Cultural pearls

Elbe sandstone forms the backdrop for Europe's most beautiful nature theater, wonderful music festivals, dedicated cabaret stages, and many other offerings.

Magnificent palaces, legendary castles, and picturesque gardens: Historic monuments meet spectacular nature in the Elbe Sandstone Mountains.

The variety of topics in the museums of Saxon Switzerland is overwhelming. It ranges from regional history and artists' sites to prehistoric flora and fauna. 

The Felsenbühne Rathen is Europe's most beautiful natural theater. Where the Wolf's Glen scene was once conceived, Der Freischütz celebrates its homecoming. And not only that. For more than 70 years, the Felsenbühne has captivated theater enthusiasts, classical music lovers, Western fans, families, and hikers. In the midst of the Saxon Switzerland National Park, the picturesque Rathener Wehlgrund forms an impressive, natural rock backdrop. Nature and art merge here in a spectacular way.

The International Shostakovich Days Gohrisch, which take place annually near the summer solstice, are a mecca for fans of the famous Russian composer. Musicians of the Staatskapelle Dresden are among the co-initiators and host top-class international artists and ensembles.

The ELBLANDIA Festival brings music to the most beautiful places in Saxon Switzerland. In addition to established stars, young musicians from the region also get the opportunity to show their skills. 

The summer concerts at the fortress offer the finest live music in the open air at a lofty height. The "Festung Königstein Open Air" promises stomping beats, rock, and pop in a unique setting.

In Pirna's Tom Pauls Theater, the curtain rises for plays, cabaret, concerts, readings, and discussions. Within historical walls, the actor and cabaret artist Tom Pauls showcases the Saxon soul in his unmistakable way, just as it lives and breathes. 

The Maxen Nature Stage is a small, thoroughly cozy stage located in the former Royal Saxon marble quarry on the edge of the small mountain village of Maxen in Saxon Switzerland. The program ranges from concerts to cabaret and theatrical performances. The nature stage is organized and operated by members and helpers of the Heimatverein Maxen e.V. on a volunteer basis.

In Hohnstein's Max Jacob Theater, the Hohnstein Kasper and his friends regularly invite children and adults to puppet shows. The theater also regularly opens its doors for cabaret, concerts, films, and lectures.

Cabaret, readings, concerts of all kinds, artist talks, and even travelogues: the offerings at Pirna's Q24 cabaret stage are diverse.

That the rocky landscape of Saxon Switzerland is also a spectacular theater backdrop is proven by the 40 members of the SandsteinSpiele association. On six weekends between June and September, they perform their play in the open air in and around Reinhardtsdorf-Schöna – surrounded by a panorama of the Zirkelstein, Kaiserkrone, and the Schrammsteine. The stage settings change as well. Between scenes, the audience folds up their folding stools and hikes to the next location: into the forest, onto the meadow, or into the village.

Walking on artists' paths: The  Robert-Sterl-Haus in Naundorf is one of the few originally preserved artists' homes in Germany and allows an insight into the life and work of the great German Impressionist.

In the visitor mine Marie Louise Stolln in Berggießhübel, you can experience the mining history in the Gottleuba valley up close.

Old crafts can be discovered, for example, in the show workshop Deutsche Kunstblume Sebnitz or in the carving workshop in Hohnstein.

An excursion into the recent past of the fascinating regional history of spas and medicine is offered by the  Medical Historical Collections in the Bad Gottleuba Health Park. 

Richard Wagner was fascinated by the Elbe Sandstone Mountains. He owed some of his happiest ideas to the inspiring power of the mystical rock world. The Richard Wagner Sites Graupa are considered the oldest Wagner museum in the world. This is where the complete composition sketch for Wagner's opera "Lohengrin" was created. 

Understanding nature: The Saxon Switzerland National Park Centre in Bad Schandau is the central information center for visitors to the national park. It provides appealing, multimedia, and accessible information about the background of the geology, flora and fauna, as well as the natural and cultural landscape of the region.

The Pirna Sonnenstein Memorial is a place of mourning and remembrance for the euthanasia victims of the Nazi regime.

The Hohwald Gold and Mineral Experience Center provides information about the geology and the extraction of gold, minerals, and rocks in the region. 

Experience prehistoric times: In the Sebnitz Prehistoric Park, you can track down dinosaurs, early humans, and the peculiar flora of prehistoric times.

Idyllically situated in the Kirnitzschtal, the Neumann Mill, a historic sawmill and wood grinding mill from the 19th century, transports its visitors back to long-gone times with its original waterwheel and show workshop.