Świeradów-Zdrój Bad Flinsberg

Graf-Gotthard-Schanze

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Graf-Gotthard-Schanze:

K-Point:	ca. 50 m
Hill record:	54.0 m
Tower height:	15 m
Inrun angle:	24.2°
Coordinates:	50.897370, 15.333650 ✔

Graf-Ludwig-Schanze:

K-Point:	ca. 20 m
Coordinates:	50.897290, 15.333190 ✔

Further jumps:	no
Plastic matting:	no
Status:	destroyed
Coordinates:	50.897370, 15.333650 ✔

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History:

Graf-Gotthard-Schanze was the main ski jumping hill of the pre-war spa town of Bad Flinsberg (today Świeradów-Zdrój) in the Izera Mountains. The facility was situated high above the town, in a forested hollow above today’s Chatka Leśnika, on the slopes of Stóg Izerski.
The small complex consisted of two hills: the large Graf-Gotthard-Schanze with a construction point of around K50 m, and the smaller Graf-Ludwig-Schanze with a K-point of around 20 m, located slightly lower in the same valley. Archival records preserve the hill record of the larger jump at 54.0 m, although the jumper’s name is not mentioned in any sources.
Graf-Gotthard-Schanze was considered one of the most distinctive ski jumps in the region—modern studies of sports infrastructure in the Sudetes even describe it as “the steepest hill in the country.” Already before the war, the press noted that the hill stood “unbelievably steep” in the tall forest above the spa, as if it had been built almost vertically.
By the late 1920s at the latest, the hill had become an important part of Bad Flinsberg’s winter offer. In 1927, the local newspaper Bote aus dem Riesengebirge reported a competition on the Graf-Gotthard-Sprungschanze with 41 competitors and very good snow conditions. A few years later, in the winter of 1930/31, the Kattowitzer Zeitung announced an “Eröffnungsspringen auf der Graf-Gotthard-Schanze” on 26 December as part of the spa’s official winter programme, alongside toboggan races and other sporting and social events. Jumps on this hill opened the season, and further competitions were held throughout the 1930s, up to the eve of the Second World War.
The local club Wintersportvereinigung Bad Flinsberg 1906 e.V. organised winter sports weeks and competitions on the Graf-Gotthard-Schanze during this period. Post-war studies based on the chronicles of Hannes Scholdan emphasise that skiers could demonstrate their jumping skills both on the smaller “Am Waldsaum” hill and on the larger Graf-Gotthard-Schanze, with prizes of “artistic” value awaiting the best performers.
After the Second World War, the ski jumping tradition in Świeradów-Zdrój gradually faded. The hills were never modernised and eventually fell into ruin. Today both ski jumps are considered destroyed. In recent years, the former landing slopes have occasionally been used as a spectacular, informal section of local enduro mountain-bike trails.

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Świeradów-Zdrój Bad Flinsberg

Graf-Gotthard-Schanze

Data | History | Hill records | Map | Photo gallery | Comments

Graf-Gotthard-Schanze:

Graf-Ludwig-Schanze:

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