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With its high peak the Große Kornberg is the northeast cornerstone of the Fichtel Mountains in south Germany. It forms a wooded ridge, which is recognisable from a long distance by its former military surveillance tower It is also the local 'house' mountain of Schönwald and Schwarzenbach an der Saale. Geologically, granite is the underlying rock. Its lower strata are grainy, but the upper layers contain fine-grained granite. Abandoned quarries are evidence of the ancient craft of stonemasons. The oldest known document dates to 1317 and refers to the mountain as the ''Kurnberg''. According to Professor Dr. Adolf Gütter, in Middle High German ''Kurn'' means 'mill', so it meant 'mill mountain'. On its northwest slopes there was once a village called Mühlhausen but it had been abandoned by the end of the 14th century. The Kornberg itself lacks the imposing rock towers and ''felsenmeer'' terrain typical of other mountain peaks in the Fichtelgebirge. However, its secondary summit, the Hirschstein, has many steep, sometimes vertical, rock towers which made the location attractive to the medieval castle of the same name, of which now only a few remnants are left. Moreover, the mountain offers other attractions for the traveller: the Gypsy Rocks (''Zigeunersteine'') with its logan stone (''Wackelstein''), and the Schönburg Watchtower (''Schönburgwarte'') with its good views. In winter the lifts are used by skiers. == The Schönburg Tower == The tower opened in 1954 is not the first structure to have stood on the Kornberg. In autumn 1849, a 70 foot high wooden tower with stone base was erected by master carpenter, Ulrich Hallmeyer from Kirchenlamitz, to assist in topographical surveys. 20 men worked for two weeks to build the tower, which cost 460 Gulden. When it fell into ruin, the Fichtelgebirge Section of the German-Austrian Alpine Club (forerunner of the Fichtelgebirge Club) In 1885 a 23-metre-high wooden observation tower (designed by engineer (''Baurat'') Winnerling of Wunsiedel; executed by master carpenter, Böhringer of Wunsiedel; cost 626 marks; opened on 2 August 1885). The site and the wood required were donated by Princ Ernest of Schönburg-Waldenburg, which is why the structure was given the name ''Schönburgwarte'' (Schönburg Watchtower). In March 1897 this wooden tower collapsed, but before the year was out the Fichtelgebirge Club (FGV) decided to build a stone tower. In 1898 the town engineer (''Stadtbaurat''), Thomas, from Hof, began the planning. Donations were collected, the Alpine Club section of Asch contributing 365 marks and the Vogtländische Tourist Association, 100 marks. Master engineer Luding from Pilgramsreuth was given the contract to build the 19.2-metre-high structure which cost 7,800 marks. On 24 June 1900 the circular stone structure was opened to the public in festive style. It was only a short time, however, before renovation work was needed, because the tower showed serious cracks and had to be reinforced with iron rings. In 1930 part of the battlements had fallen down and the internal staircase had to be repaired. There was not a single year when the ''Schönburgwarte'' did not incur repair costs. In 1936 a technical inspection came to the conclusion that the Kornberg tower would have to be replaced due to its dilapidation. On 4 December 1938 the circular tower was demolished for safety reasons. Several months before its demolition the Fichtelgebirge Club began planning a replacement, the Adolf Hitler Tower. However, plans for an early replacement came to nothing as a result of the Second World War. On 30 August 1952 an Association for the Rebuilding of the Kornberg Tower (''Verein zum Wiederaufbau des Kornbergturmes'') was founded, the funding for the new tower amassed, so that the summit of the Kornberg could once again become a viewing tower. On 23 August 1953 work started (planning: ''Oberstadtbaurat i. R.'' Rudorf from Hof; execution: Augsten & Scheuerlein of Hof) On 10 October 1954 about 4000 walkers gathered for the ceremony and the opening of the tower to the public. The rectangular tower with a total height of 26 m and 114 stone steps, cost 62,000 DM, which was found from donations and grants. On 31 May 1959 the ''Schönburgwarte'' was officially handed over to the Fichtelgebirge Club when the rebuilding association was disbanded. The surrounding club branches of Marktleuthen, Niederlamitz, Rehau, Schönwald, Schwarzenbach an der Saale, Selb and Selb-Plößberg took over the care of the tower. In 1960 members of the Niederlamitz branch with the support of the firm of Reul-Granit a stone panorama pointer was added to the tower parapet. By the entrance side on the inside of the tower is a large stone tablet with the data on the tower. In 1964, on the 10th anniversary of the tower, it was given a "tower ghost". This is a small man carved in granite, which is located in the tower entrance and carries the inscription "The tower ghost thanks you for your donation" (''"Der Turmgeist dankt für Deine Spende"''). 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Großer Kornberg」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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