Hoher Hahn is a modest but charming peak in the Lusatian Highlands, rising to 528 meters right along the German-Czech border. It's a place for hikers who crave quiet forest trails away from the crowds, wrapped in dense spruce woods and border-country stillness.

The mountain forms part of the Hohwald massif and is almost entirely covered in coniferous forest, dominated by Norway spruce. The southern and southwestern slopes are partly used for farming, giving a pleasant contrast between open meadows and dark woodland. The state border between Germany and the Czech Republic runs along the eastern and southeastern slopes, so a walk here can take you across two countries almost without noticing. The Laubbach stream has its source at the northern foot of the mountain, and all the water here eventually flows via the Elbe into the North Sea. The atmosphere is calm in every season — cool and shaded in summer, colorful in autumn, and wonderfully quiet under snow in winter.

How to reach the summit

• Berthelsdorf (a district of Neustadt in Saxony) — green-marked trail, following part of the historic Meißner Steig path, easy to moderate difficulty
• Alte Waldweg — also used by the Sächsische Mittelgebirge long-distance cycling route

Practical information

• The summit lies right on the German-Czech border — carry an ID document
• The area is shared by hikers and cyclists along the Sächsische Mittelgebirge route

An interesting detail: the mountain's bedrock is fine- to medium-grained two-mica granodiorite, and the podzolic brown soils help sustain the dense, healthy conifer forest that blankets its slopes.