Tanečnice, Mountain summit in the Šluknov Uplands, Ústí nad Labem Region, Czech Republic
Tanzplan is a 599 m high ridge summit in the Šluknovská pahorkatina, on the Czech-German border between Mikulášovice and Sebnitz. Its rounded top and steep slopes are covered with stone seas and spruce monocultures, with remnants of acidophilous beech forests. A 26 m stone lookout tower, built in 1904-1905, stands on the summit.
The summit's oldest recorded forest name, Thomaswald, dates to 1545; the hill itself was called Tannenplan (fir clearing), later corrupted to Tanzplan. A triangulation tower was built on top in the 1830s, and the first lookout, a 26 m wooden tower, opened on 6 October 1886. After a storm destroyed it in 1903, the stone tower was inaugurated as the Bismarck Tower on 28 May 1905.
The mountain's German name Tanzplan arose from a corruption of Tannenplan (fir plain), while the Czech name Tanečnice came into use only after the Second World War. A local legend instead credits forest fairies who danced on the summit and lured hunters there. Mikulášovice teacher Josef Bartmann wrote the best-known song about the hill, the Tanzplanliedchen.
Several marked hiking trails lead to the summit, with parking available at the base for those arriving by car. The climb can be done year-round, though April through October offers the most comfortable conditions.
The tower on the summit is built of two materials: a 10-metre base of granite quarried in the nearby Thomaswald, topped by a brick upper section. The 1905 structure cost about 24,000 kronen, paid for by Count Salm-Reifferscheid.
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