Lusen

Lusen is a granite mountain in the Bavarian Forest National Park, near the border with the Czech Republic. It stands 1,373 metres high and is the highest peak in its district. The mountain’s name appears on a 1523 map by Johannes Aventinus, and its origins may be Celtic. A large cross was built on the summit in 1947, later restored in 1992 and joined by a statue of Jesus in 2008. Nearby is the Lusenschutzhaus, a mountain hut built in 1938 that provides shelter year-round. The surrounding area is part of a protected national park where streams feed into the Vydra.

The mountain draws hikers for its varied trails and dramatic scenery. The most popular route starts at the forester’s lodge Waldhausreibe, 1,100 metres above sea level, where two paths lead to the top in about an hour and a quarter. More experienced walkers begin lower down at Fredenbrücke and take a longer route through Martinsklause and Teufelsloch, reaching the summit in around two hours. The Blockmeer, a field of granite boulders, marks part of the climb and adds to the landscape’s rugged charm.

The summit offers wide views across the Bavarian Forest and into the Czech Republic. Damage from bark beetle in the 1990s left large areas of dead forest, but the park chose not to intervene. Dead wood was left in place, allowing a new wild forest to grow among the standing skeletons of old spruce. The Hochwaldsteig adventure trail on the Sommerweg shows how this natural recovery creates a forest richer in species than managed timberland. The contrast between living and dead trees gives the area a striking, evolving character.