Elbe Sandstone Mountains - Saxon Switzerland

The Elbe Sandstone Mountains are mainly sandstone-based low mountain ranges on the upper reaches of the Elbe in Saxony (Germany) and Northern Bohemia (Czech Republic).

The tributaries and currents of the Cretaceous Sea formed the sandstone layers through the deposition of marine sediments, from which the extraordinary rock formation emerged that we can admire today in the Elbe Sandstone Mountains. It is about 700 km² and reaches heights of up to 723 meters above sea level.

The German part is generally referred to as Saxon Switzerland, the Czech part as Bohemian Switzerland (České Švýcarsko). The term "Saxon-Bohemian Switzerland" (Českosaské Švýcarsko), which is more frequently used today, is derived from it.

The expression "Saxon Switzerland" goes back to the two Swiss artists Adrian Zingg (* 1734 in St. Gallen - † 1816 in Dresden) and Anton Graff (* 1736 in Winterthur - † 1813 in Dresden). Graff was a (landscape) painter. Zingg was an engraver. Both were appointed professors at the Dresden Art Academy in 1766. When they saw the Elbe Sandstone Mountains and hiked there, they felt reminded of their homeland - Switzerland and the Jura Mountains. In their letters to relatives back home, they used the expression "Saxon Switzerland" to refer to the Elbe Sandstone Mountains.

Until about 1780 the Saxon part of the Elbe Sandstone Mountains was called "Meißner Hochland". With the name "Meißner Hochland" the Meißner margraves expressed their claim to ownership of the Elbe Sandstone Mountains.

Other names were: "Meißnisches Oberland", "Lusatian Mountains", "Bohemian Forests", "Heide over Schandau", "Pirnisches Sandstone Mountains" or "Forests over Schandau". The Romans called the Elbe Sandstone Mountains and neighboring forests "the Hercynian Forest".

A wide range of activities and leisure activities make the region an ideal holiday and excursion destination. Romantic hotels, cozy guest houses, holiday homes and holiday apartments invite you to the Elbe Sandstone Mountains.

Germany’s only rock national park is located here - the Saxon Switzerland National Park.

The diverse landscape with its bizarre rocks and gorges is one of the most beautiful hiking areas in Europe.

The national park region consists of the national park (93.5 square kilometers) and the surrounding landscape protection area (287.5 square kilometers).

Spectacular is the appropriate word for the bizarre rocky world of the Saxon Switzerland National Park. It is the ideal travel destination for cultural travelers, hikers, climbers and cyclists on the Elbe Cycle Path.

The Elbe Cycle Path begins at Špindlerův Mlýn in the Giant Mountains in the north of the Czech Republic and ends after 1,280 kilometers in Cuxhaven at the mouth of the Elbe into the North Sea.