I recently made a family outing to the Dresden area and spent several hours at the festung Königstein, south east of dresden on the River Elbe. A truly magnificent fortress and IMHO well worth a visit. The Kings stone range dominates the area and it is little wonder that a fortress was built there in Medievil times. There is a little WW2 History in that POW's from France and Russia were held there. I still have to sort the photos and put them on the forum, but I thought that I would wet your appetites with the attached site and photos. Festung Königstein Near Dresden: See Germany’s Largest Fortress in the Saxon Switzerland Region | Suite101.com Festung Königstein Regards Tom
Some of the many photographs taken during the visit. The second website I posted peviously shows many more views which are just duplicated by what I took and which are no doubt better. Regards Tom
Amazing pictures, thanks for sharing! It seems like such a enchanting place, castles and the medieval period in general have always fascinated me.
Went to the National Gallery yesterday to see the Bellotto paintings of Konigstein. https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/exhibitions/bellotto-the-koenigstein-views-reunited When I read it was used as a PoW camp in WW2 I knew it had to be mentioned on the forum somewhere. I must visit the castle when we can start travelling again.
I visited Koenigstein in 1971 when it was an "Anti War Musuem" with a big banner at the entrance showing the Liberation of Dresden by the Red Army in 1945. I was introduced to the curator who was a Staligrad veteran. It is a great museum. IRRC the POW was Giraud.