Czech, Polish presidents make pilgrimage to peak of Mount Sněžka

The presidents of Poland and the Czech Republic climbed to the summit of Mount Sněžka on Tuesday, the highest point in the Krkonoše mountains that divide the two central European neighbours. Czechs and Poles have been making the joint pilgrimage since the early 1990s, but the two nations have been meeting at the mountaintop for even longer than that.

Bronisław Komorowski, photo: CTK

A special mass was said on Tuesday by Joachim Meisner, Archbishop of Cologne, in honour of St Lawrence, patron saint of cooks, brewers, pastry chefs and indeed Mount Sněžka, the highest summit in the Czech Republic and a popular destination for Polish hikers as well. St Lawrence has lent his name to the annual pilgrimage to this peak in the Krkonoše mountains, attended by hundreds of Czechs and Poles each year. And, indeed, presidents. Bronisław Komorowski is the newly-elected leader of Poland:

“Here at the top of Mount Sněžka, we’re closer to God but also, paradoxically, closer to the people. From here you can see a better world. You can see how the world is beautiful, and unusual. Thank you for this shared experience, for this tourist and political summit here on the mountain path. I am pleased that together we can see the beauty of the world, the beauty of Poland, the beauty of the Czech Republic, and the beauty of this special place, these great Krkonoše mountains.”

At 58, President Komorowski is a good ten years younger than his Czech counterpart Václav Klaus, a keen sportsman, but one who’s suffered a few minor health problems in recent years common to people of his age. He arrived at the summit just slightly out of breath, and despite the best efforts of the two presidents’ bodyguards and protocol staff, a few minutes after his Polish colleague:

Václav Klaus, photo: CTK

“It’s definitely my biggest climb since my hip operation, that’s for sure, and so I’ve been taking it easy today, walking a bit slower than usual, and paying very close attention so I don’t trip up!”

The joint Czech-Polish hiking path leading to the peak of Mount Sněžka was first opened in 1961, when both countries were members of the eastern bloc. It was possible to hike along the border, but still involved some formalities such as ID checks by communist border guards, and was restricted to tourists from Czechoslovakia and Poland.

In the 1970s Polish and Czech dissidents, including Adam Michnik and Václav Havel, held clandestine meetings here. After 1989 and the fall of communism, President Havel initiated a tradition of continuing the Czech-Polish pilgrimages to the summit of Mount Sněžka, the first taking place in 1990. Dominik Duka is the head of the Czech Catholic Church:

“The tradition of our leaders walking to the summit of Mount Sněžka started right after the fall of communism in 1989, the first such pilgrimage was in 1990, so this is really the 20th ‘free’ pilgrimage we’ve held.”

Photo: CTK

Today, of course, the two countries are EU members and signatories to the Schengen Agreement, and there is no longer a border to cross, meaning Czechs, Poles and anyone else can wander about at their leisure. While the two presidents held informal talks on mutual relations, the EU and NATO inside a mountain chalet, the rest of the pilgrims took a well-deserved breather, before heading off once again down the mountain path to their respective countries.