Sněžka is the highest mountain in the Krkonoše Mountains, part of the Sudetes mountain range, rising to 1,602 metres (5,256 ft) above sea level. In German, it is known as Schneekoppe. It lies on the Polish-Czech border, and a border stone is placed on the very top of the mountain. Śnieżka is the highest point in the Czech Republic and one of the peaks forming the so called "Crown of the Polish mountains".
The mountain was initially called Pahrbek Sněžný in Czech and later as Sněžovka, with the eventual name Sněžka, meaning "snowy" or "snow covered", adopted in 1823. An older Polish name for the mountain was Góra Olbrzymia, meaning "giant mountain". The first recorded German name was Riseberg ("giant mountain", cf. Riesengebirge, "Giant Mountains", the German name for Karkonosze/Krkonoše), mentioned by Georg Agricola in 1546. 15 years later the name Riesenberg appears on Martin Hellwig's map of Silesia. The German name later changed to Riesenkoppe ("giant top") and finally to Schneekoppe ("snow top").
The first historical account of an ascent to the peak is in 1456, by an unknown Venetian merchant searching for precious stones. The first settlements on the mountain soon appeared, being primarily mining communities, tapping into its deposits of copper, iron and arsenic. The mining shafts, totalling 1.5 kilometres (0.93 mi) in length, remain to this day.