Königstein Fortress (Festung Königstein) Königstein, Germany

Königstein Fortress (German: Festung Königstein), the Saxon Bastille, is a hilltop fortress near Dresden, in Saxon Switzerland, Germany, above the town of Königstein on the left bank of the River Elbe. It is one of the largest hilltop fortifications in Europe and sits atop the table hill of the same name.

The 9.5 hectare rock plateau rises 240 m above the Elbe and has over 50 buildings, some over 400 years old, that bear witness to the military and civilian life in the fortress. The rampart run of the fortress is 1800 m long with walls up to 42 meters high and steep sandstone faces. In the centre of the site is a 152.5 m deep well, which is the deepest in Saxony and second deepest well in Europe. Since 29 May 1955, the fortress has been an open-air, military history museum of high touristic value. The museum has been managed as a satellite of the Bundeswehr Military History Museum in Dresden since 1990. In the years 1967 to 1970, a lift was built at the foot of the access path for 42 people. A second lift was built in 2005 against a vertical wall of the fortress, which transports up to 18 passengers in a lift with a panoramic view to a height of about 42 meters.

/Wikipedia.org/

more