Pirna Things to Do Tips by german_eagle Top 5 Page for this destination

Richard-Wagner-Museum Graupa

In 1846 Richard Wagner, at that time chief conductor of the Staatskapelle Dresden, went to nearby Graupa on vacation. He spent 10 weeks in a farmhouse ("Schäfersches Gut"). Back then Graupa was a tiny, idyllic village at the foot of the hills and at the starting point to hiking trails to the region called "Saxon Switzerland". Not much has changed since then - except that Graupa has become a popular residential place, quite some family homes were built. But the village, now part of the town Pirna, has preserved its rural charm.

Anyway, Wagner was inspired by the romantic landscape and he outlined the composition of his opera LOHENGRIN there. This opera had its world premiere 28 August 1850 in Weimar under Franz Liszt (Wagner had to flee from Dresden because he had fought on the barricades of the revolution 1848/49).

In 1907 the first Wagner museum worldwide was opened in the two rooms of that farmhouse, called "Lohengrinhaus" where Wagner and his wife Minna had lived in 1846. Due to the bad shape of the house the museum had to be closed in 2005, but after a torough restoration it was reopened in 2009. To do justice to Wagner the authorities in Pirna decided to expand the museum and restored the nearby hunting lodge. In January 2013 this new museum part will open with a festival week. Christian Thielemann, Isang Enders, Robert Dean Smith, chamber orchestras and choirs will be there for talks and concerts.

The hunting lodge itself is a sight, too. It goes back to a small castle, erected in 1579. Nowadays it appears in Baroque style, dating from a reconstruction in 1755. Of course there is a pond with swans (Lohengrin!) by the lodge ... Well worth seeing is the old English style park with a 450 years old oak tree (pic 3).

Address: Richard-Wagner-Straße 6, 01796 Pirna-Graupa

Phone: 03501 461 965-0

Website: http://www.richardwagnermuseum.de

Sonnenstein Gardens

My new favourite place in Pirna are the gardens that stretch over the hillside between the town and Sonnenstein. They were first created after 1764, when the Sonnenstein lost "fortress" status. Recently the gardens were reconstructed, using the (nicely restored) remains of the former city fortifications, including thick walls and remains of towers. Due to the special topography terraces with sun-loving plants/bushes/flowers were created in the central part right below the buildings, linked by stairs, while the northern and southern parts have more woods and rhododendron, and long, winding trails. Benches are everywhere, the views of the old town and the landscape are amazing.

Get a free map at the tourist information and explore on your own or join a guided tour if you want to learn more.

Website: http://www.tourismus.pirna.de/

Sonnenstein bastions/fortifications

As mentioned in the (Former) Fortress Sonnenstein tip above, the Baroque bastions/fortifications are still there, and with a guided tour you can see the interior. When the complex was restored for the county administration's headquarters a couple of years ago, they also cleared the interior of the bastions from all the trash, made it accessible for the visitor by adding iron ladders etc. Please contact the tourist information for reservations/info.

However, there is also a nice walking trail at the foot of the bastions, half up the hill, from where you can see the walls from close distance. From the trail you can clearly see that the 19th century buildings were erected atop of the Baroque bastions. It starts 2/3 up the staircase that leads up to the plateau (behind St. Mary's church), turning left towards the river. First you walk through the woods, then you must decide if you walk the longer or shorter route (the latter recommended for the visitor with limited time). Either way, you'll see the cross that commemorates the Nazi victims and the Memorial site. A map is available at the tourist information.

Website: http://www.tourismus.pirna.de/

(Former) Fortress Sonnenstein

The landmark of Pirna, St. Mary church aside, is the former fortress Sonnenstein, located on a hill above the town and the river. It was first mentioned in 1269, the Bishop of Meissen sold it to the Bohemian King in 1293, since 1405 it is back to Saxony.

Not much is preserved of the medieval castle, but you still can see (and visit the interior of) the Baroque fortifications/bastions/walls, built by architect Wolf Caspar von Klengel 1668 - 1704. In the middle of the 19th century the fortress was turned into a sanatorium for mentally ill people and it quickly gained an excellent reputation. New buildings were erected; the western wing, which is visible from almost anywhere in the old town, was erected from 1855 on in late classicistic style e.g. 1904-09 the wing on the riverside (pic 2+3) was reconstructed by architects Schilling & Gräbner.

Nowadays the complex is home of the county administration (Landratsamt). It is basically a public building, but the most interesting rooms (festive hall e.g.) are only accessible on guided tours, usually twice a week. You may contact the tourist information for info and reservations. Even if you don't want to join a guided tour I highly recommend to walk up there and do a stroll on the grounds. You can spot architecture details from past eras (see pic 5, Gothic detail!) and the room between and around the buildings is nicely designed as a beautiful garden with fountains, benches, flower beds.

Directions: Above the old town, not to miss. A staircase leads up behind St. Mary's church, or take bus H/S.

Website: http://www.tourismus.pirna.de/

Sonnenstein Memorial Site

This tip is about a very dark chapter of Pirna's history. Nonetheless it belongs to the town and the locals faced up to it.

The sanatorium Pirna-Sonnenstein, widely renowned for its humanist tradition, was opened in 1811. It was the first psychiatric institution in Germany that aimed to heal mentally ill people, not just to lock them away. The success was amazing, the sanatorium became sought after in- and outside Germany. Psychiatrists studied here. From 1855 on buildings were erected, many of them preserved (like the church e.g.)

During the Nazi era, from 1933 on, the goals of the sanatorium were changed. They gave up on healing patients, instead they just isolated them. Forced sterilization was executed. End of 1939 the sanatorium was closed.

In 1940 a - I hesitate to write the word - killing institution was established on the area, co-ordinated by the central institution in Berlin, Tiergartenstraße 4 and named after this address T4. The first transport with mentally ill people arrived June 28 1940 at Pirna-Sonnenstein, house C 16 - the begin of Euthanasia and industrial mass murder during the Nazi era in Germany.

In the fourteen months until August 1941 when the operation T4 was stopped they killed 13,720 people - ill, handicapped, elderly - in a gas chamber that was masked as shower room (right, that system was first used here in Pirna!), then burned their dead bodies in the neighbouring room and put the ash down the hill behind the building. In addition 1,031 prisoners from concentration camps Auschwitz, Buchenwald and Sachsenhausen were transported to Pirna-Sonnenstein and killed.

After WWII and during the communist era the history of the killing centre was covered with silence. Only in 1989 a first small exhibit was held in the Evangelic-Lutheran Parish house which drew a lot of interested people. In 1991 an organization of trustees for the Sonnenstein Memorial site was founded, the original rooms were restored and since 2000 the Memorial Site is open.

The permanent exhibit is very moving. It documents the crimes, the criminals and the fate of victims. Exhibit with explanations/photos/text upstairs, former gas chamber/burning site downstairs.

The rest of the building is now used as a workshop for handicapped persons run by the Workers' Welfare Association (AWO) - a step back to the roots, the tradition of the former sanatorium.

In 2012 a cross of granite was put up on the top of slope where the ashes of the killed people were dumped (riverside behind the memorial building). See pic 5. The layer of ashes amounts to a height of a couple of meters. Unbelievable.

Entrance is free.
Opening hours:
Mon - Fri 9:00 am – 3:00 pm
First Sat of every month 10:00 am – 3:00 pm
Guided tours upon previous reservation.

Address: Schlosspark 11, 01796 Pirna

Website: http://en.stsg.de/cms/node/789/

Catholic church St. Kunigunde

The catholic church St. Kunigunde together with the vicarage and the former school house form a very nice ensemble. They were built 1865 - 69 a the place of the former moat, just outside the city wall. The buildings form a tiny square that opens to the green promenade with flowers and monuments which stretches around the old town on the southern (and western) side.

The three buildings were designed in Neo-Gothic style by architect Canzler from Dresden. The altar painting from 1868 depicts Saint Kunigunde's acceptance to convent Kaufungen. The beautiful stained glass windows depicting more Saints are from the 1920s.

Address: Dr.-Wilhelm-Külz-Straße

Directions: southern outside the old town at the green 'ring'

Tetzelhaus

This townhouse is most likely the oldest one preserved in Pirna - it dates from 1381. It was named after the famous preacher Johann Tetzel who was born here in 1465. After school in Pirna and studies in Leipzig he became a Dominican monk. He is famous for preaching redemption through generous cash donations to the Catholic church ("Ablasshandel") which was one reason for Martin Luther to write his theses.

By the fall of the wall the house was in very poor condition. However, a private investor from Baden-Württemberg who got a sense for the value of old architecture came to Pirna, saw this house and bought it. And he did not only invest a ton of money, he also wanted the house to be open to the public. The ground floor was home to two shops of which unfortunately one is only open anymore (economic reasons). The upper floor has one apartment where a family lives and some rooms that were used by a private society (cultural field) which unfortunately moved somewhere else a while ago. Thus all you can see of the interior at the moment is the room with that one shop (jeweller). On European Heritage Day the upper floor is partially accessible, too.

The most important feature within the house is the so called "Bohlenstube" from 1381 which is a room completely panelled with ornate strong wooden boards. The ceiling is similar to that of the audience room at Karlstein castle near Prague. It is very well preserved, with that age a rare example in Germany.

Very remarkable is also the roof - its wooden construction frame is (almost) completely originally preserved, as well as the old clay tile roofing in the "monk and nun" technique.

If you have a closer look at the facade you'll notice the remains of another former entrance that was closed later. Looks quite funny (pic #3).

Address: Schmiedegasse 19

Stadtmuseum (City museum) and St. Heinrich church

The city museum is one of the oldest in Saxony, established in 1861. It is located in the buildings of the former Dominican convent. After the wall came down in 1989 the buildings were beautifully restored and are well worth a visit alone. The exhibits are interesting, too: Not only city history, but also works of art. They host special exhibitions from time to time as well.

Opening hours: daily except Mondays, 10-17 h

Next to the museum is the former convent's church St. Heinrich. It was built in the 14th century, the tower hundred years later. The most important works of art inside are remains of the medieval fresco "The latest judgement" and a modern altar by Friedrich Press.

Address: Klosterhof 2

Schloss and church Zuschendorf

A mostly overlooked gem is the complex of Schloss, church and park Zuschendorf, located in rural setting in a lovely valley a bit south of Pirna (city bus "Z"). The Schloss goes back to a medieval castle, was enlarged in the 16th century and underwent major construction works mid 18th century. Not *that* much of the interior is preserved (but nicely restored), but some stucco works here, frescos/paintings there, doorframes etc.

The church was built 1559. The interior is quite picturesque with painted wooden ceiling, wooden balconies with grisaille decoration. The impressive altar painting was done by Heinrich Göding, painter at the duke elector's court in Dresden (16th century). The ornate pulpit is from the early 17th century. Remarkable are the epitaphs from the 16th century.

The park as you see it nowadays was created 1730 and redesigned a couple of times later. It was reconstructed lately and is very charming again with east-asian ambience: Japanese tea house (ceremonies!), Japanese lanterns, ponds, Japanese cherry trees, rhododendren, azaleas, camellias all over.

Speaking of - Zuschendorf is home of a branche of the botanical garden of the Tech University Dresden. Basing on the famous horticulture company Seidel (from 1813 on) that was the first to grow camellias for profit in Germany, Zuschendorf has more than 250 sorts of camellias nowadays, of which 130 go back to Seidel's. They also have 340 historic sorts of Rhododendren. I don't know the number of azaleas, hydrangeas and bonsais, but all of them are worth to see.

Every year they host a camellia show in March/April, the azalea show in late April, the hydrangea show in July/August. See their website for details.

Opening hours: 1 March - end of October Tue - Fri 10-18 h and weekends/holidays 10-17 h
Small admission fee.

Address: Am Landschloss 6, 01796 Pirna-Zuschendorf

Phone: 03501 / 52 77 10

Website: http://www.kamelienschloss.de

Fronfeste

The so called "Fronfeste" is the oldest preserved prison building in the region, used until after WWII. It was first mentioned in 1527. The small apartment where the jailer lived with his family aside there were prison cells, a "debt chamber" and a torture room under the roof. The rooms are preserved and are nowadays used by a local art club as gallery/exhibition rooms.

Opening hours: Mon-Fri 13 - 18 h, free

Address: Schmiedestraße 8