Discover Lohmen: Bastei, architecture and landscape

Lohmen combines striking landscapes with cultural and architectural history. The Bastei is known for its sweeping views over the Elbe Valley, while Lohmen Church and the restored castle wing provide tangible evidence of the town’s history. The Richard Wagner monument adds a distinctive feature to Liebethaler Grund, while water and rock faces shape the landscape of the Lohmener Klamm gorge. Depending on your interests, you’ll find a range of themes to help plan your trip.

Bastei: panoramic views and sandstone bridge

The Bastei offers sweeping views across the Elbe Valley and towards the sandstone table mountains, the Elbe and Königstein Fortress. One striking historic structure is the seven-arch sandstone bridge, which leads towards the former Neurathen rock castle. The Bastei can be reached on foot from Lohmen; by car, you can take Basteistraße.

Church and castle wing

Lohmen Church is an octagonal central-plan Baroque sandstone building, constructed between 1786 and 1789. Inside the protected interior is an organ by Johann Christian Kayser dating from 1789. “Octagonal” means having eight sides; the term describes the ground plan of the central-plan building. The organ therefore dates from the final year of construction and complements the architecture with a precisely dated interior feature.

Lohmen Castle has a history spanning more than 500 years. The restored castle wing now houses the municipal administration office and library, and can be visited during the office’s opening hours. Check these opening hours before your visit. Unlike the church, whose architecture and protected interior provide its defining features, the castle wing combines its historical significance with a present-day municipal function.

Monument and gorge

The Richard Wagner monument stands in Liebethaler Grund, along the first stage of the Painters’ Way. Created in 1933 by Richard Guhr, the bronze work is 12.5 metres high and a cultural monument in a natural setting. Its connection to the Painters’ Way makes it especially interesting if you’d like to explore art and hiking together.

In the Lohmener Klamm gorge, rushing water, steep rock faces and hiking trails shape the landscape. Unlike the wide panorama of the Bastei, the focus here is on the interplay of water and rock. This gives you two distinct landscapes to choose between when planning your trip: far-reaching views, or a gorge shaped by rock faces and water.

In the district of Sächsische Schweiz-Osterzgebirge

The wider travel destination of the Sächsische Schweiz-Osterzgebirge district takes you beyond Lohmen. Saxon Switzerland National Park is Saxony’s only national park and Germany’s only rocky national park. On the fortress plateau at Königstein Fortress, modern exhibitions and interactive stations bring the fortress’s history to life. Guided tours, hands-on activities and cultural events add to the attractions; individual programmes may vary.

The routes also offer very different options: the Painters’ Way is exclusively a hiking trail and cannot be explored by bicycle or e-bike. The Elbe Cycle Route runs for 40 kilometres through Saxon Switzerland. When planning, you can therefore choose between a trail suitable only for hiking and a cycle route with the stated distance.

Discover more destinations: Doberzeit, Bahretal, Bad Gottleuba-Berggießhübel, Altenberg, Bannewitz, Müglitztal, Schmiedeberg, Stadt Wehlen.

Back to the main travel guide: Sächsische Schweiz.