I wrote:

> I will post the translation of the entire page soon.

Okay, so here we go:

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Tripoint

The municipality of Hrčava is wedged between Poland and Slovakia. The
common point belonging to no-one, and at the same to all three
states, the point where the borders of the Czech Republic, the Polish
Republic and the Slovak Republic meet, is also on the territory of
Hrčava. Because this tripoint is located in the gorge of a brook bed,
it was impossible to demarcate it with a border marker, so that the
tripoint is only geometrically defined. It is the centre of a circle
described by the tops of an isosceles triangle, which is formed by
three trilateral pyramidlike monoliths out of polished granite, that
are circa 215cm tall. Each monolith is fitted with the national
emblem of the respective state and its name. The individual monoliths
are on the territory of the Czech Republic, Poland and Slovakia
respectively. They are planted in such a way, that the national
emblems are turned towards the tripoint where the borders of the
Czech, Slovak and Polish republics meet. The base of the triangle is
formed by the flowline of the Czech and Polish monoliths. In an
opening in the base of each monolith, metallic cylindershaped boxes
were placed, containing commemorative documents, other pieces of
writing, newspapers of that time, and coins.

The granite monoliths were transported to the location by a triborder
helicopter and were erected on 22 June 1995.

In a similar way the tribroder point under the summit of Mt. Plechy
in the Bohemian Forest was marked. There the borders of the Czech
Republic, Austria and Germany meet. However, only one trilateral
granite monolith was planted there.

The fact that for the demarcation of one triborder point three
obelisks were needed, is definitely a sight worth seeing.

Two of the three triborder obelisks (the Czech and the Polish one)
are, from a distance of approximately 1,150m, also visible from a
place a bit behind the old wooden pub U Sikory ("At the titmouse's"),
but only for those who have hawk eyes. Others will have to use
binoculars, as long as they don't intend to visit the tripoint in
person. [The name of this pub is Polish and is therefore most
probably on that side of the border. pH]

As a rule, curious tourists examine all three triborder monoliths
during their visit. But watch out: the border regime applies also at
this point! (Only citizens of the Czech Republic and Slovakia can by
agreement cross the Czech-Slovak state border at any point of the
green border.) When you cross the Polish border outside the area of a
border crossing, you are illegally crossing the border, with all its
consequences! And although it is true that the border police of the
Czech Republic and Poland can tolerate such crossing of the border,
they do not have to, as a couple from Jindřichov Hradec found out in
2000, when they were arrested by Polish border guards.

The triborder area is also the southernmost point of the Czech-Polish
border.

At the Hrčava tripoint (officially "the threestate point of the
Beskids"), a Linden of Friendship was planted in 1990 to confirm the
friendship of the people of the three neighbouring countries. The
linden was planted by nature protectors from the Czech Republic,
Poland and Slovakia, on the occasion of the Day of the Earth.
Traditionally, on this day, nature protectors from the border regions
of abovementioned countries come together in Hrčava for an
international meeting.

The triborder point is also the starting point of the 762km long
common Czech-Polish border, and of the Czech-Slovak border, with a
length of 251.8km. (Here is also where the numbering of the border
stones starts.)

The triborder point is also the northernmost and easternmost point of
the common Czech-Slovak border.

There are in total four tripoints on the territory of the Czech
Republic. Of these four tripoints, the Hrčava tripoint between the
Czech Republic, Poland and Slovakia, is the farthest from the nearest
sea. To the Gulf of Gdańsk in the Baltic Sea in Poland it is 525km as
the crow flies.

Hrčava is also the smallest of the four triborder municipalities.

The Hrčava tripoint is also the easternmost of the four tripoints.

At the Hrčava tripoint it is worth noticing that here you can see
three of the four kinds of border stones that indicate the state
borders.

The state borders are fitted out with four kinds of border stones.
The largest ones are the triborder monoliths - triangular pyramids,
with a proper height of about 215cm from the base. At the base, the
length of each side is 70cm, and with the foot the overground height
of the triborder obelisk is circa 245cm. Then there are base stones
that divide the state border in individual sections. (On the Czech-
Slovak border for instance, there are nine of those altogether at an
average distance of 25km either from each other or from a triborder
monolith.) These base stones have proper dimensions of 30x30x180cm.
The third kind of borders stones are the main stones, that indicate
all breaking points of the border line, where the border line is
straight, and must then be at least 1000m from each other. These have
proper dimensions of 25x25x141cm. The distance between them or
between them and a main stone are then pegged out with intermediate
border stones. The distance between them or between them and a border
stone of a higher order may not exceed 150m and they must be clearly
visible from one another. Ofcourse this presupposes that the border
area is kept clean and unobstructed for a width of one metre to each
side of the border line, which is still imposed on plot owners on our
side of the border line by law number 245 from 1921.

The intermediate border stones have dimensions of 20x20x86cm. The
border stones are embedded into the soil or bedrock at least 50cm.
Under the border stones, stone plates, sized 15x15x4cm, with an
engraved geodetic cross in the middle, are placed at a depth of 25cm.
A cross also marks the upper base of the border stones. The stones
are planted in such a way that the geodetic cross on the upper flat
of the stone corresponds with the geodetic cross of the stone plate
under the border stone. In this way the alignment of this point of
the border line is ensured, in case someone would tumble or remove
the border stone.

We can actually see only the overground part of the border stones,
such that for us the intermediate stones have a height of 40cm, the
main stones of circa 90cm and the base stones circa 130cm.

On the way to the tripoint or back, you should take note of the
numbering of the intermediate border stones at some points of the
Czech-Slovak border. If we assumed, that the border line is formed by
the flowline between these consecutively numbered stones, we would
come to the conclusion that in this section the border would look
like saw teeth. This is not the case. However, in this section, as
the result of a possible change in the running of the brook, it
proved impossible to define the border line in any other way than
again by the geometrically precise definition between single,
effectively auxiliary points created by these border stones. The
single poins of the border line are in reality between the shortest
sections of these sawlike sections.

You will be convinced of Hrčava literally being wedged between Poland
and Slovakia, also by the fact that from the centre of the
municipalicty, which is also the bus terminus, only 540 straight
metres separate you from the Polish border, and a mere 450 from the
Slovak border!

And the only link with the rest of the world, the road to Mosty u
Jablunkova, more or less follows the state border with Slovakia for
the better part of 10km. It approaches the border to a shortest
distance of 240m, and removes itself no further than 1,100m.

------

On 1 January 2002, the law mentioned above was replaced with a new
law on state
borders, viz. 312/2001 Sb. The closest thing I could find to the rule
referred to, is in
chapter 5, section 11e of this law. It does not say that a plot owner
should keep it
clean, it merely specifies that he may not undertake any action which
might lead to a
change in the state of the border zone. According to chapter 4,
section 8a, maintenance
is in the hands of the Ministry of the Interior. See
<http://www.mvcr.cz/sbirka/2001/sb120-01.pdf>, for this law. At the
bottom it includes
the design of the shield with the state emblem and how the ID card
upon whose
presentation land owners must allow access to the border zone, looks
like.

The border treaties between the Czech Republic and Germany, Poland
and Slovakia may
also be found on line. The border treaty with Austria is older, from
1973 (ratified 1975),
and is therefore not (yet) available.

(This message uses the ISO 8859-2 character set. If you are unable to
read this: a caron should be placed over the c in _Hrcava_ and over
the r in _Jindrichov_. An acute accent must be placed over the n in
_Gdansk_.)

Hoping to have been of service,

-Pepijn

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