Königstein Fortress

Königstein Fortress (German: Festung Königstein), 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. It is one of the largest hilltop fortifications in Europe and sits atop the table hill of the same name.

The 9.5-hectare (23-acre) rock plateau rises 240 metres (790 ft) above the Elbe and has over 50 buildings, some over 400 years old, that bear witness to the military and civilian life in the fortress. The rampart run of the fortress is 1,800 metres (5,900 ft) long with walls up to 42 metres (138 ft) high and steep sandstone faces. In the centre of the site is a 152.5-metre-deep (500 ft 4 in) well, which is the deepest in Saxony and second-deepest well in Europe.

The fortress, which for centuries was used as a state prison, is still intact and is now one of Saxony's foremost tourist attractions, with 700,000 visitors per year.

Text adapted from “Königstein Fortress” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Königstein Fortress ranks #248 of 7,738 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #25 of the 492 mapped in Germany. Its Wikipedia articles were opened 28,200 times in the last 60 days, more than 98% of the atlas. 12 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Děčín, 19 km away. See how Germany compares in the castle statistics.

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