Rathen is a village 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 Bohemia ...

, in

Saxony Saxony (german: Sachsen ; Upper Saxon German, 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 ...

, Germany, about 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 ...

. The village occupies both banks of the river

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 Re ...

and, as of 2020, has 339 inhabitants. Rathen is a popular tourist destination, the main sights are the

Bastei The Bastei is a rock formation rising 194 metres above the Elbe River in the Elbe Sandstone Mountains of Germany. Reaching a height of 305 metres above sea level, the jagged rocks of the Bastei were formed by water erosion over one million years ...

cliffs, the Amselsee (a lake), and the outdoor theater ''"Felsenbühne Rathen"''.

History

Rathen was founded in the 13th century around 1261 as place for a castle fortress. During World War II, a subcamp of

Flossenbürg concentration camp Flossenbürg was a Nazi concentration camp built in May 1938 by the SS Main Economic and Administrative Office. Unlike other concentration camps, it was located in a remote area, in the Fichtel Mountains of Bavaria, adjacent to the town of Flo ...

was located here.

Tourism

The state-recognised climatic spa of Rathen is not only the base for tours in the western part of Saxon Switzerland, but also for the world-famous

rocks. Other popular destinations in the local

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 wild and romantic valley takes hikers through the ...

valley 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

Rathen Open Air Stage The Rathen Open Air Stage (german: Felsenbühne Rathen) is a natural stage in Saxon Switzerland in East Germany. It is located in a hollow at the upper end of the Wehlgrund valley between the rocks of ''Kleine Gans'' and ''Großer Wehrturm'' bel ...

. There are a good 400 inhabitants on both sides of the

, linked by the historic Rathen Ferry, which is a

protected monument In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

. In addition to the Old Mill of 1567, which was nearly demolished after the

hundred year flood A 100-year flood is a flood event that has a 1 in 100 chance (1% probability) of being equaled or exceeded in any given year. The 100-year flood is also referred to as the 1% flood, since its annual exceedance probability is 1%.Holmes, R.R., Jr. ...

, there is a range of other timber-framed houses. Due to its proximity to the town of Wehlen the following wordplay saying is given to visitors: ''"Sie können Rathen wählen, ich würde Ihnen auch zu Wehlen raten."'' ("You can choose Rathen, I would also recommend Wehlen to you.")

Local places of interest

with the Schweizerhaus, Bastei bridge and Bastei lookout *

in the Wehlgrund *

Rhododendron ''Rhododendron'' (; from Ancient Greek ''rhódon'' "rose" and ''déndron'' "tree") is a very large genus of about 1,024 species of woody plants in the heath family (Ericaceae). They can be either evergreen or deciduous. Most species are nati ...

park on the Kleine Bastei * Rauenstein *

and Amsel Falls * Saxon Switzerland National Park * Castles of Neurathen and Altrathen * Largest garden railway in the world at Eisenbahnwelten im Kurort Rathen * Schwedenlöcher

Transport

The Rathen Ferry, a passenger

reaction ferry A reaction ferry is a cable ferry that uses the reaction of the current of a river against a fixed tether to propel the vessel across the water. Such ferries operate faster and more effectively in rivers with strong currents. Some reaction ferri ...

, connects Niederrathen, on the right bank of the Elbe river, to Oberrathen on the left bank. Kurort Rathen railway station, on the

Dresden S-Bahn The Dresden S-Bahn is a network of S-Bahn-type commuter train services in Dresden and the surrounding area. It is commissioned by Verkehrsverbund Oberelbe (VVO) from DB Regio ''Verkehrsbetrieb Südostsachsen'' and currently consists of three se ...

and the Dresden to

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 ...

railway, is adjacent to the Oberrathen ferry terminal. Rathen is also a stop for the

Sächsische Dampfschiffahrt The Sächsische Dampfschiffahrt of Dresden, Germany is the oldest and biggest paddle steamer fleet in the world. It consists of nine wheel steamers, two salon ships and two motor ships. It was formerly known as the White Fleet (''Weisse Flotte' ...

ships, including historic

paddle steamers A paddle steamer is a steamship or steamboat powered by a steam engine that drives paddle wheels to propel the craft through the water. In antiquity, paddle wheelers followed the development of poles, oars and sails, where the first uses were w ...

, operating between Dresden and the Czech border. Road access to Niederrathen is by my means of a road from

Bad Schandau 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 ...

, whilst Oberrathen is linked by road to Struppen. There is no direct vehicular connection across the river between the two halves of the village, and the road journey between the two is some in length.

References

External links

Kurort Rathen official website
{{Authority control Populated places in Saxon Switzerland