Walk through Stolpen

The unmistakable silhouette of the castle town can be seen from afar on the way to Stolpen. This leisurely walk starts at the car park of Stolpen Castle between Birkenweg and Schützenhofstraße (bus stop Ärztehaus).With Stolpen Castle as your destination, you first walk up Bischofswerdaer Straße to Stolpen market square. As you cross the market square, you can already see the spire of the town church, which you reach via Kirchgasse on a short path. Behind the town church on Promenadenweg, you will immediately notice the towering basalt columns that are so typical of the castle town.The Stolpen basalt is a geological natural monument of outstanding importance. It also characterises the external appearance of the castle and many of the town's buildings in which it was used as a building stone. A fortification built entirely from basalt stone, such as Stolpen, is a special architectural feature. The local columnar basalt is one of the best-known volcanic rock deposits in the Saxon-Bohemian region.From here, the trail continues in the footsteps of Caspar David Friedrich along the park promenade, a tranquil path through the castle park below the castle complex. On one of the cosy park benches, you will find peace and quiet for some romantic thoughts and a little relaxation. In the castle tower on the left, you can also see the Cosel Tower, which Caspar David Friedrich used as a motif for his drawing of 27 August 1820.

At the end of the park promenade, a visit to Stolpen Castle is the perfect way to round off this walk. The entrance to the castle complex is located above the Schloshotel Stolpen. You can then return to the starting point via Schlossstraße and Bischofswerdaer Straße.

RB 71 (Pirna - Neustadt in Sachsen) Stop: Stolpen | Bahnhof

It takes about 30 minutes to walk from the Stolpen stop to the starting point of the tour (large public car park below the castle).

Bus 234, Bus 261 Stop: Stolpen | Schützenhausstraße or Ärztehaus

"The towers are too long," Friedrich noted on his sketch of the Coselturm on 27 August 1820. A gaping wound next to the tower. Here he drew the part of the complex that had been destroyed by Napoleon and his troops just a few years earlier. You can clearly see the gap in the wall and the rubble that was blasted out of it.  At the time, Friedrich made it his mission to document the traces of Napoleon's destruction and drew them wherever he could. Just one week later, his friend Carus stood in the same place and also drew the Coselturm and the blasted vaults of the former Veste Stolpen.