If I were to write a tourist guide book to the Dresden area I would rate the fortress at Königstein a must see. Most people have some idea what a castle or a baroque church, or works of art by the old masters look like. But when I go to the Königstein fortress I say to myself, "Wow, I had no idea something like this existed." The scale is mammoth, the views are just beautiful.
So let me give you a little tour.
If you are going to build a fortress to protect the nobility during war, or protect the state treasury and art, you need to start with a spot that is naturally well protected. How about a mesa or butte. This one, viewed from the fortress, gives you an idea of the possibilities in Saxony Swiss.
But that one was perhaps not quite big enough. The Festung Königstein covers almost 4 acres, with a view of Dresden in the distance. And the rock faces are steep.
Hard to imagine someone climbing up a ladder to reach the top of this fortress. There would be plenty of time for the archers to hit their target.
Once you add the stone walls the side of the fortress says "No one enters here uninvited". Fortuantly for us, they have added an elevator to the top, at the back of the tunnel in the picture.
But I will give my virtual tour from the perspective of someone entering the fortress from the old gate. Here is a
link to a map of the fortress.
First one would circle around the fortress. (BTW, my favorite Elbe Weg bike trail can be seen in the distance.)
Then circle around some more and one comes to the first gate and gate house. You can see it, to the right of center in this picture.
The entrance has a series of three gates.
The first gate is the "Ravelin Gateway", built around 1730. It is one of two places where you can buy tickets.
Next there was a bridge leading to a gateway decorated with Medusa's head, with the tongue sticking out, and snakes for hair.
Then another long bridge, this one wooden, over a trench. All of these bridges would have been burned or dismantled during war.
Then the final gateway.
This gateway is a portal at the base of the fort's Gate House, whose construction started in 1589. Within this building is the path leading up to the plateau and the fort's buildings and living area. You can see the scale of the building behind my wonderful niece Chelsea, who visited in the Fall.
The path leading up was equipped with the latest "French Ramp" defenses: a wooden gate; machicolation (a gap in the floor through which stones, molten lead, etc, could be thrown down on attackers) and other stone-throwing holes, rabbeted beams, a portcullis, an iron gateway and a caponier (a covered passage above the ditch).
So if anyone ever had actually invaded and gotten through this last gate, they would find themselves in a dark passageway, with a steep incline, and all sorts of objects being hurled at them. The so called, "Dark Appareille".
Well, had a warrior been lucky to get past all that, he would have been faced with the last structural defense, a final open-air ramp, where coming out of the dark, presumably archers and javelin throwers would welcome you on your last climb.
Well, enough description for today.
As far as I can tell, soldiers never did storm the fort. Napoleon was invited in, since Saxony had briefly sided with the French during Napoleon's march of liberation through Germany. Nobles would be entertained here. In uncertain times during the various wars Saxony's royal wealth, both coins and art treasures, would be stored here.
Basically, the place was impregnable. Next blog we will tour the top.
