Pirna

(older Czech name Perno) is a city on the Elbe, in the federal state of Saxony, on the railway line between Dresden and Děčín. The historic city has approximately 38,000 inhabitants, a number of secondary schools and many monuments. For tourists, it is the gateway to Bohemian-Saxon Switzerland. It is the administrative center of the Saxon Switzerland-Eastern Ore Mountains district (Landkreis Sächsische Schweiz-Osterzgebirge). Pirna falls into the Dresden metropolitan area, which has a population of 750,000 and is the economically strongest region in the former East Germany. The place on the banks of the Elbe has been inhabited since the Paleolithic. In the 6th century, Slavs settled here, who also gave the city its name. After the conquest of the area by the East Franks (Meissen was founded in 929), a castle (today’s Sonnenstein) was built on the hill in the 11th century and later a foothill with the Church of Our Lady below it. Pirna is first mentioned in written sources in 1233. By that time, it was already a rapidly growing city that benefited from its location on the Elbe, which was one of the most important trade routes between the Margraviate of Meissen and Bohemia.

What you should see

Church of the Virgin Mary – Built between 1502 and 1546, it is a large three-aisled hall with a rich ribbed vault and a massive stone tower. The furnishings are mostly Baroque, including the organ. A number of Renaissance and Baroque tombstones can be seen on the outside.

Town Hall – It dates back to the Renaissance period. It was rebuilt variously in the Baroque and later periods. The Baroque clock tower dates back to 1718. There is a sundial and a number of sculptures on the facade. The Renaissance emblem of the city is located on the eastern portal (a lion and a pear).

St. Henry’s Church – It was established as part of the Dominican monastery, founded around 1300. Around 1400, it was then rebuilt into a two-nave church with a low tower. The church served as a warehouse after the monastery was closed. Since 1952, it has been gradually modified by the Catholic municipality and today it is used for religious services. In the neighboring area of ​​the former Dominican monastery, today there is a city museum.

Sonnenstein Castle and Chateau – On a hill above the town, it has been rebuilt many times. Today, it houses a memorial and museum documenting the liquidation of the physically and mentally disabled under the Nazi regime.

Elbe Promenade – It is part of the cycle path on the left bank of the Elbe with picturesque views of the Elbe valley. In the Graupa district of the city there is a museum of R. Wagner, who wrote the opera Lohengrin in the romantic Liebenthal Valley (or rather a sandstone canyon).

Web: www.pirna.de