The enchanting rock formation often immortalised by artists.
The Uttewalder Felsentor has a very special place in the life and work of Caspar David Friedrich. In the summer of 1800, when the painter was 25 years old, he lived here for a whole week, "between rocks and fir trees", as he later told a friend. He did not meet a soul. In 1825, he turned this intense experience into his sombre oil painting "Uttewalder Grund".
The sensation of nature as a source of realisation: this was a defining theme for the painter throughout his life. Time and again, he sought solitude and silence, not just to see nature and the landscape, but to immerse himself in them, to feel them. "I must surrender to what surrounds me, unite with my clouds and the rocks in order to be what I am," he wrote.
The Uttewalder Felsentor as a photo spot:
Best time: at midday, when light (sunrays) falls into the Uttewalder Grund
Subject: Felsentor and the surrounding landscape of the Grund with mosses, ferns and the steeply towering rocks
Starting point: from Uttewalde or Stadt Wehlen (each approx. 30 minutes)
Public transport: S-Bahn S1 to Stadt Wehlen, then approx. 30-minute walk
Parking: Uttewalde or on the Elbe in Stadt Wehlen
Hike through the Uttewaldergrund with rock gate (Malerweg stage 1)