Day 1#

Tower Háj near city Aš

The granite lookout tower offers breathtaking views of the surroundings. You can see the town of Aš and the nearby and more distant surroundings. What visitors can see is revealed by the copper plates in the eight highest windows of the tower. You can see not only the Green Mountain near Cheb, 20 kilometres away, but also Špičák in Sumava, seventy kilometres away, and Klínovec in the Ore Mountains, six kilometres away. The nearby Wartberg or Kornberg mountains, and even the highest mountain in the Saxon part of the Ore Mountains, the Fichtelberg, can be seen without any problems. The unmissable lookout tower rises to a height of 34 metres above the Háj peak at an altitude of 758 metres.

The first visitors climbed the 122 steps in late 1903, and the magnificent structure was inaugurated on 19 June the following year. The project, which won a prestigious prize at the Dresden Art Exhibition in 1901, was designed by the Dresden architect Wilhelm Kreis. An impressive amount of 66 cubic metres of granite blocks, about 65,000 bricks and nearly 60 wagons of lime were used for the construction. The craftsmen completed the construction of the monumental tower in a record time of 13 months.

The view from the top of Háj Hill On the top floor of the Aš tower, we can observe the surrounding landscape through eight glass windows. Orientation is greatly facilitated by the aforementioned copper plates on the parapets with directions and distances of the surrounding hills and towns.

• North view - Looking northwards, you can see the Saxon towns of Bad Elster and Adorf and then Schöneck with the highest railway station in Saxony. You can also see part of the nearby town of Hranice. Just a little further away are the Saxon towns of Oelsnitz and Plauen.
• Northeast - If we turn our view to the northeast, we can see the peaks of the Ore Mountains and also the highest mountain in the Czech part of this mountain range, 1244 m high Klínovec. Almost in the same direction is another prominent peak of the Ore Mountains on the German side, the Auersberg at 1018 metres above sea level.
• Southeast - A view of the peaks of the Slavkov Forest, such as the 983-metre-high Lesný Hill. A little further south you can see the majestic Dyleň Hill, which rises 940 metres above sea level.
• South - South of the lookout tower lies the Bavarian Hohenberg an der Eger, Arzberg or Marktredwitz.
• Southwest - To the southwest is the town of Schönwald or the 828-metre-high Kornberg.
• From south to west, the town of Aš can be seen like the palm of your hand.
• West - To the west lies the westernmost municipality of the Czech Republic, Krásná and the neighbouring Štítary. And just over the border is the Bavarian town of Rehau.

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Day 2#

The ruins of the Neuberg castle in Podhradí

They immediately gave the castle back to the family of Neuberg. The castle was later damaged by the troops of King Charles IV when its owners used the strategic location of the castle, which was near trade routes leading to Saxony, to carry out acts of banditry there.

From the year 1344, all the assets belonging to the Neubergs lying in the Aš Rrgion were gradually bought up by the House of Zedtwitz, who were related to the family of Neuberg. Conrad of Zedwitz acquired the Neuberg Castle in the year 1395 after he married Hedvika of Neuberg. In the year 1422, the Zedwitz estate was granted independence from Cheb by King Sigismund of Luxemburg, perhaps as a thanks for their non-participation in the Hussite Wars. As a result of that, the way of living in the Aš region changed, especially with regard to religion. Lutheranism started to spread in the region and soon it gained a powerful influence. In the 15^th century, the Church of Good Shepherd was built near the castle and in year the 1610, the castle of Neuberg burnt down. Until then, it had served as the headquarters of the Zedwitz family who ruled the whole Aš headland. Then the Zedwitz split up and moved to new chateaus in Kopaniny, Doubrava, Smrčina and Podhradí. Materials from the ruined castle were used for the construction of the new chateau in Podhradí, which was located in the close proximity of the Neuberg castle.  The original appearance of the castle is not known. Only a 22-metre high tower standing on a 29,5-metre high headland has been preserved. The circumference of the tower is 19.2 meters.

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Day 3#

Town hall

The Baroque building from 1733, built as the administrative center of the Zedtwitz estate, was destroyed by fire in 1814 and rebuilt between 1815 and 1816 according to plans by Angelus Pleffer from 1733. In 1885, the building was raised by a second floor and rebuilt into a pseudo-Renaissance form. After 1945, a museum was located here, later a city library. In 2003, the building was repaired and returned to its original purpose.

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Day 4#

Goethe Square

The frequent stops of J. W. Goethe in Aš during his travels to Bohemia in the years 1806 - 1823 first led to the construction of a memorial plaque, which was located at the Pošta Hotel on the square. In 1932, a monument with a fountain was unveiled in the middle of the square. The author of the sculpture is J. Watzal. The reliefs on the pedestal represent scenes from Goethe's works. On the north side are the dates of Goethe's stops in Aš. The statue of Goethe is now located in the newly revitalized Goethe Square. The only depiction of Goethe in the Czech Republic with a mineral in hand. Thanks to the time TRIP application, which you can download to mobile devices or tablets, you can travel through time. Take a walk to Goethe Square in the early 20th century and prepare to meet J. W. Goethe, Gustav Geipel, Konrad Henlein, or a mythical figure called Nahřbetskoč.

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Day 5#

Evangelical Church of the Good Shepherd

First there was a church from 1480 - 1490, built by the Zedtwitzs. Later, this nobility had the church rebuilt in the Baroque style, as its dimensions no longer suited the level of the Zedtwitz Podhrad estate and its capacity was already insufficient. Of the original church, only the tower remains. The tower of the church is square in the foundations, then octagonal on the floor. It is decorated with an onion-shaped dome. His nave is rectangular with a high roof, with small chapels on both sides. The interiors are wooden. No nails were used for their production, but pins. The interiors are decorated with a painting of angels by Rodius von Föslau from 1711. The altar and choir benches by Jindřich Šimon Zietler from Doubrava date from 1710. Of interest is the painting of the castle in the aedicule. It is assumed that this is the oldest depiction of the now defunct castle in Kopaniny.

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Day 6#

The former church of St. Trinity

It was one of the most important historical monuments in Aš. It was built between 1747 and 1749 on the site of the original church from 1622. The nave had about 1,000 seats and, together with benches on three wooden galleries, the church provided space for 2,500 people. The Baroque altar of J. S. Zeitler from 1754 and the large organ from 1911 were among the most valuable furnishings of the church. During the repairs in January 1960, there was a fire in the church, which burned down completely within three hours. Later, the masonry of the tower was demolished. In 2003, the outline of the church foundations was marked with a wall and provided with a wooden cross.

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Day 7#

Fire station

The building has served the citizens of Aš since October 18, 1931. It was designed by architect Emil Rösler and served as a library and armory for the city's volunteer firefighters and rescuers. It was renovated in 2014 and the first floor now houses the Museum of Aš.

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