Kriváň

To the Slovaks’ national mountain

: Kriváň (Krummhorn) is the first prominent peak of the High Tatras when viewed from the west. With its characteristic pyramid-shaped summit sloping diagonally toward the northwest, it proudly towers over the Liptov Basin. Since at least the second half of the 19th century, Kriváň has been regarded as a symbol of Slovak national identity; from 1960 to 1990, it even adorned the national coat of arms of Czechoslovakia. Traces of ore mining from the 15th to the 18th centuries are still visible on its southern and southwestern flanks. The first documented ascent of the summit was achieved in 1772 by the Spiš priest and naturalist Andreas Czirbesz and his friends. Other pioneers and explorers of the High Tatras followed, including the English globetrotter Robert Townson (1793), the French naturalist Belsazar Hacquet (1794), the Polish geologist Stanisław Staszic (1805), and the Swedish botanist Göran Wahlenberg (1813). To commemorate the ascent by the Saxon King Frederick Augustus II in 1840, Hungarian monarchists erected an obelisk on the summit of Kriváň; however, it was destroyed just a few years later during a so-called “people’s outing”—a kind of Slovak national pilgrimage—by Slovak patriots. The first such excursion took place on August 16, 1841, with the participation of Ľudovít Štúr and Michal Miloslav Hodža, both important figures in the Slovak national movement, as commemorated by a plaque just below the summit. Since World War II, the annual Kriváň ascents have primarily honored the heroes of the Slovak National Uprising (SNP). In 1944–45, heavy fighting took place in the Kriváň area between fascists and the local partisan group “Vysoké Tatry.” The partisans’ last bunker below Grúnik was held until January 14, 1945, when, during a nighttime raid, the seven partisans hiding there—including Commander Štefan Morávka and the unit’s doctor, Dr. Zoltán Brüll, a renowned mountaineering expert in the High Tatras at the time—were killed. Today, a short detour from the ascent trail leads to the reconstructed bunker and the small memorial.