Karkonoskie Mountains Secrets
Medals available in the vending machine at the ticket office!
Karkonosze Mysteries were created to introduce you to the mystical world of the mountains!
For each of you, we’ve prepared a unique, one-of-a-kind journey. You’ll discover stories, legends, and tales rooted in the Karkonosze region, artistically arranged in space by world-famous artists. Thanks to modern technology, you’ll have the opportunity to experience with all your senses the magic and power dormant in the Karkonosze Mountains.
At Karkonosze Mysteries, beyond a lesson in history and technology, you’ll receive a true lesson about life in mountains ruled by magic and unexplored natural phenomena.
Karkonosze Mysteries was built at the site where an ancient staff of the Mountain Spirit was discovered. This astonishing artifact was unearthed on March 26, 2011, during construction work in Karpacz. This object, called the Mountain Spirit’s staff, caused a stir among the local community, on internet forums, and in other media. Currently, the exhibit has joined the collections of the Karkonosze Museum in Jelenia Góra.
Jakub Paczyński – creator of Karkonosze Mysteries – was guided from the very beginning by the idea of promoting the nearly forgotten legendary history of the Karkonosze and their ruler – the Mountain Spirit.
The discovery of the ancient staff became the driving force behind the entire project. Without hesitation, artists like Dariusz Miliński expressed their willingness to co-create the project. The creators of Karkonosze Mysteries aim to broaden the awareness of both locals and tourists regarding the history of the Karkonosze.
The mountain areas have been inhabited since the 16th century by herbalists who treated the local population. The rich flora of the Karkonosze favored herbal medicine, which contributed to Karpacz’s fame throughout Europe. Karpacz was even called the herbal village, and some decoctions with formulas developed by Karkonosze herbalists are still used in alternative medicine today.
We must also remember the Walloons. They were undisputed masters in extracting and processing natural resources. They were engaged in mining precious stones, as well as silver and gold. They mainly settled around Stara Wieś Szklarska located in the valley by Szklarski Stream and its tributaries, now part of Szklarska Poręba. An interesting fact is that the Walloons left signs known only to themselves, which they carved on rocks, trees, and stones. These signs served as directional and location markers.
Glassmakers also left their mark on the history of the Karkonosze. Like the Walloons and herbalists, they guarded the secrets of their craft. The locations of glassworks were shrouded in numerous mysteries, in which the Mountain Spirit played a significant role – as the fearsome Ruler of the Karkonosze.
The creators of Karkonosze Mysteries, who quickly expanded their circle to include other outstanding artists fascinated by the history of the Karkonosze and the figure of the Mountain Spirit, were troubled by the widespread image of the Ruler of the Karkonosze. In their opinion, depicting the Mountain Spirit as an old man with a long gray beard, leaning on a wooden staff while wandering mountain trails is a gross oversimplification. Currently, it’s forgotten that Rzepiór is immaterial and therefore can take various forms, both human and animal. He can also transform into everyday objects, plants, or even stones. The Karkonosze Mountain Spirit is the hero of many fairy tales, legends, and folk stories.
In searching for an answer to the question of what form the Mountain Spirit appeared to people in, it was necessary to reach back to the oldest accounts about him. The oldest depiction of the Ruler of the Karkonosze comes from a map of Silesia by Helwig. The creation of this map dates back to 1561.
The Mountain Spirit was depicted there as an animal hybrid: he had an eagle’s head crowned with a pair of deer antlers, the body and front paws of a lion, the rear hooves of a goat, and a forked tail.
A similar image of the Mountain Spirit was disseminated over the following centuries. Each subsequent era slightly modified the image of the Ruler of the Karkonosze. Some indeed see the end of the Mountain Spirit’s reign in 1681, as a result of the construction of the Chapel of St. Lawrence on the summit of Śnieżka. The creation of the chapel was meant to symbolize the rule over the mountains by a Christian patron. Some associate this event with the death of the Mountain Spirit, for whom even the Tomb of the Karkonosze was built. Although this information was merely rumor, people increasingly began to depict the Mountain Spirit as a human. Most often as an old man with a gray beard. This image was also cemented in many literary and artistic works. During this period, the image of the Ruler of the Karkonosze undoubtedly softened and took on altruistic characteristics. A kind of “fall” of the Mountain Spirit occurred after the end of World War II. The population settling the Karkonosze lands at that time broke the continuity of culture. Moreover, due to bad experiences from the war period, the Lower Silesians wanted to distance themselves as much as possible from anything that even indirectly reminded them of the German nation. In this way, the Mountain Spirit met the same fate as many valuable works of art and literature from the pre-World War II period – thanks to effective propaganda, he was forgotten. It wasn’t really until the 1990s that a great bow was made to the Ruler of the Karkonosze and the discovery of Karkonosze mysteries began anew. People began to realize that the Mountain Spirit is the ruler of all peaks, forests, rivers, and lakes in the Karkonosze, that he is omnipotent and omnipresent. They began to understand that it is to him that we owe charming sunrises and sunsets, the mysterious sound of the wind, and the whole range of rainbow colors, but also that he is the cause of gales, heavy rains, thunderstorms full of thunder and lightning, and snow avalanches. It became clear that the Mountain Spirit is a just and stern ruler, but at the same time playful and capricious, and that Rzepiór is also all the elements: earth, water, fire, and air.
Studying the oldest tales, the co-creators of Karkonosze Mysteries wanted to discover an image of the Mountain Spirit that would be able to reflect his true power and character. After many hours of heated discussions, with the help of world-famous graphic designer Igor Morski, they managed to create an image of the Mountain Spirit that currently serves as the facility’s hallmark. This image was also depicted in the form of a sculpture guarding Karkonosze Mysteries, created by Grzegorz Pawłowski.
The ease with which the Mountain Spirit brings people together to realize a common project undoubtedly shows that for many years he was only waiting for the moment when he could be reborn and begin his rule in his mountain abode again.
Karkonosze Mysteries was created as a social movement with enormous impact. This joint initiative of Karkonosze enthusiasts aims to present various faces of the Mountain Lord, make people sensitive to all manifestations of his presence in the Karkonosze, and also so that each of us acquires the ability to perceive the Mountain Spirit and his richness while hiking mountain trails.
