Tripoint Borders I: Germany, Poland, Czech Republic

In Europe there are plenty of border tripoints, and I have a long term plan to visit them all. Or, after realizing some may require some serious mountain climbing, at least most of them.
It should be a rather easy task for most points though, they are not guarded in any way, due to the Schengen agreement. This post is about the first one I visited back in 2008 or so. Here the borders of Poland, Germany and the Czech republic meet. I had some time off in Dresden, so I took a local train to Zittau. The train ride was an hour or so, and quite interesting, stopping on "wild west" like villages (in eastern Germany. Right.) mostly going parallel with the German side on the Czech-German border. At one point the tracks of Deutsche Bahn cross into the Czech republic for a few 100 meters, just south of the village Oppach. This area is also known as "Fugauer Zipfel" where once a Bohemian village "Fukov" existed. During the 50'ies there were some unsuccessful attempts by the GDR to swap the area.



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Arrived at Zittau railway station, the tripoint is about 40 min walk way. The tripoint is best reached from the Polish or Czech side.

Border checkpoint Germany/Poland.

I crossed the border from Germany to Poland at a checkpoint "Friedensstraße", and walked south along the Lusatian Neisse (Lausitzer Neiße) river.

First time in Poland. Sign tells you to beware of the "Pozor"s..

I've been to most countries in Europe, but strangely enough, this should be the first time I enter Poland.

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The triplex point is in the middle of the Neisse river which divides south western Poland and eastern Germany.

A closed bridge. Poland here, Germany there.

There is also a very small stream which separates Poland from the Czech republic, small enough you can just step over it.

Facing south, a corner of the Czech republic. Poland is the bit of grass to the lower left. Germany is out of sight on the right side of the Neisse river.

Border stone separating Poland from the Czech republic. Seems the D was changed into a P.

Standing on the Czech side, facing north. The small white and the larger monument to the right is entirely on the Czech side.

The actual tripoint is inaccessible, unless you are prepared to get wet feet.

Standing on the Czech side. The green grass to the upper left is in Germany, and plants on the right side are Polish. The actual tripoint is somewhere in the river above my head.

Water looked too cold, I didn't want to overdo things.
Complete gallery on Picasa.

Coming up, pics from the tripoint at Austria, Slovakia and Hungary.