It is probably the most famous painting of German Romanticism: the "Wanderer above the Sea of Fog". It was created around 1818 by Caspar David Friedrich (1774-1840). Fairytale-like, mysterious and lively - this is how the landscape presents itself to the viewer. The painting is famous not only for its aesthetic qualities, but also because it symbolises the spirit of Romanticism.
The landscape depicted in the painting is Saxon Switzerland. For Friedrich, who spent most of his life in Dresden, the nearby rocky world was a place of longing, inspiration and refuge in a world that had fallen apart at the seams. The 250th anniversary of the artist's birth in 2024 is a good occasion to follow in his footsteps in the Elbe Sandstone Mountains and offers an opportunity to reconnect with nature and the landscape in the spirit of the Romantic artist.