall rises above the little Svitavka stream, in a quiet, rarely crowded corner of the Czech-German borderland. The atmosphere here is peaceful and slightly mysterious, especially in autumn when the surrounding forest turns golden, or in spring when the stream runs full after the snowmelt. Carved into the rock face are clear reliefs of a knight on horseback and a falling girl, giving the whole place an eerie, story-book quality.

How to get there

• Kunratice u Cvikova - green trail, approx. 1.5 km, easy hike

Practical information

• Relief carved in 1910 by local residents Karl Beckert and Karl Bundesmann
• Listed as a cultural monument under registration number 11471/5-5785
• The rock is also known as the Knight's Leap (Rytířský skok)

Legend says a harsh knight named Kun fell for a miller's beautiful daughter, who leapt from the cliff rather than marry him - her wide skirt and soft moss saved her, while the knight and his horse drowned in the depths below.