Saxon Switzerland
Encyclopedia
Climbing area
A climbing area is a small geographical region with a concentration of opportunities for climbing. The term is most commonly used of rock climbing areas, but there are also ice climbing areas that have the right combination of steepness and water to result in climbable ice during the winter.While...
and national park
National park
A national park is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or owns. Although individual nations designate their own national parks differently A national park is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or...
around the Elbe
Elbe
The Elbe is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It rises in the Krkonoše Mountains of the northwestern Czech Republic before traversing much of Bohemia , then Germany and flowing into the North Sea at Cuxhaven, 110 km northwest of Hamburg...
valley south-east of Dresden
Dresden
Dresden is the capital city of the Free State of Saxony in Germany. It is situated in a valley on the River Elbe, near the Czech border. The Dresden conurbation is part of the Saxon Triangle metropolitan area....
in Saxony
Saxony
The Free State of Saxony is a landlocked state of Germany, contingent with Brandenburg, Saxony Anhalt, Thuringia, Bavaria, the Czech Republic and Poland. It is the tenth-largest German state in area, with of Germany's sixteen states....
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. Together with the Bohemian Switzerland in the Czech Republic
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....
it forms the Elbe Sandstone Mountains
Elbe Sandstone Mountains
The Elbe Sandstone Mountains, also called the Elbe sandstone highlands is a mountain range straddling the border between the state of Saxony in southeastern Germany and the North Bohemian region of the Czech Republic, with about three-quarters of the area lying on the German side...
.
Saxon Switzerland alone has some 1,000 climbing peaks, as well as several hollows. The area is popular with Dresden locals and international climbers.
The administrative district for the area is Sächsische Schweiz-Osterzgebirge
Sächsische Schweiz-Osterzgebirge
Sächsische Schweiz-Osterzgebirge is a district in the Free State of Saxony, Germany. It is named after the mountain ranges Saxon Switzerland and Erzgebirge.- History :...
. The fortress of Königstein is a well-known landmark.
Derivation of the name
The German name for Saxon Switzerland, Sächsische Schweiz, appeared in the 18th century. Two Swiss artistArtist
An artist is a person engaged in one or more of any of a broad spectrum of activities related to creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse is a practitioner in the visual arts only...
s, Adrian Zingg
Adrian Zingg
Adrian Zingg was a Swiss painter.-References:*This article was initially translated from the German Wikipedia....
and Anton Graff
Anton Graff
Anton Graff was an eminent Swiss portrait artist. Among his famous subjects were Friedrich Schiller, Christoph Willibald Gluck, Heinrich von Kleist, Frederick the Great, Johann Gottfried Herder and Christian Felix Weisse...
, were appointed in 1766 to the Dresden Academy of Art.
They felt the landscape was reminiscent of their homeland, the Swiss Jura, and reported in their exchange of letters on the difference between their homeland and "Saxon Switzerland". Previously, the Saxon part of the Elbe Sandstone Mountains had merely been referred to as the Meissen Highlands (Meißner Hochland), Meissen Oberland (Meissen Oberland) or Heath above Schandau (Heide über Schandau).
The description became popular through the publication of the name by Wilhelm Lebrecht Götzinger. In his books he described the area as Saxon Switzerland and made the term known to a wide audience.
In English the usual and most logical translation is "Saxon Switzerland". However other sources call it "Saxony Switzerland" or even "Swiss Saxony".
Geography
To the east, Saxon Switzerland transitions into the Lusatian Highlands and, to the west, into the Ore Mountains. The adjacent CzechCzech Republic
The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....
part of the Elbe Sandstone Mountains
Elbe Sandstone Mountains
The Elbe Sandstone Mountains, also called the Elbe sandstone highlands is a mountain range straddling the border between the state of Saxony in southeastern Germany and the North Bohemian region of the Czech Republic, with about three-quarters of the area lying on the German side...
is known as the Bohemian Switzerland.
The highest elevation in Saxon Switzerland is the Großer Zschirnstein
Großer Zschirnstein
The Großer Zschirnstein is the highest hill in the Saxon and German part of the Elbe Sandstone Mountains.- Location and area :There are two climbing peaks on the Großer Zschirnstein - the Großer and Kleiner Zschirnsteinturm . There is also the Südwand climbing route that ends directly at the...
at 562 m above sea level.
Natural region classification
In the classification of natural regionNatural region
A Natural region is one which is distinguished by its natural features of geography and usually more important, geology. The natural ecology of the region is likely to be significant but one of these factors tends to influence the others....
s by Emil Meynen, Saxon Switzerland was a major unit (430) within the Saxon-Bohemian Chalk Sandstone Region
Saxon-Bohemian Chalk Sandstone Region
The Saxon-Bohemian Chalk Sandstone Region is a natural region in south Saxony on the southern border with the Czech Republic. It forms part of the northern perimeter of the Bohemian Massif and comprises Saxon Switzerland, the German part of the Elbsandsteingebirge and the Zittau Hills, a small...
(main unit group 43), whose only other major unit on German soil was the Zittau Mountains. The boundary between the two mountain ranges, the Elbe Sandstone Mountains and the Lusatian Mountains
Lusatian Mountains
The Lusatian Mountains are a mountain range of the Western Sudetes, located on the southeastern border of Germany with the Czech Republic east of the Elbe river, a continuation of the Ore Mountains range west of the Elbe valley...
, is located on Czech territory, which is why these natural regions are geographically separated from one another.
The Ecosystem and Regional Character working group of the Saxon Academy of Sciences in Leipzig
Leipzig
Leipzig Leipzig has always been a trade city, situated during the time of the Holy Roman Empire at the intersection of the Via Regia and Via Imperii, two important trade routes. At one time, Leipzig was one of the major European centres of learning and culture in fields such as music and publishing...
has now, at the beginning of the 21st century, grouped all ranges in the Saxon-Bohemian border region into the super unit Saxon Highlands and Uplands
Saxon Highlands and Uplands
The Saxon Highlands and Uplands refer to a natural region mainly in the south of Saxony with small elements also in southeast Thuringia and northeast Bavaria...
(Sächsisches Bergland und Mittelgebirge). The Lusatian Mountains
Lusatian Mountains
The Lusatian Mountains are a mountain range of the Western Sudetes, located on the southeastern border of Germany with the Czech Republic east of the Elbe river, a continuation of the Ore Mountains range west of the Elbe valley...
between Saxon Switzerland and the Zittau Mountains also belong to it, whereas Meynen had grouped it with the loess
Loess
Loess is an aeolian sediment formed by the accumulation of wind-blown silt, typically in the 20–50 micrometre size range, twenty percent or less clay and the balance equal parts sand and silt that are loosely cemented by calcium carbonate...
hill country to the north and east into the major unit of Upper Lusatia (Oberlausitz); to the west the new super unit is continued by the main unit groups of the Ore Mountains
Ore Mountains
The Ore Mountains in Central Europe have formed a natural border between Saxony and Bohemia for many centuries. Today, the border between Germany and the Czech Republic runs just north of the main crest of the mountain range...
and Vogtland
Vogtland
The term Vogtland refers to a region reaching across the German free states of Bavaria, Saxony and Thuringia and into the Czech Republic . The name of the region contains a reference to the former leadership by the Vögte of Weida, Gera and Plauen, which translates approximately to advocates or lord...
.
Geological formation
See Elbe Sandstone Mountains (Geology section)Hills
As a rule, two types of hill may be distinguished.Numerous rock formations in the Elbe Sandstone Mountains
Elbe Sandstone Mountains
The Elbe Sandstone Mountains, also called the Elbe sandstone highlands is a mountain range straddling the border between the state of Saxony in southeastern Germany and the North Bohemian region of the Czech Republic, with about three-quarters of the area lying on the German side...
, in both Saxon Switzerland and Bohemian Switzerland, are known locally in this region as Steine ("rocks"). Prominent examples are the Königstein, the Lilienstein
Lilienstein
Lilienstein is a mountain of Saxony, southeastern Germany and site of a former Bohemian castle....
, the Gohrisch and the Papststein. This description does not, however, include the dome-shaped Kuppen such as the Waitzdorfer Höhe or the Großer Winterberg
Großer Winterberg
Großer Winterberg is a mountain of Saxony, southeastern Germany....
, whose bedrock is made of volcanic basalt
Basalt
Basalt is a common extrusive volcanic rock. It is usually grey to black and fine-grained due to rapid cooling of lava at the surface of a planet. It may be porphyritic containing larger crystals in a fine matrix, or vesicular, or frothy scoria. Unweathered basalt is black or grey...
or granitic material.
The Cretaceous
Cretaceous
The Cretaceous , derived from the Latin "creta" , usually abbreviated K for its German translation Kreide , is a geologic period and system from circa to million years ago. In the geologic timescale, the Cretaceous follows the Jurassic period and is followed by the Paleogene period of the...
sandstone
Sandstone
Sandstone is a sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized minerals or rock grains.Most sandstone is composed of quartz and/or feldspar because these are the most common minerals in the Earth's crust. Like sand, sandstone may be any colour, but the most common colours are tan, brown, yellow,...
formations soar above the so-called "levels" of their surrounding area, the former level of the River Elbe, and represent the remains of an old peneplain
Peneplain
A peneplain is a low-relief plain representing the final stage of fluvial erosion during times of extended tectonic stability. The existence of peneplains, and peneplanation as a geomorphological process, is not without controversy, due to a lack of contemporary examples and uncertainty in...
. In the course of the Late Tertiary
Tertiary
The Tertiary is a deprecated term for a geologic period 65 million to 2.6 million years ago. The Tertiary covered the time span between the superseded Secondary period and the Quaternary...
, uplifting of the Ore Mountains
Ore Mountains
The Ore Mountains in Central Europe have formed a natural border between Saxony and Bohemia for many centuries. Today, the border between Germany and the Czech Republic runs just north of the main crest of the mountain range...
and sideways pressure from the Lusatian Highlands shattered the sandstone plate along lines that intersected like a grid and this, combined with the simultaneously increasing stream velocity of the Elbe and regressive erosion in its side valleys, offered new lines of attack and new routes for the destructive power of water. Initially the larger table hill
Table (landform)
A table, when used in reference to landforms, is a hill, flank of a mountain, or mountain, that has a flat top.This landform has numerous names in addition to "table", including:*Tuya*Tepui*Mesa*Potrero*Butte*Plateau*Terrace-Description:...
s (Lilienstein), or those already deeply fissured like Zirkelstein
Zirkelstein
The Zirkelstein is the smallest table mountain of Saxon Switzerland. It is a wooded, cone-shaped hill with a striking 40 metre high summit block of sandstone rock.- Location and area :...
, Kaiserkrone or already forested (Kohlbornstein), remained, but these too broke up later as a result of erosive destruction into long ridges (Schrammsteine) or even into individual rock pinnacles (Torwächter). Morphologically harder sections of strata, that resisted karstification longer and more successfully, generally form the uppermost layers. The collapse of rock structures is usually therefore a result of erosion from below or from the flanks.
History
During the Dark Ages, the region was settled by Slavs and was part of the Kingdom of BohemiaBohemia
Bohemia is a historical region in central Europe, occupying the western two-thirds of the traditional Czech Lands. It is located in the contemporary Czech Republic with its capital in Prague...
during the Middle Ages
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
. About 1000 years ago Bohemian-Saxon Switzerland was the borderland of three Slavic tribes. The Nisane tribe (east of the Elbe from Dresden to Pirna), the Milzane tribe (from today's Upper Lusatia) and in the south the Dacine tribe shaped the political and economic landscape at that time.
It was not until the 15th century that the area now called Saxon Switzerland came under Saxon hegemony
Kingdom of Saxony
The Kingdom of Saxony , lasting between 1806 and 1918, was an independent member of a number of historical confederacies in Napoleonic through post-Napoleonic Germany. From 1871 it was part of the German Empire. It became a Free state in the era of Weimar Republic in 1918 after the end of World War...
when it became part of the Margraviate of Meissen with boundaries roughly corresponding to those of today.
The development of the area for tourism began in earnest in the 19th century. In connexion with that, one of the first trolleybus
Trolleybus
A trolleybus is an electric bus that draws its electricity from overhead wires using spring-loaded trolley poles. Two wires and poles are required to complete the electrical circuit...
lines in the world was opened in Saxon Switzerland, the Biela Valley Trolleybus
Biela Valley Trolleybus
The Biela Valley Trolleybus was a trolleybus service in the German state of Saxony. The facility opened on 10 July 1901 and had closed again by September 1904. It was one of the first trolleybus operations in the world...
, that was in operation from 1901 to 1904 and worked out of Königstein.
Romantic
Romanticism
Romanticism was an artistic, literary and intellectual movement that originated in the second half of the 18th century in Europe, and gained strength in reaction to the Industrial Revolution...
artists were inspired by the beauty of wilderness, like the painter
Painting
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...
Ludwig Richter or the composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
Carl Maria von Weber
Carl Maria von Weber
Carl Maria Friedrich Ernst von Weber was a German composer, conductor, pianist, guitarist and critic, one of the first significant composers of the Romantic school....
, who set his famous opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
Der Freischütz
Der Freischütz
Der Freischütz is an opera in three acts by Carl Maria von Weber with a libretto by Friedrich Kind. It premiered on 18 June 1821 at the Schauspielhaus Berlin...
with its Wolfsschlucht
Wolfsschlucht
Wolfsschlucht was the codename for two of Adolf Hitler's military headquarters during the Second World War:* Wolfsschlucht I, located in Brûly-de-Pesche, Belgium* Wolfsschlucht II, located in Margival, France...
("Wolf's Gorge") scene set near the town of Rathen
Rathen
Rathen is a village in the Elbe Sandstone Mountains, in Saxony, Germany, about 35 km southeast of Dresden on the Elbe River. Rathen has between 400 and 500 inhabitants....
.
In the Nazi era the description of German territories as Schweiz ("Switzerland") was officially banned. For that reason, with effect from 19 October 1938, the official term "Sächsische Schweiz" was replaced by "Amtshauptmannschaft Pirna" and from January 1939 by "Kreis Pirna" in the names of the local places of Königstein, Obervogelgesang, Ottendorf
Kirnitzschtal
Kirnitzschtal is a municipality in the Sächsische Schweiz-Osterzgebirge district, in Saxony, Germany.-Geography:The town is divided into 5 parishes and has its administrative seat in Lichtenhain:*Altendorf*Mittelndorf*Lichtenhain...
, Porschdorf
Porschdorf
Porschdorf is a municipality in the Sächsische Schweiz-Osterzgebirge district, in Saxony, Germany.- References :...
, Rathen
Rathen
Rathen is a village in the Elbe Sandstone Mountains, in Saxony, Germany, about 35 km southeast of Dresden on the Elbe River. Rathen has between 400 and 500 inhabitants....
, Rathewalde, Rathmannsdorf
Rathmannsdorf
Rathmannsdorf is a township in the Saxon district of Sächsische Schweiz-Osterzgebirge. Rathmannsdorf is 2 km down the Elbe from Bad Schandau.-Geography:...
and Reinhardtsdorf.
Medieval castles
When Germans began to settle in the 13th century, there was a systematic banishment of Bohemian influence and numerous local military conflicts erupted around strategically important fortifications. These fortifications primarily serve to protect the border and trading routes. Due to a lack of central power this protective function was left to local knights. The progressive division of the area due to the hereditary distribution of estates upset the economic balance of the region and many castles degenerated into bases for robber baronRobber baron
A robber baron or robber knight was an unscrupulous and despotic nobility of the medieval period in Europe, for example, Berlichingen. It has slightly different meanings in different countries. In modern US parlance, the term is also used to describe unscrupulous industrialists...
s.
Not until the middle of the 16th century, when the Wettins captured many of the castles did the situation stabilise.
Today, these the castles and ruins, some of which are well preserved, are popular with tourists, who make their way to these sites up steep climbing paths.
These castles include:
Saxony: Hohnstein
Hohnstein Castle (Saxon Switzerland)
Hohnstein Castle is a medieval castle in the village of the same name, Hohnstein in Saxon Switzerland in the Free State of Sachsen in East Germany.- Location :...
, Hockstein, Neurathen
Neurathen Castle
Neurathen Castle , which was first mentioned by this name in 1755 , is located near the famous Bastei rocks near Rathen in Saxon Switzerland in the German Free State of Saxony. This was once the largest rock castle in the region, but today only the rooms carved out of the rock, passages, the...
, Altrathen
Altrathen Castle
Altrathen Castle is located on a rock outcrop near Rathen in Saxon Switzerland in the German Free State of Saxony.- History :Unlike the neighbouring Neurathen Castle very little is known about the history of this fortification. It was probably built at the same time in the 11th century. The castle...
, Königstein
Königstein Fortress
Königstein Fortress , the "Saxon Bastille", is a hilltop fortress near Dresden, in Saxon Switzerland, Germany, above the town of Königstein on the left bank of the River Elbe...
, Lilienstein, Falkenstein, Frienstein
Frienstein
The Frienstein, also called the Vorderes Raubschloss, is a rock formation, about 130 metres high, in Saxon Switzerland. It lies on the northern slopes of the Großer Winterberg in the Affensteine rocks. On the rock there was once a watchtower of the Barony of Wildenstein...
, Rauschenstein
Bohemia: Schauenstein, Falkenstein, Kreibitzer Burg, Tollenstein, Khaaer Burg, Schönbuche
National park
In September 1990, even before the reunification of Germany, a national parkNational park
A national park is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or owns. Although individual nations designate their own national parks differently A national park is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or...
was created in Saxon Switzerland in order to protect the unique natural character of the hill range. The 93 km² area covers two physically separate regions: one near Rathen
Rathen
Rathen is a village in the Elbe Sandstone Mountains, in Saxony, Germany, about 35 km southeast of Dresden on the Elbe River. Rathen has between 400 and 500 inhabitants....
- the region of the Bastei, Polenz valley
Polenz (river)
The Polenz is the right-hand, smaller headstream of the Lachsbach in the German state of Saxony. Its lower course flows through the western Elbe Sandstone Mountains in a canyon-like valley.- Geography :...
, Brand and Uttewalder Grund - and the other embracing the whole Saxon Switzerland Hinterland (Hintere Sächsische Schweiz) between the Elbe and the state border with the Czech Republic
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....
and including the Schrammsteine
Schrammsteine
The Schrammsteine are a long, strung-out, very jagged group of rocks in the Elbe Sandstone Mountains located east of Bad Schandau in Saxon Switzerland in East Germany. To the north they are bordered by the Kirnitzsch valley, to the south by the Elbe valley and to the east by the Affensteine rocks....
n, Großer Winterberg
Großer Winterberg
Großer Winterberg is a mountain of Saxony, southeastern Germany....
, Großer Zschand
Großer Zschand
The Großer Zschand is the longest dry valley in Saxon Switzerland and runs for about 6 km from the Neumann Mill in the Kirnitzsch valley to the Roßmaulwiese meadown in Bohemian Switzerland...
and Kirnitzsch
Kirnitzsch
The Kirnitzsch, in Bohemia also called the Kirnischt , is a right tributary of the River Elbe, which passes through the Czech Republic and the German Free State of Saxony.- Geography :...
valley.
Rock climbing
Saxon Switzerland is characterized by its sandstoneSandstone
Sandstone is a sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized minerals or rock grains.Most sandstone is composed of quartz and/or feldspar because these are the most common minerals in the Earth's crust. Like sand, sandstone may be any colour, but the most common colours are tan, brown, yellow,...
rocks which draw many rock climbers. There are some 14,000 climbing routes on over 1,100 rock pinnacles. At the beginning of the 20th century, the Saxon Rules for rock climbing
Rock climbing
Rock climbing also lightly called 'The Gravity Game', is a sport in which participants climb up, down or across natural rock formations or artificial rock walls. The goal is to reach the summit of a formation or the endpoint of a pre-defined route without falling...
were established. They are considered to be one of the origins of free climbing
Free climbing
Free climbing is a type of rock climbing in which the climber uses only hands, feet and other parts of the body to ascend, employing ropes and forms of climbing protection to prevent falls only....
. Ropes and bolt
Bolt (climbing)
In rock climbing, a bolt is a permanent anchor fixed into a hole drilled in the rock as a form of protection. Most bolts are either self-anchoring expansion bolts or fixed in place with liquid resin....
s may only be used for safety
Protection (climbing)
To make climbing as safe as possible, most climbers use protection, a term used to describe the equipment used to prevent injury to themselves and others.-Types of climbing:...
but never as a means of climbing. The use of chalk
Magnesium carbonate
Magnesium carbonate, MgCO3, is a white solid that occurs in nature as a mineral. Several hydrated and basic forms of magnesium carbonate also exist as minerals...
and common means of protection such as nuts
Nut (climbing)
In rock climbing, a nut is a metal wedge threaded on a wire, used for protection by wedging it into a crack in the rock. Quickdraws are clipped to the nut wire by the ascending climber and the rope threads through the quickdraw. Nuts come in a variety of sizes and styles, and several different...
and friends is also not permitted; instead knotted nylon slings are used. With a few exceptions, climbing is only practised and permitted at freestanding rock towers.
A Saxon oddity is the concept of a Baustelle (literally "building site") where climbers scale a difficult section by climbing on top of the shoulders of other climbers (sometimes several people on top of each other) with everybody involved only holding himself by holds the rock provides. Though this would normally be considered a form of aid climbing
Aid climbing
Aid climbing is a style of climbing in which standing on or pulling oneself up via devices attached to fixed or placed protection is used to make upward progress....
, it is here accepted as a form of free climbing
Free climbing
Free climbing is a type of rock climbing in which the climber uses only hands, feet and other parts of the body to ascend, employing ropes and forms of climbing protection to prevent falls only....
. As the pinnacles are often very close to one other, jumping from one rock to another is also rather popular and this technique even has its own grades of difficulty
Grade (climbing)
In rock climbing, mountaineering and other climbing disciplines, climbers give a climbing grade to a route that concisely describes the difficulty and danger of climbing the route...
.
In addition to the climbing summits there are also various steep paths, over which hikers with surefootedness and a head for heights can climb, in some places, great heights with the aid of steps, ladders, metal rungs and railings at various points. Amongst the most popular of these climbing paths are the Häntzschelstiege in the Affensteinen, as well as the Heilige Stiege, the Rübezahlstiege and the Rotkehlchenstiege north of Schmilka.
Boofen
A Boofe (plural: Boofen) is local slang for sleeping out overnight in the open under a rock overhang and has a long tradition in Saxon Switzerland. Many young people travel to Saxon Switzerland at weekends in order to boofen. Today it is only permitted by the National Park Authority at designated sites. However the growing number of Boofers and the bad conduct of individuals (e.g. who light illegal campfires, tear up saplings or cause soil erosion) has led to repeated altercations.Points of interest
- Bastei and Neurathen CastleNeurathen CastleNeurathen Castle , which was first mentioned by this name in 1755 , is located near the famous Bastei rocks near Rathen in Saxon Switzerland in the German Free State of Saxony. This was once the largest rock castle in the region, but today only the rooms carved out of the rock, passages, the...
- BärensteineBärensteineThe Bärensteine is a massif in the state of Saxony in eastern Germany near Weißig. It comprises the two hills known as the Großer and Kleiner Bärenstein in Saxon Switzerland. The Kleiner Bärenstein has a height of 338 metres, the more prominent Großer Bärenstein is actually the lower of the two...
and RauensteinRauenstein (hill)The Rauenstein is a low table mountain in Saxon Switzerland in Germany. It rises west of the Elbe inside the Elbe loop near Rathen. It has a height of 304 metres and drops steeply to the north into the Elbe valley. It is has a deeply incised structure and is about 600 metres long and 200 metres...
near Weißig - Biela Valley
- Stolpen Castle
- Ruins of Wehlen Castle
- Rock arch near Wehlen
- FriensteinFriensteinThe Frienstein, also called the Vorderes Raubschloss, is a rock formation, about 130 metres high, in Saxon Switzerland. It lies on the northern slopes of the Großer Winterberg in the Affensteine rocks. On the rock there was once a watchtower of the Barony of Wildenstein...
and the Ida Grotto - Mount Gohrisch with its refuge hut
- Kaiserkrone and ZirkelsteinZirkelsteinThe Zirkelstein is the smallest table mountain of Saxon Switzerland. It is a wooded, cone-shaped hill with a striking 40 metre high summit block of sandstone rock.- Location and area :...
- Kirnitzschtal Tramway, an historic interurbanInterurbanAn interurban, also called a radial railway in parts of Canada, is a type of electric passenger railroad; in short a hybrid between tram and train. Interurbans enjoyed widespread popularity in the first three decades of the twentieth century in North America. Until the early 1920s, most roads were...
in the Kirnitzsch valley - Little Saxon Switzerland, a miniature park layout in the village of Wehlen
- Königstein FortressKönigstein FortressKönigstein Fortress , the "Saxon Bastille", is a hilltop fortress near Dresden, in Saxon Switzerland, Germany, above the town of Königstein on the left bank of the River Elbe...
, the largest hill fortress in Europe - KuhstallKuhstall (Saxon Switzerland)The Kuhstall is the second largest natural arch in the Elbe Sandstone Mountains after the Prebischtor. It is located on the Neuer Wildenstein, a 337 m high rock outcrop in the hinterland of Saxon Switzerland, south of the Lichtenhain Waterfall and above the Kirnitzsch valley. It is crowned by the...
on the New Wildenstein - LiliensteinLiliensteinLilienstein is a mountain of Saxony, southeastern Germany and site of a former Bohemian castle....
, SchrammsteineSchrammsteineThe Schrammsteine are a long, strung-out, very jagged group of rocks in the Elbe Sandstone Mountains located east of Bad Schandau in Saxon Switzerland in East Germany. To the north they are bordered by the Kirnitzsch valley, to the south by the Elbe valley and to the east by the Affensteine rocks.... - Obere SchleuseObere SchleuseThe Obere Schleuse in Hinterhermsdorf is a barrage system on the German-Czech border river of Kirnitzsch and impounds the water over a length of 700 metres. It was originally a facility for timber rafting. There are boat rides on the reservoir today during the summer months. At the boat landing...
, boat trip near Hinterhermsdorf - Rathen Open-Air Stage, an open-air theatre
- PapststeinPapststeinPapststein is a mountain of Saxony, southeastern Germany....
with observation tower and restaurant - PfaffensteinPfaffensteinThe Pfaffenstein, formerly called the Jungfernstein, is a low table mountain, , in the Elbe Sandstone Mountains in Saxony. It lies west of the River Elbe near Königstein and is also referred to as "Saxon Switzerland in miniature" on account of its diverse structure.The wild, jagged mountain with...
and the BarbarineBarbarineThe Barbarine is the best-known, free-standing rock formation in the German part of the Elbe Sandstone Mountains. It is a rock pinnacle, high, and is the symbol of Saxon Switzerland... - WolfsbergWolfsberg (Saxon Switzerland)The Wolfsberg is a 342.9 m high hill in Saxon Switzerland in the German Free State of Saxony.- Location :The hill lies south of Reinhardtsdorf in the Elbe Sandstone Mountains. The actual summit is just behind the Panoramahotel Wolfsberg, but is on private land and not readily accessible...
- Bad SchandauBad SchandauBad Schandau is a spa town in Germany, in the south of the Free State of Saxony and the district of Sächsische Schweiz-Osterzgebirge. It is situated on the right bank of the Elbe, at the mouth of the little valley of the Kirnitzsch.-Geography:...
Botanical Gardens, a regional botanical gardenBotanical gardenA botanical garden The terms botanic and botanical, and garden or gardens are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word botanic is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens. is a well-tended area displaying a wide range of plants labelled with their botanical names...
Panorama
See also
- Portal:Elbe Sandstone Mountains
- Saxon Switzerland National ParkSaxon Switzerland National ParkThe Saxon Switzerland National Park , is a National Park in the German Free State of Saxony near the capital city of Dresden. It covers two areas of 93.5 km² in the heart of the German part of the Elbe Sandstone Mountains which is called the Saxon Switzerland .The National Park is not far away...
- Elbe Sandstone MountainsElbe Sandstone MountainsThe Elbe Sandstone Mountains, also called the Elbe sandstone highlands is a mountain range straddling the border between the state of Saxony in southeastern Germany and the North Bohemian region of the Czech Republic, with about three-quarters of the area lying on the German side...
Sources
- Autorenkollektiv: Brockhaus Reisehandbuch Sächsische Schweiz – Osterzgebirge. Leipzig 1970.
- Wilhelm Lebrecht Götzinger: Schandau und seine Umgebungen, oder Beschreibung der Sächsischen Schweiz. Begersche Buch- und Kunsthandlung, Dresden 1812.
- Heinz Klemm: Die Entdeckung der Sächsischen Schweiz. Sachsenverlag, Dresden 1953.
- Alfred Meiche: Die Burgen und vorgeschichtlichen Wohnstätten der Sächsischen Schweiz. Wilhelm Baensch Verlagsbuchhandlung, Dresden 1907. (Reprint Leipzig 1979)
- Alfred Meiche: Historisch-topographische Beschreibung der Amtshauptmannschaft Pirna. Dresden 1927.