The Czech Republic – Germany – Poland tripoint lies at the confluence between the Neisse river and the Ullersforfer Creek in the centre of the Neisse. The bordering towns are Hrádek nad Nisou (Czech Republic), Zittau (Germany) and Bogatynia (Poland). The tripoint is marked by individual grand border markers in each country plus additional monuments and flags. I parked the car near the Porajów-Zittau border crossing and walked along the Neisse on the German side.

My route starts at Germany- Poland border crossing (A), visits the tripoint (B) and continues south across the Czech – German border (with customs controls in 2006) before walking around the Czech lake (C) and heading north returning to the tripoint. A quick jump across the dry Ullersforfer Creek into Poland (D) and then north back to the border crossing, passing closed bridges across the Neisse (E) which I had also visited from the German side earlier.

CZDEPL Tripoint

From Germany

CZDEPL

CZDEPL Polish BM from Germany

From Czech Republic

CZDEPL

Looking into Saxony CZDEPL from the South (CZ)

From Poland

PL/DE Border marker #1 In Poland Crossing the Czech Poland Border

Czech – Germany Border Crossing

Walking past the tripoint south along the cycle path leads to a border crossing where the border moves west away from the Neisse. Following this a little further there was Czech restoration works occurring just south of the border as we crossed the bridge to begin the loop north back to the tripoint.

Border markers PL/DE # 1 -3

Closed bridges across the Neisse River

As we walked north along the Neisse towards the border crossing we passed a number of closed bridges. Some have been reopened to pedestrians whilst others (in these pictures) have been demolished.

The “Himmelsbrücke” (Heaven’s Bridge), an International bridge between Germany and Poland connecting the towns Zittau (DE) and Porajow (PL). Demolished in 2013, no replacement bridge was constructed.

Proposals for new Tripoint Monument

German Proposal (2004) © PBW/Stadtverwaltung Zittau Czech Proposal © SZ Polish Proposal (2018) © SZ The most recent proposal is from the Polish engineering company PBW (Wroclaw), has a cable stay design with pedestrian and bike paths from each country. The suspension and all steel cables are painted white, the railings are made of stainless steel. The pylons and the center platform could be lit with LED lights. According to current calculations, the bridge would cost 2.9 to 3.3 million Euros. In October 2018 preliminary funding approval had been made by the Zittau authorities subject to Czech and Polish approval and EU funding. That said there have been several false dawns before, here is hoping. Personally, the Polish option is my favorite. What do you think? Comments below.

Date of Visit: 10.08.2006