Königstein Fortress

Why go

Festung Königstein gGmbH, which runs the fortress, says it became an independent operating company of the Free State of Saxony in 2000 and a non-profit company in 2003. Its chronicle dates the probable first written mention of a castle on the rock to 1233 and the expansion into a state fortress to 1589, and says Königstein was a Saxon state prison until 1922 and a prisoner-of-war camp in both world wars. It says the 9.5-hectare complex opened to the public in 1955 as a military-historical open-air museum; exhibitions are now spread across buildings including the Old Armoury, the Well House over the 152.5-metre well, George's Castle and the garrison church. The operator's admission page says the ticket includes the use of the lift and admission to all exhibitions, and recommends booking online tickets. The fortress is in the town of Königstein, outside Dresden; this record is the fortress complex, not the town or the table mountain.