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104-851: On both sides of the border, large areas of the mountains are designated national parks ( Krkonoše National Park in the Czech Republic and Karkonosze National Park in Poland), and these together comprise the Krkonoše/Karkonosze Transboundary Biosphere Reserve under the UNESCO Man and the Biosphere Programme . The source of the River Elbe is within the Giant Mountains. The range has a number of major ski resorts, and

208-571: A protected area in Europe is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Foot (unit) The foot (standard symbol: ft ) is a unit of length in the British imperial and United States customary systems of measurement . The prime symbol , ′ , is commonly used to represent the foot. In both customary and imperial units, one foot comprises 12  inches , and one yard comprises three feet. Since an international agreement in 1959 ,

312-467: A circumference divisible as a whole number into ten long feet. The measures of Iron Age Britain are uncertain and proposed reconstructions such as the Megalithic Yard are controversial. Later Welsh legend credited Dyfnwal Moelmud with the establishment of their units , including a foot of 9 inches. The Belgic or North German foot of 335 mm (13.2 in) was introduced to England either by

416-429: A length of ⁠ 1 / 600 ⁠ of a stadion , one stadion being about 181.2 m (594 ft); therefore a foot was, at the time, about 302 mm (11.9 in). Its exact size varied from city to city and could range between 270 mm (10.6 in) and 350 mm (13.8 in), but lengths used for temple construction appear to have been about 295 mm (11.6 in) to 325 mm (12.8 in);

520-618: A measurement of the previous Indian standard of the yard. However, it is now obsolete as the current National Topographic Database of the Survey of India is based on the metric WGS-84 datum , which is also used by the Global Positioning System . An ISO 2848 measure of 3 basic modules (30 cm) is called a " metric foot ", but there were earlier distinct definitions of a metric foot during metrication in France and Germany. In 1799

624-447: A road connecting the village of Borowice with Przełęcz Karkonoska, now known as Droga Borowicka ("Borowice Road"). Poor sanitary and feeding conditions resulted in a high mortality rate, and after a typhus epidemic broke out in 1942 the construction was halted. After the defeat of Germany in the war, the mountains became again part Czechoslovakia and Poland, although with Soviet-installed communist regimes, which stayed in power until

728-509: A small parcel, but becomes significant for mapping, or when the state plane coordinate system (SPCS) is used in the US, because the origin of the system may be hundreds of thousands of feet (hundreds of miles) from the point of interest. Hence the previous definitions continued to be used for surveying in the United States and India for many years, and are denoted survey feet to distinguish them from

832-449: Is feet . However, the singular form may be used like a plural when it is preceded by a number, as in "he is six foot tall." Historically, the human body has been used to provide the basis for units of length. The foot of an adult European-American male is typically about 15.3% of his height, giving a person of 175 cm (5 ft 9 in) a foot-length of about 268 mm (10.6 in), on average. Archaeologists believe that, in

936-505: Is a popular destination for tourists engaging in downhill and cross-country skiing , hiking , cycling and other activities. The range has been called the Giant Mountains in English literature since at least 1719. The Czech name "Krkonoše" is first mentioned (in the singular, as "Krkonoš" ) in a 1492 record of the division of the Manor of Štěpanice into two parts. The first map occurrence of

1040-543: Is a protected area, and many houses are only used at weekends, for recreational purposes. The population exchange also led to a decline of the cultural landscape. In large parts of the mountains the meadows ran to seed, settlements deracinated , hundreds of traditional houses and mountain huts decayed or turned into architecturally worthless objects and countless memorials, chapels, shrines, landmarks and springs were destroyed, because they were either German-related or ecclesiastic. New Polish names were issued by political decree in

1144-415: Is based upon calculations from surveys of Phase 1 elements at Stonehenge . They found that the underlying diameters of the stone circles had been consistently laid out using multiples of a base unit amounting to 30 long feet , which they calculated to be 1.056 of a modern international foot (thus 12.672 inches or 0.3219 m). Furthermore, this unit is identifiable in the dimensions of some stone lintels at

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1248-475: Is first listed by Ptolemy and refers to a pre-Celtic or Germanic people . In Simon Hüttel's chronicle of Trautenau ( Trutnov ) from 1549 the names Hrisenpergisches Gebirge , Hrisengepirge , Hrisengebirge , Risengepirge appeared for the first time, but in the following centuries several other names were still used too. Martin Helwig's map of Silesia mentions Riſenberg (Risenberg). In 1380, Přibík Pulkava called

1352-467: Is of no practical significance given the precision of normal surveying measurements over short distances (usually much less than a mile). Out of 50 states and six other jurisdictions, 40 have legislated that surveying measures should be based on the US survey foot, six have legislated that they be made on the basis of the international foot, and ten have not specified. The Indian survey foot is defined as exactly 0.304 7996  m , presumably derived from

1456-634: Is the subalpine vegetation zone , which is marked by knee timber , mat-grass meadows and subarctic high moors. This habitat of special importance in the Krkonoše is a relic of Arctic tundra, which was typical in Central Europe during the ice age. At the same time, however, there was a connection to the alpine grasslands of the Alps, and plant species coexist here which are otherwise separated by several thousand kilometers, such as cloudberries. Some species evolved under

1560-478: Is the only industrialized country that uses the (international) foot in preference to the meter in its commercial, engineering, and standards activities. The foot is legally recognized in the United Kingdom; road distance signs must use imperial units (however, distances on road signs are always marked in miles or yards, not feet; bridge clearances are given in meters as well as feet and inches), while its usage

1664-624: Is widespread among the British public as a measurement of height. The foot is recognized as an alternative expression of length in Canada. Both the UK and Canada have partially metricated their units of measurement. The measurement of altitude in international aviation (the flight level unit) is one of the few areas where the foot is used outside the English-speaking world. The most common plural of foot

1768-481: The toise and in particular the toise de l'Écritoire , the distance between the fingertips of the outstretched arms of a man. The toise has 6 pieds (feet) each of 326.6 mm (12.9 in). He was unsuccessful in introducing a standard unit of length throughout his realm: an analysis of the measurements of Charlieu Abbey shows that during the 9th century the Roman foot of 296.1 mm (11.66 in)

1872-782: The Belgic Celts during their invasions prior to the Romans or by the Anglo-Saxons in the 5th and 6th century. Roman units were introduced following their invasion in AD ;43. Following the Roman withdrawal and Saxon invasions , the Roman foot continued to be used in the construction crafts while the Belgic foot was used for land measurement. Both the Welsh and Belgic feet seem to have been based on multiples of

1976-515: The British Standards Institution 's adoption of a scientific standard inch of 25.4 millimeters in 1930. The IEEE standard symbol for a foot is "ft". In some cases, the foot is denoted by a prime , often approximated by an apostrophe , and the inch by a double prime; for example, 2   feet 4 inches is sometimes denoted 2′   4″. In Imperial units , the foot was defined as ⁠ 1 / 3 ⁠  yard, with

2080-663: The Confederation of the Rhine was founded and three different reformed feet were defined, all of which were based on the metric system: Prior to the introduction of the metric system, many European cities and countries used the foot, but it varied considerably in length: the voet in Ypres , Belgium, was 273.8 millimeters (10.78   in) while the piede in Venice was 347.73 millimeters (13.690   in). Lists of conversion factors between

2184-718: The Knights Hospitaller from Strzegom , and in 1292, Duke Bolko I the Strict granted the Grzbiet Lasocki in the east to the Krzeszów Abbey , whereas the remainder of the Polish part of the mountains remained a ducal possession, but there were some small noble possessions. The first people who explored the inner parts of the Giant Mountains were treasure hunters and miners looking for gold, silver, ores and valuable stones, mainly on

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2288-704: The Kreuzberg between 1888 and 1894 the garden architect Hermann Mächtig designed its waterfall after the Zackelfall ( Kamieńczyk Falls ) and a gully after Wolfsschlucht (Vlčí rokle in Adršpach). After World War II, ski resorts expanded with new lifts and slopes on both sides of the mountains, while the traditional mountain huts were neglected. Many were victims of fires, such as Labská bouda, Riesenbaude , and Prinz-Heinrich-Baude . Similarly many hiking trails, ski jumps and luge tracks fell into disrepair due to lack of care. In 1945,

2392-488: The Middle High German word Buode , which means booth or building. The Polish name is schronisko . These were mostly named either for the location or for their constructor or occupant. The occupants, however, often changed after the expulsion, and several mountain huts especially on the now Polish side received new names. Entire colonies of mountain huts were called after the families who lived there. They are located in

2496-667: The National Institute of Standards and Technology , the National Geodetic Survey , and the United States Department of Commerce deprecated use of the US survey foot and recommended conversion to either the meter or the international foot (0.3048 m). However, the historic relevance of the US survey foot persists, as the Federal Register notes: The date of December 31, 2022, was selected to accompany

2600-456: The barleycorn , but by as early as 950 the English kings seem to have (ineffectually) ordered measures to be based upon an iron yardstick at Winchester and then London . Henry I was said to have ordered a new standard to be based upon the length of his own arm and, by the c.  1300 Act concerning the Composition of Yards and Perches traditionally credited to Edward I or II ,

2704-602: The tree line . The main ridge of the mountains runs from east to west and forms the border between these two countries. Its highest peak, Sněžka/Śnieżka , is the highest peak of the Czech Republic. The Silesian northern part, in Poland, drops steeply to the Jelenia Góra valley, whereas the southern Czech part slopes gently to the Bohemian basin. In the north-easterly direction the Giant Mountains continue to Rudawy Janowickie , and in

2808-466: The 17th century, whereas the oldest surviving monument to a mountain victim is located on Sněžka/Śnieżka and commemorates Jan Pieniążek-Odrowąż who died in 1828. As a result, the mountains became one of the most popular vacation areas in the German Empire . In the 19th century, the most numerous tourists were Germans and Poles . Polish-language guidebooks to the Giant Mountains have been published since

2912-716: The 18th century, and in the 18th-19th centuries there were also indigenous Polish mountain guides. In the 19th century, many Czech writers visited the mountains and climbed Sněžka, which they then described in their works. Mount Sněžka was a symbol of the Slavic origin of the Czechs and a source of inspiration in the Czech National Revival movement. During the Gründerzeit (19th century period of industrial and economic growth) many manufacturers from Berlin built numerous holiday villas on

3016-482: The 1980s for all but Polish and Czechoslovak citizens. The mountains are on the route of main Sudetes hiking trail, Główny Szlak Sudecki (440 km from Świeradów Zdrój to Prudnik ), which follows the main ridge. Today, the Giant Mountains are a popular holiday destination in both summer and winter. The Giant Mountains are a traditional winter sports centre in Central Europe. The largest mountain resorts are located on

3120-481: The 1980s. Almost the entire German population was expelled in accordance with the Potsdam Agreement . On the northern Silesian side, Poles, some of whom had been expelled from what was formerly eastern Poland resettled the area, while Czechs re-settled the southern Bohemian side of the mountain range. Today the population density of the area of the national park is two-thirds lower than before World War II, as it

3224-450: The City of London and Westminster , which codified the statute mile as comprising 5,280 feet. The differences among the various physical standard yards around the world, revealed by increasingly powerful microscopes , eventually led to the 1959 adoption of the international foot defined in terms of the meter. The international yard and pound agreement of July 1959 defined the length of

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3328-500: The Czech Republic and Schronisko Strzecha Akademicka, Schronisko Samotnia and Schronisko na Hali Szrenickiej in Poland. In other places, the old mountain huts were replaced by newer buildings which were specially built for tourism purposes. Huts from the 20th century include Petrova bouda and the hut on the summit of mount Sněžka/Śnieżka. There are also many impressive rock formations, such as Dívčí kameny-Śląskie Kamienie and Mužské kameny-Czeskie Kamienie, above 1,400 metres (4,600 feet) on

3432-407: The Czech Republic. Apart from minor adjustments, the boundary has survived unchanged to this day. It is disputed whether the Polish ruler Bolesław III Wrymouth crossed the Giant Mountains during his reprisal campaign against Bohemia in 1110. Until the establishment of Poland in the 10th-11th century the mountain range and its foothills were unpopulated, with deep, impenetrable forests. The Polish part

3536-636: The Czech side in Pec pod Sněžkou , Špindlerův Mlýn , Harrachov and Janské Lázně and on the Polish side in Szklarska Poręba , Karpacz and Kowary . August Neidhardt von Gneisenau described a sledging of ten kilometres (6.2 miles) from Grenzbauden (Pomezní boudy) to Schmiedeberg (Kowary) already in 1817. Much earlier however heavy sledges already transported timber and hay whereas smaller and more manoeuvrable sledges, so called "Hitsch'n", were used to get faster from

3640-534: The European luge championships many times. The first Rendezvous race, predecessor of today's Nordic Ski Championships , was hosted by Johannisbad, the majority of the competitions were won by HDW athletes. The mountain range is traversed by the cross-border hiking trail along the main ridge called the " Polish–Czech Friendship Trail ". The start point is located on Szrenica and the end in the Okraj Pass / Pomezní boudy ;

3744-434: The Giant Mountains amounts to 631 square kilometres (244 square miles), 454 square kilometres (175 square miles) within the Czech Republic and 177 square kilometres (68 square miles) in Poland. While most of the Sudetes are middle-sized Mittelgebirge mountains, the Giant Mountains have a few characteristics of proper high mountains such as glacial cirques , small periglacial landforms and an elevation significantly above

3848-412: The Giant Mountains. The area of the national park is 363.27 km (140.26 sq mi). The protection zone of the park covers 186.42 km (71.98 sq mi). This Liberec Region location article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This Hradec Králové Region location article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This article related to

3952-532: The Greeks and the Romans subdivided the foot into 16 digits , but in later years, the Romans also subdivided the foot into 12 unciae (from which both the English words "inch" and " ounce " are derived). After the fall of the Roman Empire, some Roman traditions were continued but others fell into disuse. In AD 790 Charlemagne attempted to reform the units of measure in his domains. His units of length were based on

4056-610: The Jizera mountains. The rivers on the Czech side often fall over steep edges into valleys formed by ice-age glaciers. The largest waterfalls on the southern side of the mountains are the Labský vodopád with a height of 50 metres (160 feet), Pančavský waterfall (140 metres (460 feet), the highest waterfall in the Czech Republic), Horní Úpský waterfall, Dolní Úpský waterfall and Mumlavský waterfall (10 metres or 33 feet ). The most important rivers on

4160-406: The Krkonoše and obtained the entire dominion of Vrchlabí ( Hohenelbe , High Elbe ). His enterprising spirit was crucial for the further development of the area. For the supplement of the miners he founded many smaller towns in higher parts of the mountains. Further down in the valleys iron work furnaces were built, and water wheels provided the energy required. Due to the intensive economic activity

4264-1035: The Land Control Act. This influx was stopped when the Czechoslovakian side of the mountains was occupied by Germany in 1938, and many of these Czechs left the region or were expelled. There was no fighting in the Giant Mountains during World War II , and the Germans occupied the mountain huts as military observation posts, communication posts and resorts for troops. The Germans operated at least 15 forced labour camps, located in Przesieka , Przełęcz Karkonoska , Piechowice , Kowary and Krzaczyna . The camps held prisoners of various nationalities, including Polish (often women and sometimes even children), Italian, French, Jewish, Czech, Belgian, Luxembourgish, Ukrainian and Russian. Belgian, French and Soviet prisoners of war, and possibly also Czech and Polish civilians, were used to build

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4368-464: The NSRS where it is used now and in the past [emphasis added]. In other words, to minimize disruption in the use of U.S. survey foot for existing NSRS coordinate systems, the change will apply only to the modernized NSRS. State legislation is also important for determining the conversion factor to be used for everyday land surveying and real estate transactions, although the difference (two parts per million )

4472-616: The North Sea, those on the north side into the Baltic. The river valleys and lower layers form the sub- montane zone . The aboriginal hardwood and mixed forests are largely replaced with spruce monocultures . Only the river valleys offer remnants of hardwood forests. The higher parts form the montane vegetation zone. Their natural coniferous forests have also in large parts been replaced by spruce monocultures, which are often heavily damaged due to air pollution and soil acidification. In many places,

4576-451: The Obří důl, Labský důl and Důl Bílého Labe on the south side and the dramatic Śnieżne Kotły, Kocioł Łomniczki and the calderas of mountain lakes Wielki Staw and Mały Staw on the north side of the main ridge. The species-richest areas are called zahrádka ("garden"). There are about 15 in Krkonoše, for example Čertova zahrádka und Krakonošova zahrádka. On both the Czech and Polish side, large parts of

4680-562: The Polish Dolnośląskie Towarzystwo Turystyczno-Krajoznawcze ("Lower Silesian Tourist and Sightseeing Society") was founded in Przesieka , which was merged with the Polish Tourist and Sightseeing Society the following year. The Polish Tourist and Sightseeing Society re-opened several mountain huts. The cross-border hiking trail on the main ridge called " Polish–Czech Friendship Trail " was closed in

4784-513: The Polish (Silesian) northern part, where farming conditions were better, and later the southern Bohemian part along the Elbe and Úpa rivers. Many agricultural settlements, markets and handcraft communities and cities were founded at that time, and they formed a base for the further colonization of the mountain range. In 1281, Duke Bernard the Lightsome granted the western portion of the Giant Mountains to

4888-410: The Polish national park prohibit reforestation of damaged and dead forests. On the Czech side, however, large-scale reforestation projects are common. The climate of the Giant Mountains is marked by frequent weather changes. The winters are cold and snow depths above 3 metres (9.8 feet) are not uncommon. Many parts of the mountains are covered with snow for five or six months. There is often dense fog at

4992-566: The Polish northern Giant Mountains. In the 1970s and 1980s, Polish and Czech anti-communist activists met illegally in the Giant Mountains. Following the Fall of Communism , presidents of Czechoslovakia and Poland met at the Przełęcz Karkonoska in 1990. Typical for the Giant Mountains are its numerous mountain huts, which are called bouda in Czech and Baude in German. Both names are derived from

5096-411: The Polish side are Kamienna, Łomnica and Bóbr . They also form impressive waterfalls, such as Kamieńczyk Falls (27 metres or 89 feet), Szklarki Falls (13.3 metres or 44 feet) Wodospad na Łomnicy (10 m or 33 ft) or Podgórna Falls (10 m or 33 ft). The main ridge of the Giant Mountains forms the watershed between the North Sea and the Baltic. The rivers on the south side drain into

5200-609: The Silesian part of the mountains, as well as large estates in the Jelenia Góra Valley north of them since the Middle Ages), defines the border between Bohemia and Silesia to this day. At first Bad Warmbrunn ( Cieplice Śląskie Zdrój , now a district of Jelenia Góra) with its hot springs became a popular bath and tourist centre on the northern side of the mountains. In 1822 Wilhelm , a brother of Prussian king Frederick William III ,

5304-460: The Silesian part of the mountains, where they settled in Marysin (present-day district of Szklarska Poręba ), Karpacz , Borowice , Michałowice (present-day district of Piechowice ) and Jagniątków (present-day district of Jelenia Góra ). Following the war, several cottages, called bouda (plural: boudy ) in Czech, buda (plural: budy ) in Polish and Baude (plural: Bauden ) in German, remained in

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5408-694: The Silesian side and the Austrian Riesengebirgsverein on the Bohemian side. The touristic development of the Krkonoše was one of their goals, and this primarily meant the construction of hiking trails. In the following years they created a network of 3,000 kilometres (1,900 miles), with 500 kilometres (310 miles) on the Silesian (main) and Bohemian ridge alone. With the development of settlement and tourism, there have been cases of deaths from falls from heights, straying and freezing or from avalanches. The oldest surviving records of avalanches date back to

5512-406: The Silesian side, many of which are preserved to this day and provide a special flair, as in Szklarska Poręba (formerly Schreiberhau). Direct rail links to Schreiberhau from Berlin, Breslau (Wrocław), Stettin (Szczecin) and Dresden , and later even Deutsche Luft Hansa air links via Hirschberg (Jelenia Góra), enabled a convenient and speedy arrival. On laying out Berlin's Victoria Park on

5616-491: The Silesian side. In the 14th and 15th centuries foreigners who spoke a non-German language came to the mountains. They were called "Wallen" (see Walha ), and their journeys to the "treasure" deposits were recorded in so-called "Wallenbüchern" (Wallen books). Mysterious orientation signs from these "Wallen" are visible to this day, especially on the northern side of the mountains. In the 14th–16th centuries, miners, glassmakers, charcoal burners, woodcutters and shepherds settled in

5720-607: The Sněžka were common, for instance by Theodor Körner and Johann Wolfgang Goethe . Artists like Caspar David Friedrich and Carl Gustav Carus hiked through the mountains to find inspiration. Future President of the United States John Quincy Adams visited the Giant Mountains in 1800. At the end of the 19th century two mountain clubs were founded, the German Riesengebirgsverein (Giant Mountains Club) on

5824-404: The U.S. Impacts related to the change to international feet will be minimized if a transition occurs concurrently with others [ sic ] changes in the NSRS. ... The difference in timelines will have no effect on users of the existing NSRS (National Spatial Reference System), because NGS ( NOAA 's National Geodetic Survey) will continue to support the U.S. survey foot for components of

5928-457: The character of the mountains and shaped the cultural landscape significantly. Hundreds of families, especially from the Tyrol region, created another group of inhabitants who spoke a different German dialect and brought another domestic culture to the Krkonoše. On the mountain hillsides they founded new settlements, laid down the basis for later farming by breeding cattle and built wooden dams to retain

6032-465: The door of a church on a Sunday and bid 16 men to stop, tall ones and small ones, as they happen to pass out when the service is finished; then make them put their left feet one behind the other, and the length thus obtained shall be a right and lawful rood to measure and survey the land with, and the 16th part of it shall be the right and lawful foot. The Neolithic long foot , first proposed by archeologists Mike Parker Pearson and Andrew Chamberlain,

6136-530: The first deforested enclaves on hillsides and on the peaks appeared during this period. By order of Christopher von Gendorf, widespread timber cutting for the silver mine in Kutná Hora started in many places, which caused irreparable damage. These orders led to the third wave of colonization, which fully affected the mountain ridges. In 1566 he invited lumberjacks from Alpine countries to settle in his domain. These people from Tyrol , Carinthia and Styria changed

6240-455: The first native inhabitants were wood cutters , charcoal burners and hunters, and the first immigrants were gold prospectors. The first wave of colonization by Czech settlers in the Bohemian part goes back to the 13th century, but only includes the foothills; the mountain ridges were still unpopulated. The second wave of colonization of the foothills in the late 13th century was mostly by German settlers ( Ostsiedlung ); they first colonized

6344-484: The first three years (afterwards it moved to Vienna and finally Innsbruck ) and that the first president of the ÖSV was Guido Rotter, a local from the mountains. The clubs on the Silesian side were part of the German Ski Association (DSV). After the breakup of Austro-Hungary and the creation of Czechoslovakia the German clubs of the Bohemian side of the Giant mountains joined the newly founded HDW, an association for all German winter sports clubs in Czechoslovakia, whereas

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6448-467: The foot is defined as equal to exactly 0.3048 meters. Historically, the "foot" was a part of many local systems of units, including the Greek , Roman , Chinese , French , and English systems. It varied in length from country to country, from city to city, and sometimes from trade to trade. Its length was usually between 250 mm and 335 mm and was generally, but not always, subdivided into 12 inches or 16  digits . The United States

6552-531: The foot of the mountains up to 1,230 millimetres (48 inches ) on mount Sněžka/Śnieżka. The highest precipitation, at 1,512 mm (59.5 in), is reached in the snow pits in the valleys at the foot of the main ridge. Since the Middle Ages, a state border has been established in the Giant Mountains, first between Poland and Bohemia, then between the Polish Duchy of Jawor and Bohemia, between Prussia and Austria , between Germany and Czechoslovakia , between Poland and Czechoslovakia, and then between Poland and

6656-409: The foot of the mountains. Poland's Karkonosze National Park ( Karkonoski Park Narodowy , KPN) was created in 1959 and covers an area of 55.8 square kilometres (21.5 square miles). It covers the highly sensitive higher parts of the mountain range from an altitude of about 900 to 1,000 metres (3,000 to 3,300 feet) and some special nature reserves below this zone. The strict conservation regulations of

6760-426: The forest is dead. This is due to the geographic location in the Black Triangle, a region around the German–Polish–Czech border triangle with many coal-burning power plants. The sulfur dioxide emissions, which are mainly responsible for acid rain, and the emission of many other concentrations have been greatly reduced since the beginning of the 1990s, but the forest die-back, which started in the 1970s and culminated in

6864-425: The former was close to the size of the Roman foot. The standard Roman foot ( pes ) was normally about 295.7 mm (11.6 in) (97% of today's measurement), but in some provinces, particularly Germania Inferior , the so-called pes Drusianus (foot of Nero Claudius Drusus ) was sometimes used, with a length of about 334 mm (13.1 in). (In reality, this foot predated Drusus.) Originally both

6968-435: The higher altitudes. On average, mount Sněžka/Śnieżka is at least partly hidden in fog and/or clouds on 296 days, and has an average of about 0.2 °C, which is similar to places much further north, like Iceland. The main ridge is one of the most wind-exposed areas of Europe. On the northern side the Foehn wind is a frequent meteorological phenomenon. The annual precipitation ranges from about 700 millimetres (28 inches ) at

7072-469: The higher parts of the mountains, which were used during the cattle pasturage in the summer and sometimes even through the winter. Among the oldest are Luční bouda, Stara Śląska Buda at Łabski Szczyt , Pomezní bouda and Brádlerova bouda founded in the 1620s and 1630s. The entire mountain range became a densely populated region. During the 17th century the mountain range on the Bohemian side was divided among new landowners, most of them Catholics and foreign to

7176-425: The higher parts or the ridge of the Krkonoše and were used by shepherds as wooden refuges in the summer. After 1800, some of the mountain huts became interesting for the first hikers, and towards the end of the 19th century many were converted into hostels. Later, these huts were often expanded to host a larger number of guests. Well-known historical mountain huts include Luční bouda, Martinova bouda and Vosecká bouda in

7280-407: The highest range of the country. The park has also been listed as a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve site . It borders Karkonosze National Park in Poland . Krkonoše's highest mountain is Sněžka at 1,603 m (5,259 ft), which is also the highest mountain of the entire the Czech Republic. The National Park management headquarters are located in the town of Vrchlabí , often called the Gateway to

7384-457: The international foot. The United Kingdom was unaffected by this problem, as the retriangulation of Great Britain (1936–62) had been done in meters. In the United States, the foot was defined as 12 inches, with the inch being defined by the Mendenhall Order of 1893 via 39.37 inches = 1 m (making a US foot exactly ⁠ 1200 / 3937 ⁠   meters, approximately 0.304 800 61  m ). On December 31, 2022,

7488-501: The international yard for all purposes through the Weights and Measures Act 1963 , effective January 1, 1964. When the international foot was defined in 1959, a great deal of survey data was already available based on the former definitions, especially in the United States and in India . The small difference between the survey foot and the international foot would not be detectable on a survey of

7592-509: The international yard in the United States and countries of the Commonwealth of Nations as exactly 0.9144 meters . Consequently, since a foot is one third of a yard, the international foot is defined to be equal to exactly 0.3048 meters. This was 2  ppm shorter than the previous US definition and 1.7 ppm longer than the previous British definition. The 1959 agreement concluded a series of step-by-step events, set off in particular by

7696-579: The king purchased nearby Schildau Castle (today Wojanów ) for his daughter Louise , Princess of the Netherlands. Frederick William IV enlarged the Erdmannsdorf manor house. Many new parks were created and manors and palaces rebuilt according to the newest architectural styles. In 1918 the Republic of Czechoslovakia was founded, and in the following years there was an influx of Czechs on the Bohemian side of

7800-419: The late 1980s, could not be stopped entirely. The clearing of forests in the surroundings of mountain huts created species-rich mountain meadows, which were maintained in alpine pasture farming. After the expulsion of Germans in 1945, this type of management largely came to a standstill and the mountain meadows were largely abandoned. Above the timber line at about 1,250 to 1,350 m (4,100 to 4,430 ft)

7904-561: The length of the trail is approx. 30 km; the level of difficulty is moderate. The trail partially overlaps with ski trails. Krkono%C5%A1e National Park Krkonoše National Park ( Czech : Krkonošský národní park , abbreviated as KRNAP ) is a national park in the Liberec and Hradec Králové regions of the Czech Republic . It covers most of the Giant Mountains , which is

8008-438: The main ridge, Harrachovy kameny on the Czech side, and Pielgrzymy and Słonecznik in Poland. These weathered blocks of granite form high towers which often resemble humans or animals, and reach heights up to 30 metres (98 feet). Similar formations can be found in other parts of the Sudetes. The Giant Mountains form one of the most traditional tourist areas in Central Europe. As early as the 18th and 19th centuries, ascents of

8112-462: The meter became the official unit of length in France . This was not fully enforced, and in 1812 Napoleon introduced the system of mesures usuelles which restored the traditional French measurements in the retail trade, but redefined them in terms of metric units. The foot, or pied métrique , was defined as one third of a meter. This unit continued in use until 1837. In southwestern Germany in 1806,

8216-484: The modernization of the National Spatial Reference System (NSRS) by NOAA 's National Geodetic Survey (NGS). The reason for associating the deprecation of the U.S. survey foot with the modernization of the NSRS is that the biggest impact of the uniform adoption of the international foot will be for users of the NSRS, due to very large coordinate values currently given in U.S. survey feet in many areas of

8320-472: The mountain range are protected as national parks and nature reserves . The Czech Krkonoše National Park ( Krkonošský národní park , KRNAP) was created in 1963 as the second national park in Czechoslovakia , making it the oldest national park in the Czech Republic . Its area is approximately 370 square kilometres (140 sq mi), including not only the subalpine zone but also large parts down to

8424-452: The mountains the Sněžné hory (Snowy Mountains). The Czech writer Bohuslav Balbín recorded in 1679 that the mountains were known under various names: Krkonoše (Cerconossios), Rhipaeos Montes, Obrovski Mountains, Snow Mountains or Riesen Gebirge. The modern names of Krkonoše (Czech), Riesengebirge (German) and Karkonosze (Polish) became widely accepted only in the 19th century. The area of

8528-523: The mountains. Nordic skiing was introduced during the same time when in 1880 Dr. Krause from Hirschberg (Jelenia Gora) bought some Norwegian skis in Stettin (Szczecin). A pair of them, the first recorded skis in the Giant Mountains, ended up at the Peterbaude (Petrovka). The locals however didn't know their purpose, and it wasn't until Fridtjof Nansens "Paa ski over Grønland" (The First Crossing of Greenland)

8632-515: The mountains. In 1511 German miners from the region around Meissen in Saxony started working in Obří Důl , directly below mount Sněžka/Śnieżka, and at the same time many other mines were opened in other central parts of the mountains, like Svatý Petr, now part of Špindlerův Mlýn . In the 1530s, Christopher von Gendorf , a Carinthian aristocrat and royal senior captain of King Ferdinand I, appeared in

8736-520: The mountains. The first glassworks reportedly was established in the Cicha Dolina ("Silent Valley") at the foot of the Grzybowiec mountain on the Polish side already in the 13th century, yet it certainly operated in the 14th–16th centuries. In the mid-14th century, there were also glassworks in Szklarska Poręba and Vysoké nad Jizerou . Later on, glassworkers from Bohemia also moved to the Silesian part of

8840-465: The mountains. Usually these people worked for the government (in contrast to the German inhabitants they spoke both Czech and German, which was required), but some of them also worked in the tourism industry and managed mountain huts like Labská bouda and Vosecká bouda. Many of these mountain huts had previously been owned by aristocratic landowners, but were given to the Czech Hikers Club (KCT) after

8944-427: The name dates back to 1518 to Klaudyán map of Bohemia , when it is referred to the mountains as "Krkonoss" . The origin of the name is usually interpreted as a compound of "krk" or "krak" , an Old Slavonic word for Krummholz (a reference to the local vegetation) – and "noš" , derived from "nosit" (to carry). Alternative linguistic theories mention a connection with the pre– Indo-European word Corconti , which

9048-570: The needed infrastructure and sponsored equipment for poorer people and schools. Around 1900 a number of sports clubs were founded in the Giant Mountains. The leading role of the region back then was emphasised by the fact that 5 of the 12 founding clubs of the Austrian Ski Federation (ÖSV) were located in this part of the Bohemia, that the office of the ÖSV was located in Hohenelbe (Vrchlabí) for

9152-620: The past, the people of Egypt , India , and Mesopotamia preferred the cubit , while the people of Rome , Greece , and China preferred the foot. Under the Harappan linear measures, Indus cities during the Bronze Age used a foot of 13.2 inches (335 mm) and a cubit of 20.8 inches (528 mm). The Egyptian equivalent of the foot—a measure of four palms or 16 digits—was known as the djeser and has been reconstructed as about 30 cm (11.8 in). The Greek foot ( πούς , pous ) had

9256-563: The region. These included the families of Harrach , Morzin and de Waggi. Disputes about the borders of each domain soon followed, but were settled between 1790 and 1810. Since the Treaty of Berlin (1742) Silesia had become part of the Kingdom of Prussia . The court decision of 1790, which set the border between the Bohemian dominions and the Silesian Schaffgotsch dominions (which family owned

9360-470: The ridges down into the valleys. Races with both types of sledges were a popular pastime among the locals and became an attraction for tourists. As sledging became more and more popular competitions were organized, the most popular and earliest during the late 19th century in Johannisbad (Janské Lázně). Around 1900, 3,930 sledges with long horn-shaped runners and 6,000 sport sledges were counted on both sides of

9464-511: The site and in the diameter of the "southern circle" at nearby Durrington Walls . Evidence that this unit was in widespread use across southern Britain is available from the Folkton Drums from Yorkshire ( neolithic artifacts, made from chalk, with circumferences that exactly divide as integers into ten long feet) and a similar object, the Lavant drum , excavated at Lavant , Sussex, again with

9568-676: The small Czech minority joined the Svaz lyžařů , an association for all Czech winter sports clubs. The towns and villages of the Giant Mountains became a popular venue for national and international competitions, its athletes ranked among the best of the era. The first German Nordic combined champion was a local, the competition itself was staged in Schreiberhau (Szklarska Poręba). Schreiberhau also hosted several luge championships. Martin Tietze and his sister Friedel from neighbouring Brückenberg (Karpacz) won

9672-524: The south-east to Rýchory . The pass Novosvětský průsmyk (Polish: Przełęcz Szklarska ) at Jakuszyce forms the western border with the Jizera Mountains . The Bohemian ridge in the Czech Republic, running parallel to the main ridge, forms a second ridge (also called inner ridge). At Špindlerův Mlýn the river Elbe divides the Bohemian ridge. The ridges are divided by the rivers Elbe, Mumlava, Bílé Labe, Velka Úpa, Malá Úpa and Jizera, which originates in

9776-419: The specific conditions of the Krkonoše unlike in the Alps or in the tundra, especially in Śnieżne Kotły . They are endemic, which means they only appear here. The alpine vegetation zone , with large rocky deserts, can only be found on the highest peaks (Sněžka, Luční hora , Studniční hora , Kotel and Szrenica ). Only grass, moss and lichen survive here. Especially species-rich are glacial cirques such as

9880-413: The statute foot was a different measure, exactly ⁠ 10 / 11 ⁠ of the old (Belgic) foot. The barleycorn , inch , ell , and yard were likewise shrunk, while rods and furlongs remained the same. The ambiguity over the state of the mile was resolved by the 1593 Act against Converting of Great Houses into Several Tenements and for Restraint of Inmates and Inclosures in and near about

9984-408: The various feet in this list ceased to be used when the countries adopted the metric system. The Netherlands and modern Belgium adopted the metric system in 1817, having used the mesures usuelles under Napoleon and the newly formed German Empire adopted the metric system in 1871. The palm (typically 200–280 mm, ie. 7 ⁠ 7 / 8 ⁠ to 11 ⁠ 1 / 32 ⁠ inches)

10088-598: The various units of measure were given in many European reference works including: Many of these standards were peculiar to a particular city, especially in Germany (which, before German unification in 1871, consisted of many kingdoms, principalities, free cities and so on). In many cases the length of the unit was not uniquely fixed: for example, the English foot was stated as 11 pouces 2.6 lignes ( French inches and lines ) by Picard , 11 pouces 3.11 lignes by Maskelyne , and 11 pouces 3 lignes by D'Alembert . Most of

10192-422: The water. In the 17th century Albrecht von Wallenstein acquired parts of the mountains, and the town of Vrchlabí served as a base for armament of his army. The Thirty Years' War of 1618–1648 sparked further exploration and settlement of the Giant Mountains, as the inhabitants, fleeing from the armies, took refuge in the mountains, sometimes founding new villages. Religious refugees from the Bohemian part fled to

10296-502: The yard being realized as a physical standard (separate from the standard meter). The yard standards of the different Commonwealth countries were periodically compared with one another. The value of the United Kingdom primary standard of the yard was determined in terms of the meter by the National Physical Laboratory in 1964 to be 0.914 3969  m , implying a pre-1959 UK foot of 0.304 7990  m . The UK adopted

10400-504: Was administratively part of the Wleń castellany . The first traces of human settlements probably appeared in the Duchy of Bohemia near two provincial paths between Bohemia and Poland in the 12th century. The town of Jelenia Góra and probably also Kowary existed nearby already in the 12th century, however, the oldest villages on the foothills on the Polish side were founded in the 13th century. Among

10504-578: Was the first prince of the Hohenzollern dynasty who took his summer residence in the Hirschberg (Jelenia Góra) valley, at Fischbach (today Karpniki ) castle. In 1831 the king himself bought Erdmannsdorf Estate, which he had learned to appreciate when visiting his brother in Fischbach and the previous owner of Erdmannsdorf, field marshal August von Gneisenau . The valley became a princely hideaway, and in 1838

10608-474: Was translated into German in 1891 that skiing became popular. At the same year the first ski manufacture of Austria-Hungary was established in Jungbuch (Mladé Buky) by master carpenter Franz Baudisch. The first crossing of the main ridge was done in 1892/93. Skiing as a popular sport was mainly brought forward by forest wardens, teachers and industrialists and business people who provided money to create and maintain

10712-1381: Was used in many Mediterranean cities instead of the foot. Horace Doursther, whose reference was published in Belgium which had the smallest foot measurements, grouped both units together, while J. F. G. Palaiseau devoted three chapters to units of length: one for linear measures (palms and feet); one for cloth measures (ells); and one for distances traveled (miles and leagues). In Belgium, the words pied (French) and voet (Dutch) would have been used interchangeably. International Standards Organisation (ISO)-defined intermodal containers for efficient global freight/cargo shipping, were defined using feet rather than meters for their leading outside (corner) dimensions. All ISO-standard containers to this day are eight feet wide, and their outer heights and lengths are also primarily defined in, or derived from feet. Quantities of global shipping containers are still primarily counted in Twenty-foot Equivalent Units , or TEUs. Everyday global (civilian) air traffic / aviation continues to be controlled in flight levels (flying altitudes) separated by thousands of feet (although typically read out in hundreds – e.g. flight level 330 actually means 33,000 feet, or about 10 kilometres in altitude). The length of

10816-461: Was used; when it was rebuilt in the 10th century, a foot of about 320 mm (12.6 in) was used. At the same time, monastic buildings used the Carolingian foot of 340 mm (13.4 in). The procedure for verification of the foot as described in the 16th century posthumously published work by Jacob Köbel in his book Geometrei. Von künstlichem Feldmessen und absehen is: Stand at

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