Bad Schandau (; hsb, Žandow) is a
spa town
A spa town is a resort town based on a mineral spa (a developed mineral spring). Patrons visit spas to "take the waters" for their purported health benefits.
Thomas Guidott set up a medical practice in the English town of Bath in 1668. H ...
in
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
, in the
Sächsische Schweiz-Osterzgebirge district of
Saxony
Saxony (german: Sachsen ; Upper Saxon: ''Saggsn''; hsb, Sakska), officially the Free State of Saxony (german: Freistaat Sachsen, links=no ; Upper Saxon: ''Freischdaad Saggsn''; hsb, Swobodny stat Sakska, links=no), is a landlocked state of ...
. It is situated on the right bank of the
Elbe
The Elbe (; cs, Labe ; nds, Ilv or ''Elv''; Upper and dsb, Łobjo) is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It rises in the Giant Mountains of the northern Czech Republic before traversing much of Bohemia (western half of the Czech Repu ...
, at the mouth of the valley of the
Kirnitzsch
The Kirnitzsch (German), in Bohemia also called the Kirnischt,Messtischblatt Nr. 86 Hinterhermsdorf, published by the Reichsamt für Landesaufnahme, Landesaufnahme Sachsen 193Digitalised at www.fotothek.de/ref> cz, Křinice, is a right tributa ...
and in the area often described as
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 ...
.
Geography
Bad Schandau lies east of the Elbe right on the edge of the
Saxon Switzerland National Park
Saxon Switzerland National Park (german: Nationalpark Sächsische Schweiz), is a national park in the German Free State of Saxony, near the Saxon capital Dresden. It covers two areas of 93.5 km² (36.1 mi²) in the heart of the German ...
in the
Elbe Sandstone Mountains
The Elbe Sandstone Mountains, also called the Elbe Sandstone Highlands (german: Elbsandsteingebirge; cs, Děčinská vrchovina), are a mountain range straddling the border between the state of Saxony in southeastern Germany and the North Bohemian ...
; the National Park Centre is located in the town. The original town centre nestled on the steep, towering sandstone rocks on the right-hand, northern bank of the River Elbe and squeezed in places into the narrow valley of the
Kirnitzsch
The Kirnitzsch (German), in Bohemia also called the Kirnischt,Messtischblatt Nr. 86 Hinterhermsdorf, published by the Reichsamt für Landesaufnahme, Landesaufnahme Sachsen 193Digitalised at www.fotothek.de/ref> cz, Křinice, is a right tributa ...
. The town centre lies above
sea level (HN) (market square), whilst its highest points lie over
above sea level
Height above mean sea level is a measure of the vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) of a location in reference to a historic mean sea level taken as a vertical datum. In geodesy, it is formalized as ''orthometric heights''.
The comb ...
. A rural tram line, the
Kirnitzschtal Tramway
The Kirnitzschtal tramway, also known as the ''Kirnitzschtalbahn'', is an electric tramway in Saxony, Germany. The line runs through the valley of the Kirnitzsch river in Saxon Switzerland, from the town of Bad Schandau up to the Lichtenhain W ...
, accompanies the little river for several kilometres and offers access to the nearby walking area.
Bad Schandau is about from the
Czech
Czech may refer to:
* Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe
** Czech language
** Czechs, the people of the area
** Czech culture
** Czech cuisine
* One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus'
Places
* Czech, ...
frontier and southeast of
Dresden
Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label=Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth larg ...
on the railway to
Děčín
Děčín (; german: Tetschen, 1942–1945: ''Tetschen–Bodenbach'') is a city in the Ústí nad Labem Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 47,000 inhabitants. It is the 7th largest municipality in the country by area.
Administrative parts
D ...
.
Subdivisions
The borough of Bad Schandau consists of the core town and the villages Krippen, Ostrau,
Porschdorf, Postelwitz, Prossen, Schmilka, and Waltersdorf. All of these except Krippen lie on the right (northern) bank of the Elbe, whilst Krippen lies on the left (southern) bank.
Krippen
![Krippen 1](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6a/Krippen_1.jpg)
The original craftsmen's and merchants' settlement left of the Elbe with surviving timber-framed houses that were mentioned as early as 1379 has been a summer resort since the end of the 19th century, when development of tourism began. The village was the sphere of action of the Krippen villager and inventor of
mechanical wood pulp for the manufacture of paper,
Friedrich Gottlob Keller
Friedrich Gottlob Keller (born 27 June 1816 in Hainichen, Saxony; died 8 September 1895 in Krippen, Saxony) was a German machinist and invention, inventor, who (at the same time as Charles Fenerty) invented the pulp (paper), wood pulp process for u ...
(1816–95), from 1853 to his death. A memorial tablet on the Keller Museum, house number 76 in the main road named after him and in whom the inventor once lived, celebrates him and his work. In 2009, Krippen had a population of 568 (1999: 720).
[''Einwohnerzahl von Bad Schandau sinkt'', Sächsische Zeitung (Ausgabe Pirna) dated 26 January 2010.]
A stream, the
Krippenbach, joins the Elbe near Krippen. The stream is supplied from the Gautzschgraben spring near the border with
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...
, and also from other sources on the other side of the state border, its catchment area reaching almost as far as Maxičky on the Bohemian side of the Elbe Sandstone Mountains below the Okrouhlik ( above NN).
Krippen was incorporated into Bad Schandau borough on 1 January 1999.
Postelwitz
![Postelwitz](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/89/Postelwitz.jpg)
The summer resort of Postelwitz has been part of the borough of Bad Schandau since 1934. The village, which comprises a number of separate groups of houses, hugs the rock face tightly about upstream below the rocks of the
Schrammsteine
The Schrammsteine are a long, strung-out, very jagged group of rocks in the Elbe Sandstone Mountains located east of Bad Schandau in Saxon Switzerland in eastern Germany. To the north they are bordered by the Kirnitzsch valley, to the south by the ...
. This originally Slavic settlement of rafters, fishermen, stonebreakers and boat builders was first recorded in 1446. Ships' anchor smiths worked in the village until 1968. The local
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) ...
quarries (at times the most important in the region) worked from the second half of the 16th century until 1907; were then reforested and are accessible today via the Elbe Promenade (''Elbpromenade''). The surviving timber-framed houses nos. 55–67, the so-called Seven Brothers' Houses (''Siebenbrüderhäuser''), are linked to a legend in whom a boatman wanted to build a house for each of his sons. His own building was, however, to be taller than them all. On house nos. 43 and 69, as well as the ferryman's house, there are Elbe high-water marks. In 2009, Postelwitz had a population of 282 (1999: 323).
Schmilka
![Bad Schandau Schmilka Elbe 10913](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6a/Bad_Schandau_Schmilka_Elbe_10913.jpg)
Schmilka, the border village to the Czech Republic on the Elbe at a height of , has been part of the borough of Bad Schandau since 1 January 1973. This village of Elbe boatmen, rafters, stonecutters, charcoal burners, ''Pechsieder'' and forest workers was first recorded in 1582. Small timber-framed houses still dominate its façades. In 2009, Schmilka had 137 inhabitants (1999: 169).
The Ilmen Spring (''Ilmenquelle'') rises near the border and, with a discharge of 6 L/s, is the most powerful in Saxon Switzerland. The hills of Schrammsteine and
Großer Winterberg
Großer Winterberg is a mountain of Saxony, southeastern Germany. It is the second highest mountain of the Saxon Switzerland and is located on the border between Germany and the Czech Republic
The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is ...
may be ascended from Schmilka along various paths and climbs such as the Saints' Way (''Heilige Stiege'') or the Rübezahl Way (''Rübezahlstiege'').
The Ilmenbach stream drives the Schmilka Mill (''Schmilksche Mühle'') only a few metres below the spring. Built in 1665, it is one of the first buildings in Schmilka. The mill was closed in the 19th century. In 2007, however, the mill was restored to a functional state again. Historic pictures, including a copperplate by
Adrian Ludwig Richter
Adrian Ludwig Richter (September 28, 1803June 19, 1884) was a German painter and etcher, who was strongly influenced by Erhard and Chodowiecki. He was a representative of both Romanticism and Biedermeier styles.
He was the most popular, and ...
, were used in the restoration. Richter was one of the artists who walked the so-called Painters' Way (''Malerweg'') in Saxon Switzerland about 200 years ago. The Painters' Way runs directly by the mill. The Schmilka Mill traditionally runs during the
Mill Festival that takes place every year at Whitsun. Within the mill is a holiday home, the ''Mühlchen'' ("Little Mill"), which can be used as holiday accommodation. The village also has a brewery, and functions as a wellness retreat with organic food.
Ostrau
Ostrau () on the ''
Ostrauer Scheibe'' rises above the Elbe and lies at a height of above
NN. The ice-age loess-loam on the plateau of the ''Ostrauer Scheibe'' enabled the establishment in former times of a German village for seven farmsteads. Ostrau has been directly linked to the town of Bad Schandau since 1904 with an electric
passenger lift that was built at the initiative of the hotelier, Rudolf Sendig, who also financed it. Old timber-framed farmsteads, guesthouses (''Pensionen''), holiday homes, a modern spa facility, inns, villas and family homes make up the buildings of the village. With just under 100 inhabitants, the village had a very isolated existence on an exposed upland at the end of the 19th century. But even in 1900, there were ambitious plans for this location with its long-distance, all-round views to be turned into an exclusive tourist centre with sports facilities and an airfield. But only the aforementioned lift was built along with wooden, Scandinavian-style villas on the ''Ostrauer Ring'', also at Sendig's initiative. In 2009, Ostrau had a population of 419 (1999: 541).
History
In the first half of the 14th century, German settlers acquired the Elbe meadows between
Rathmannsdorf and
Postelwitz
Bad Schandau (; hsb, Žandow) is a spa town in Germany, in the Sächsische Schweiz-Osterzgebirge district of Saxony. It is situated on the right bank of the Elbe, at the mouth of the valley of the Kirnitzsch and in the area often described as S ...
from the feudal estate of
Hohnstein
Hohnstein () is a town located in the Sächsische Schweiz-Osterzgebirge district of Saxony, Germany. As of 2020, its population numbered a total of 3,262.
Geography
It is situated in Saxon Switzerland, 12 km east of Pirna, and 28 km so ...
and founded a trading post here. Schandau was first mentioned in the records in 1445 and was given, in effect, the status of a town as a result of its important location as a trading site on the Elbe in 1467 by a council constitution. Since about 1800, Bad Schandau has been a spa town and
summer resort
A resort (North American English) is a self-contained commercial establishment that tries to provide most of a vacationer's wants, such as food, drink, swimming, lodging, sports, entertainment, and shopping, on the premises. The term ''resort' ...
. In 1877, the place was given a permanent crossing over the river, the
Carola Bridge. In 1920, the town was granted the official title of "Bad" ("Spa"). In 1936, it became a Kneipp spa.
The town is the smallest German place with its own
tram
A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport are ...
service, the
Kirnitzschtal Tramway
The Kirnitzschtal tramway, also known as the ''Kirnitzschtalbahn'', is an electric tramway in Saxony, Germany. The line runs through the valley of the Kirnitzsch river in Saxon Switzerland, from the town of Bad Schandau up to the Lichtenhain W ...
. The tramway runs from Schandau to
Lichtenhain Waterfall
The Lichtenhain Waterfall is a waterfall formed by the Lichtenhainer village brook and is situated in the Kirnitzsch Valley in the Saxon Switzerland of Germany. The village of Lichtenhain lies to the north of the waterfall, and is away on foot, ...
and has been working since 1898.
Bad Schandau was badly hit by the flooding of the Elbe in the years
1845
Events
January–March
* January 10 – Elizabeth Barrett receives a love letter from the younger poet Robert Browning; on May 20, they meet for the first time in London. She begins writing her ''Sonnets from the Portuguese''.
* January 23 ...
,
2002
File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...
and
2006
File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...
. The floodwater on 16/17 August 2002 stood at above average, above the market square and high in the church. The Schöna gauge reached 12.04 (Bad Schandau gauge 11.88), volumetric flow 4,780 m³/s. The high-water mark was below that of 1845. On 3 April 2006, a high-water mark of and above the market square above average was reached at about 11 pm. Schöna gauge 8.88, volumetric flow 2720 m³/s. The square floods when the Schöna gauge reaches 7.60.
File:Bad Schandau Kurhaus.jpg, Spa facilities of Bad Schandau around 1820
File:Ansicht Bad Schandau um 1850.jpg, Bad Schandau around 1850
File:Schandau 1890. Old port..jpg, Bad Schandau around 1888
File:Bad Schandau around 1900.jpg, Bad Schandau around 1900
File:Bad Schandau around 1900 - 2.jpg, Bad Schandau around 1900
Coat of arms
In 1480, Schandau was granted the right by Prince
Ernest of Saxony
Ernest (24 March 144126 August 1486) was Elector of Saxony from 1464 to 1486.
Ernst was the founder and progenitor of the ''Ernestine line'' of Saxon princes.
Biography
Ernst was born in Meissen, the second son (but fourth in order of birth) ...
to bear a coat of arms and a seal. The coat of arms shows a ship under sail, probably a reference to the importance of Elbe shipping.
Politics
Town council
The
local election
In many parts of the world, local elections take place to select office-holders in local government, such as mayors and councillors. Elections to positions within a city or town are often known as "municipal elections". Their form and conduct vary ...
s of 26 May 2019 saw a
voter turnout
In political science, voter turnout is the participation rate (often defined as those who cast a ballot) of a given election. This can be the percentage of registered voters, eligible voters, or all voting-age people. According to Stanford Unive ...
of 69,9 % (+9,5) with the following results:
: +/−: Changes against the local elections of 25 May 2014, *: Voters' associations combined
Administration
Bad Schandau is a in the Bad Schandau Administrative Association (''Verwaltungsgemeinschaft Bad Schandau'') for the municipalities of
Rathmannsdorf and
Reinhardtsdorf-Schöna
Reinhardtsdorf-Schöna is a municipality in the Sächsische Schweiz-Osterzgebirge district in the German federal state of Saxony. It has a population of approximately 1,600 and is located close to the Czech border in Saxon Switzerland, a popular t ...
.
Twin towns – sister cities
Bad Schandau is
twinned with:
*
Česká Kamenice
Česká Kamenice (; german: Böhmisch Kamnitz) is a town in Ústí nad Labem Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 5,200 inhabitants. The town centre is well preserved and is protected by law as an urban monument zone.
Administrative parts
V ...
, Czech Republic
*
Lądek-Zdrój
Lądek-Zdrój ( cs, Landek; german: Bad Landeck), known in English as Landek, is a spa town situated in Kłodzko County, Lower Silesian Voivodeship, southwestern Poland. It is the seat of the administrative district ( gmina) called Gmina Lądek ...
, Poland
*
Fichtenau, Germany
*
Gößweinstein
Gößweinstein is a municipality in the district of Forchheim in Bavaria in Germany. It lies within the region known as Franconian Switzerland.
Districts
History
The first record of ''Goswinesteyn'' Castle is from 1076. Prior to 1102 the Hochs ...
, Germany
*
Überlingen
Überlingen is a German city on the northern shore of Lake Constance (Bodensee) in Baden-Württemberg near the border with Switzerland. After the city of Friedrichshafen, it is the second largest city in the Bodenseekreis (district), and a cent ...
, Germany
Culture and places of interest
Overview
Schandau was described in the
''Encyclopædia Britannica'' Eleventh Edition (1911) thus:
The prefix "Bad" was added in 1920 in acknowledgement of the spa status of the town (the German "Bad" means "
spa
A spa is a location where mineral-rich spring water (and sometimes seawater) is used to give medicinal baths. Spa towns or spa resorts (including hot springs resorts) typically offer various health treatments, which are also known as balneoth ...
" in English).
The 2009 film, ''
Inglourious Basterds
''Inglourious Basterds'' is a 2009 war film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino, starring Brad Pitt, Christoph Waltz, Michael Fassbender, Eli Roth, Diane Kruger, Daniel Brühl, Til Schweiger and Mélanie Laurent. The film tells an alter ...
'', directed by
Quentin Tarantino
Quentin Jerome Tarantino (; born March 27, 1963) is an American film director, writer, producer, and actor. His films are characterized by stylized violence, extended dialogue, profanity, Black comedy, dark humor, Nonlinear narrative, non-lin ...
, was shot primarily in Bad Schandau,
[ and at ]Studio Babelsberg
Babelsberg Film Studio (german: Filmstudio Babelsberg), located in Potsdam-Babelsberg outside Berlin, Germany, is the second oldest large-scale film studio in the world only preceded by the Danish Nordisk Film (est. 1906), producing films since ...
in Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...
.
Museums
* Town Gallery (''Stadtgalerie'')
* Local History Museum (''Heimatmuseum'')
* National Park Museum (''Nationalparkmuseum'')
* Friedrich Gottlob Keller Museum Friedrich may refer to:
Names
* Friedrich (surname), people with the surname ''Friedrich''
* Friedrich (given name), people with the given name ''Friedrich''
Other
* Friedrich (board game), a board game about Frederick the Great and the Seven Year ...
, Krippen, ''Friedrich-Gottlob-Keller-Straße'' 76 (about the discovery and inventor of mechanical wood pulp paper)
Buildings / places of interest
Bad Schandau's town profile on the right bank of the river is dominated by the hotels of the Gründerzeit
(; "founders' period") was the economic phase in 19th-century Germany and Austria before the great stock market crash of 1873. In Central Europe, the age of industrialisation had been taking place since the 1840s. That period is not precisely ...
bordering the Elbe, the two bridges and St John's Church (''Johanniskirche'').
From 2002 to 2007, comprehensive renovation work was carried out on the Gründerzeit hotels on the riverfront – the best-known in the 19th century was the ''Dampfschiff'' ("Steamship"). The building was gutted from the ground upwards and the façades restored. Several apartment complexes are housed in bathhouse villas (''Bäder-Villen''). The ensemble was opened again in 2007 under the name ''Elbresidenz Bad Schandau''.Information on the construction history of the ensembles at the hotel's home page
The impressive
Lutheran
Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched th ...
St John's Church with its octagonal west tower has existed in its present form since 1679. The
baroque
The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...
skylight turret was added in 1711 following a town fire. The interior of the church with its wooden
coffer
A coffer (or coffering) in architecture is a series of sunken panels in the shape of a square, rectangle, or octagon in a ceiling, soffit or vault.
A series of these sunken panels was often used as decoration for a ceiling or a vault, also c ...
, single-storey
matroneum
A triforium is an interior gallery, opening onto the tall central space of a building at an upper level. In a church, it opens onto the nave from above the side aisles; it may occur at the level of the clerestory windows, or it may be located ...
and stained glass windows in the chancel is the result of fundamental conversion work in 1876–77. Especially valuable is the two-storied
Renaissance
The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...
altar in sandstone, which the Dresden sculptor, Hans Walther, originally made for the
Kreuzkirche, Dresden
The Dresden Kreuzkirche (Church of the Holy Cross) is a Lutheran church in Dresden, Germany. It is the main church and seat of the ''Landesbischof'' of the Evangelical-Lutheran Church of Saxony, and the largest church building in the Free State ...
, and which stood in
Dresden Anne's from 1760 to 1902.
The main sight in the market square (''Marktplatz'') with its town hall (1863) and several Renaissance buildings (the ''Gambrinus'' brewery, house No. 1 with its timber-framed upper storey) since 1896 has been the Sendig Fountain next to the church, which for reasons unknown lost its
Art Nouveau
Art Nouveau (; ) is an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, especially the decorative arts. The style is known by different names in different languages: in German, in Italian, in Catalan, and also known as the Modern ...
top extension with sculptures during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
; it was reconstructed from 1994 to 2011.
The spa facilities and the 3,500 m
2 Botanical Garden (''
Pflanzengarten Bad Schandau'') with over 1,500 species of plants is located at the entrance to the Kirnitzsch valley. By the tram stop of the
Kirnitzschtal Tramway
The Kirnitzschtal tramway, also known as the ''Kirnitzschtalbahn'', is an electric tramway in Saxony, Germany. The line runs through the valley of the Kirnitzsch river in Saxon Switzerland, from the town of Bad Schandau up to the Lichtenhain W ...
stands the so-called Ice Age Rock (''Eiszeitstein'') illustrating that in the
Pleistocene
The Pleistocene ( , often referred to as the ''Ice age'') is the geological Epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 2,580,000 to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was fina ...
epoch the inland ice sheet extended as far as here from Scandinavia.
Near the Park Hotel and the historical lift to Ostrau stands the Roman Catholic Church next to the hillside on the right of the Elbe. This building was built as accommodation for a Russian diplomat in the classic
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
villa style of the 19th century and has been used since 1924 by the Catholic Church as a consecrated building.
The ''
historical lift to Ostrau'' is a , free-standing iron construction, that links the village of Ostrau higher up the hill. The hotelier, Rudolf Sendig, had this electrically driven lift built in 1904 by the firms of
Kelle & Hildebrandt (iron framework) and ''Kühnscherf & Söhne'' (lift). The lift was officially opened on Easter Sunday 1905 and the rivetted structure, that has been protected since 1954, was refurbished in 1989–1990. Due to its view over
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 ...
around Bad Schandau, especially the rocks of the
Schrammsteine
The Schrammsteine are a long, strung-out, very jagged group of rocks in the Elbe Sandstone Mountains located east of Bad Schandau in Saxon Switzerland in eastern Germany. To the north they are bordered by the Kirnitzsch valley, to the south by the ...
, but also because of the understated Art Nouveau ornamentation, a journey on the technical monument has become something of a tourist attraction.
The so-called ''Ostrauer Scheibe'' is a plateau that can be reached on foot along a hiking trail from the Botanical Garden in the Kirnitsch Valley, over the old cart track (''Ostrauer Berg''), as well as by car along a road that weaves in hairpin bends up from Postelwitz.
The new Schrammstein Open-Air Pool (''Schrammstein-Bad'') that was badly damaged before it could open by the flooding of the Elbe in 2002 went bust but, after a two-year delay, was able to open under its new owners, toskanaworld, as the so-called Toskana Thermal Baths (''Toskana-Therme''); this firm has similar facilities in
Bad Sulza
Bad Sulza is a town in the Weimarer Land district, in Thuringia, Germany. It is situated on the river Ilm, 15 km southwest of Naumburg, and 18 km north of Jena. The former municipality Ködderitzsch was merged into Bad Sulza in January 20 ...
and
Bad Orb
Bad Orb (; "Thermae on the Orb River") is a spa town in the Main-Kinzig-Kreis district of Hesse, Germany. It is situated east of Hanau between the forested hills of the Spessart. Bad Orb has a population of over 10,000. Its economy is dominate ...
.
Memorials
*
VVN monument in the Spa Park (''Kurpark'') to the victims of
Fascism
Fascism is a far-right, authoritarian, ultra-nationalist political ideology and movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and political and cultural liberalism, a belief in natural social hierarchy an ...
* Memorial rock in front of the mountain hut (''Berghütte über dem Zahnsgrund'') in the village of Ostrau for the
Communist
Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...
resistance fighter
A resistance movement is an organized effort by some portion of the civil population of a country to withstand the legally established government or an occupying power and to disrupt civil order and stability. It may seek to achieve its objectives ...
Kurt Schlosser, who was murdered in
Dresden
Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label=Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth larg ...
in 1944
* Memorial tablet from 1957 at a Cave in the Schrammsteinen (''Höhle in den Schrammsteinen'') commemorating the resistance fighters of the United Climbing Division of Dresden (''Vereinigten Kletterabteilung Dresden'')
Dialect
A special form of the
Saxon dialect is spoken in Bad Schandau: the South East Meissen dialect, which is one of five Upper Saxon or Meissen dialects.
Economy and infrastructure
Transport
![Mh kirnitzschtalbahn](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a4/Mh_kirnitzschtalbahn.jpg)
On the left bank of the Elbe runs the track of the
Dresden–Děčín railway.
Bad Schandau railway station is a stop for
EuroCity
EuroCity, abbreviated as EC, is a cross-border train category within the European inter-city rail network. In contrast to trains allocated to the lower-level "IC" (InterCity) category, EC trains are international services that meet 20 criteri ...
links between
Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...
and
Budapest
Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...
, the
CityNightLine
CityNightLine AG (timetable and platform sign abbreviation: CNL) was a Swiss night train service. CNL had right of passage grants in Germany, the Netherlands, Austria, Switzerland and Denmark. It served stations in Belgium, France, Italy and ...
between
Prague
Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...
and
Copenhagen
Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...
/
Amsterdam
Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...
/
Zürich
Zürich () is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zürich. It is located in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zürich. As of January 2020, the municipality has 43 ...
as well as the
S-Bahn
The S-Bahn is the name of hybrid urban- suburban rail systems serving a metropolitan region in German-speaking countries. Some of the larger S-Bahn systems provide service similar to rapid transit systems, while smaller ones often resemble co ...
between Meißen and Schöna that passes through Dresden. Several cross-border regional trains also work the line to
Děčín
Děčín (; german: Tetschen, 1942–1945: ''Tetschen–Bodenbach'') is a city in the Ústí nad Labem Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 47,000 inhabitants. It is the 7th largest municipality in the country by area.
Administrative parts
D ...
. Another regional railway link to Sebnitz and Neustadt in Saxony runs on the
Bautzen–Bad Schandau railway
The Bautzen–Bad Schandau railway is a 64-kilometre long railway line in the state of Saxony, Germany, which connects Bautzen to Bad Schandau via Neukirch/Lausitz, Neustadt in Sachsen and Sebnitz. The railway was opened fully in 1898. The part b ...
.
The town centre may be reached from the station over a ferry link as well as the Elbe Road Bridge at Bad Schandau. Other ferries run between the town of Schandau and Krippen and between Schmilka and the station of Schmilka-Hirschmühle in
Reinhardtsdorf-Schöna
Reinhardtsdorf-Schöna is a municipality in the Sächsische Schweiz-Osterzgebirge district in the German federal state of Saxony. It has a population of approximately 1,600 and is located close to the Czech border in Saxon Switzerland, a popular t ...
.
The town may also be accessed on regional bus services run by the
OVPS. OVPS also operate the
Kirnitzschtal tramway
The Kirnitzschtal tramway, also known as the ''Kirnitzschtalbahn'', is an electric tramway in Saxony, Germany. The line runs through the valley of the Kirnitzsch river in Saxon Switzerland, from the town of Bad Schandau up to the Lichtenhain W ...
, a historical tram service that runs from the town centre to the
Lichtenhain Waterfall
The Lichtenhain Waterfall is a waterfall formed by the Lichtenhainer village brook and is situated in the Kirnitzsch Valley in the Saxon Switzerland of Germany. The village of Lichtenhain lies to the north of the waterfall, and is away on foot, ...
. The
Elbe Cycleway runs along the banks of the Elbe.
Local firms
* Rehaklinik ''Falkensteinklinik'' (Stadtteil Ostrau): about 125 employees, specialises in the treatment of digestive and metabolic diseases, cardiovascular diseases and diabetes
* Rehaklinik ''Kirnitzschtalklinik'': specialises in conservative orthopaedic therapy of acute and degenerative diseases of the muscular and skeletal systems
Floods of August 2002
Bad Schandau was badly hit by the
floods
A flood is an overflow of water ( or rarely other fluids) that submerges land that is usually dry. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Floods are an area of study of the discipline hydrolog ...
, along with neighbouring towns
Reinhardtsdorf-Schöna
Reinhardtsdorf-Schöna is a municipality in the Sächsische Schweiz-Osterzgebirge district in the German federal state of Saxony. It has a population of approximately 1,600 and is located close to the Czech border in Saxon Switzerland, a popular t ...
and
Pirna
Pirna (; hsb, Pěrno; ) is a town in Saxony, Germany and capital of the administrative district Sächsische Schweiz-Osterzgebirge. The town's population is over 37,000. Pirna is located near Dresden and is an important district town as well as ...
.
Notable people
![Heinrich Leberecht Fleischer (IZ 57-1871 S 133 HScherenberg)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/46/Heinrich_Leberecht_Fleischer_%28IZ_57-1871_S_133_HScherenberg%29.jpg)
* Gotthelf Traugott Esaias Häntzschel (1779–1848), German businessman and politician, member of parliament (Kingdom of Saxony)
*
Heinrich Leberecht Fleischer
Heinrich Leberecht Fleischer (21 February 1801 – 10 February 1888) was a German oriental studies, Orientalist.
Biography
He was born at Schandau, Kingdom of Saxony, Saxony. From 1819 to 1824, he studied theology and Oriental languages at Univer ...
(1801–1888), orientalist
* Rudolph Hering (1803–1888), Saxon Bergrat
* Karl Schröder (1912–1996), cinematographer
Honorary citizens
*
Martin Mutschmann
Martin Mutschmann (9 March 1879 – 14 February 1947) was the Nazi Regional Leader (''Gauleiter'') of the state of Saxony ('' Gau Saxony'') during the time of the Third Reich.
Early years
Born in Hirschberg on the Saale in the Principality ...
, 1933 (revoked ?)
Notes
References
*
External links
{{Authority control
Populated places in Saxon Switzerland
Populated riverside places in Germany
Populated places on the Elbe