The Rauenstein is a
table hill in
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 Sand ...
in Germany. It rises west of the Elbe inside the Elbe loop near
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 has a height of and drops steeply to the north into the Elbe valley. It has a deeply incised structure and is about long and wide. It thus rises almost over the surrounding area. The Rauenstein is almost completely wooded, but has several dominant sandstone rock faces. The sandstone here is very soft and heavily weathered.
Location and area
On the eastern side is the village of Weißig in the borough of
Struppen. On the north and east side there are various climbing towers, the best known being the ''
Nonne
The Nonne (also ''Nonnenstein'') is a roughly 18-metre-high, isolated, standing sandstone rock and climbing peak in Saxon Switzerland in Germany. The rock is located southeast of Rathen, east of the rock chain of Rauenstein.
In the Middle Ages t ...
'' or ''Nonnenstein'', that is situated 200 metres from the eastern side of the Rauenstein. The rock was the site of a
medieval
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the Post-classical, post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with t ...
watchtower (''Burgwarte'').
At the southeastern end of the Rauenstein is a hill restaurant that has been there since 1893. Before that, from 1886 to 1893, drinks were sold in the Kapp Cave (''Kapphöhle''), also the Kappmeyer or Kamm Cave, on the summit plateau. One year earlier the touristic development of the Rauenstein had been started by the Dresden Branch of the Mountain Club.
Views
From the viewing point at the hill restaurant there is a panoramic view of
Lilienstein and the village of
Weißig.
Gallery
File:Rauenstein-schild.jpg, Plaque on the construction of the Rauenstein trail
File:Blick vom Rauenstein.jpg, View from the Rauenstein (hill restaurant) towards Lilienstein
File:Rauenstein.jpg, The Rauenstein seen from Weißig
External links
{{Authority control
Mountains of Saxon Switzerland
Rock formations of Saxon Switzerland
Rathen
Hills of Saxony