The fourth highest peak of the Karkonosze and the Sudetes, on the border with the Czech Republic, with the ruins of the Wilhelm I monument from 1888 and no marked trail to the summit.
Wielki Szyszak is the fourth highest peak of the Karkonosze (Giant Mountains) and of the whole Sudetes, and also the second highest peak of the Polish Karkonosze, at 1509 m above sea level. It lies in the western part of the Śląski Grzbiet (Silesian Ridge), and its summit is crossed by the Polish-Czech border, which is also the administrative border of Piechowice.
The former name of the peak was Wielkie Koło. The name Wielki Szyszak previously belonged to the neighbouring peak, now called Śmielec. The names were swapped right after the war, while German cartographic maps were being relabelled. The Czech name Vysoké kolo and the German name Hohe Rad remained unchanged.
Wielki Szyszak is built of Karkonosze granite and is the highest granite peak of the Karkonosze. The summit is covered by a gołoborze, a field of rock rubble. A path of stone slabs, funded in the 19th century by the Schaffgotsch family, leads to the summit from the east, bypassed by the Main Sudetes Trail.
A few years after the unification of the German states, in 1888, a stone pyramid with the letter W engraved on it and a statue of an eagle were erected on the summit. This is a monument to Wilhelm I, Emperor of Germany, whose ruins are still visible on the summit today.
The summit of Wielki Szyszak is under strict protection and no marked hiking trail leads to it. Contrary to popular belief, the winter version of the Karkonosze ridge route does not run over the summit: its variant marked with poles bypasses the summit on the southern, Czech side, and outside winter the trail bypasses it on the Polish, northern side. The area lies within the Karkonosze National Park on the Polish side and the Czech Krkonošský národní park on the Czech side.
On the same ridge lie Śnieżne Kotły and Łabski Szczyt. Further viewpoints stretch to the west: Czeskie Kamienie and Śląskie Kamienie, and further on the peak of Szrenica. In Szklarska Poręba, at the foot of the ridge, it is also worth visiting the Szklarka Waterfall.
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