Rathen und Elbsandsteingebirge asv2022-08 img24

The Schwedenlöcher is a

gorge A canyon (; archaic British English spelling: ''cañon''), gorge or chasm, is a deep cleft between escarpments or cliffs resulting from weathering and the erosion, erosive activity of a river over geologic time scales. Rivers have a natural tend ...

-like side valley of the

Amselgrund The Amselgrund ("Amsel Bottom") is the name given to the valley of the Grünbach stream in the heart of Saxon Switzerland in Eastern Germany. It runs from Niederrathen upstream to Rathewalde. The valley takes hikers through the Rathen rock basin ...

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 ...

Saxon Switzerland Saxon Switzerland (, ) is a hilly climbing area and national park in the Elbe Sandstone Mountains. It is located around the Elbe valley south-east of Dresden in Saxony, Germany, adjoining Bohemian Switzerland in the Czech Republic. Toge ...

History

The deeply incised ravine was formed by the

erosion Erosion is the action of surface processes (such as Surface runoff, water flow or wind) that removes soil, Rock (geology), rock, or dissolved material from one location on the Earth's crust#Crust, Earth's crust and then sediment transport, tran ...

of the soft

sandstone Sandstone is a Clastic rock#Sedimentary clastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of grain size, sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate mineral, silicate grains, Cementation (geology), cemented together by another mineral. Sand ...

. Its course follows the main direction of fissuring in the Elbe sandstone. Originally the Schwedenlöcher was an undeveloped gorge that was difficult to access and was known as the ''Blanker Grund''. When, during the

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War, fought primarily in Central Europe between 1618 and 1648, was one of the most destructive conflicts in History of Europe, European history. An estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died from battle, famine ...

, the village of Rathewalde to the north was destroyed by Swedish soldiers in August 1639, the peasants of the region fled into the wild gorge and carried their possessions to safety. The gorge served as a refuge during later conflicts, such as in 1706 during the

Great Nordic War In the Great Northern War (1700–1721) a coalition led by the Tsardom of Russia successfully contested the supremacy of the Swedish Empire in Northern, Central and Eastern Europe. The initial leaders of the anti-Swedish alliance were Peter ...

, in 1813 during the Wars of Liberation and in 1945 during the last days of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. In the 1780s, the first tracks were made in the Schwedenlöchern in order to extract timber. This is recalled by several dates chiselled into the sandstone (1782, 1784, 1787). The first touristic development of the gorge occurred comparatively late on. In 1886, at the initiative of the Alpine Club for Saxon-Bohemian Switzerland, a walkway was built through the Schwedenlöcher. To build the steps and bridges the gorge had to be artificially widened in places. The new footpath, which linked the well known rock massif of the

Bastei The Bastei is a rock formation rising above the Elbe River in the Elbe Sandstone Mountains of Germany. Reaching a height of above sea level, the jagged rocks of the Bastei were formed by water erosion over one million years ago. They are situa ...

with the Amselgrund, was opened on 1 May 1886 on the occasion of the 6th German Geographers' Day. In 1967/68, comprehensive renovation was carried out on the path. This involved the construction of 3.5 tons of steel and 600 concrete slabs. The path has 777 steps and over 20 concrete bridges. Today the footpath through the Schwedenlöcher is one of the most popular walks in Saxon Switzerland. The

Saxon Switzerland National Park Saxon Switzerland National Park (), is a National Park, national park in the Germany, German Free State of Saxony, near the Saxon capital Dresden. It covers two areas of in the heart of the German part of the Elbe Sandstone Mountains, which is o ...

authorities estimate that up to 2,000 people per day walk the path during the peak season.

Rockfalls

The path through the narrow gorge is often threatened by

rockfall A rockfall or rock-fallWhittow, John (1984). ''Dictionary of Physical Geography''. London: Penguin, 1984. . is a quantity of Rock (geology), rock that has fallen freely from a cliff face. The term is also used for collapse of rock from roof or wa ...

s from the eroding sandstone and has had to be closed several times. In May 2012 a tree root broke off a large piece of rock, roughly 10 cubic metres in volume. The falling rock injured seven walkers. The path had to be closed for several days while inspections of the damage and clearance work took place. In February 2013 the gorge was closed again due to the danger of falling rock. For safety reasons in August 2013 an overhanging rock was blown up. The path had to be rerouted past the demolition site and was re-opened in September 2013.''Schwedenlöcher wieder offen''
Sächsische Zeitung dated 12 September 2013

Climbing rocks

The Schwedenlöcher are part of the

Saxon Switzerland Climbing Area Saxon Switzerland () is the largest and one of the best-known rock climbing regions in Germany, located in the Free State of Saxony. The region is largely coterminous with the natural region of the same name, Saxon Switzerland, but extends well ...

. The climbing rock known as the '' Schwedenturm'' is next to the path. It was first climbed in 1905 by

Rudolf Fehrmann Rudolf Fehrmann (22 June 1886 – 1947) was a German climber. He was a pioneer rock climber at the Elbe Sandstone Mountains near Dresden. Climbing career He began climbing at the age of 17 and was soon at the leading edge of the fledgling sport. ...

and his brother Arymund.

References

Literature

* * Oskar Lehmann: Die Bastei in der sächsischen Schweiz. Festschrift zur hundertjährigen Jubelfeier ihres Eintritts in die Geschichte am 29. Mai 1897. Köhler, Dresden, 1897
Digitalisat

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Schwedenlöcher Landforms of Saxon Switzerland Canyons and gorges of Germany Valleys of Saxony Sächsische Schweiz-Osterzgebirge