The Amselgrund ("Amsel Bottom") is the name given to the
valley
A valley is an elongated low area often running between Hill, hills or Mountain, mountains, which will typically contain a river or stream running from one end to the other. Most valleys are formed by erosion of the land surface by rivers ...
of the Grünbach stream in the heart of
Saxon Switzerland
Saxon Switzerland (german: Sächsische Schweiz) is a hilly climbing area and national park around the Elbe valley south-east of Dresden in Saxony, Germany. Together with the Bohemian Switzerland in the Czech Republic it forms the Elbe Sands ...
in Eastern Germany. It runs from
Niederrathen upstream to
Rathewalde. The wild and romantic valley takes hikers through the Rathen rock basin with its bizarre rock formations. Its touristic high points are the lake of
Amselsee
The Amselsee (also ''Amselsee Rathen'') is a small reservoir in the spa town of Rathen in Saxon Switzerland. It is located in the Free State of Saxony in Eastern Germany.
Reservoir
To create the Amselsee in Saxon Switzerland, in 1934 a stream, ...
and the
Amsel Falls The Amsel Falls (german: Amselfall) are a waterfall in Saxon Switzerland in East Germany, roughly a kilometre north of the famous Bastei crags.
As the ''Grünbach'' stream passes through a particularly narrow, gorge-like section of the Amselgrund v ...
, that trickles over the grotto called the ''Amselloch''. The valley bottom that is densely wooded is surrounded by a backdrop of rocks. To the west tower the rocks of the ''Gansfelsen'', to the south the ''Feldsteine'' and the ''Türkenkopf'', and to the east rise the ''Honigsteine'' rocks with the striking
Lokomotive
The Lokomotive (German for "locomotive") is a striking climbing rock north of Kurort Rathen in Saxon Switzerland in Germany. The rock, which resembles a steam locomotive in appearance, is also known as ''Große Ruine'', is about 30 metres high an ...
. The middle of the valley bottom is dominated by the striking ''Talwächter''.
Whilst the character of the valley profile in its upper reaches is rather ravine-like, between its entrance to the ''
Schwedenlöcher
The Schwedenlöcher is a gorge-like side valley of the Amselgrund near Rathen in Saxon Switzerland.
History
The deeply incised ravine was formed by the erosion of the soft sandstone. Its course follows the Elbe Sandstone Mountains#Geology, mai ...
'' and Nieder
rathen
Rathen is a village in the Elbe Sandstone Mountains, in Saxony, Germany, about southeast of Dresden. The village occupies both banks of the river Elbe and, as of 2020, has 339 inhabitants. Rathen is a popular tourist destination, the main sigh ...
it is a steep valley. On the stream bed
ripple marks
In geology, ripple marks are sedimentary structures (i.e., bedforms of the lower flow regime) and indicate agitation by water (current or waves) or wind.
Defining ripple cross-laminae and asymmetric ripples
* ''Current ripple marks'', ''unidi ...
may be seen. Above the Amsel Falls, large, fallen
sandstone
Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks.
Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates) ...
boulders block the watercourse, so that the rather lower water quantities of the Grünbach have to find their way past them.
Landforms of Saxon Switzerland
Valleys of Saxony
Rathen
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