Falkenstein (Saxon Switzerland)

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Falkenstein
The Falkenstein seen from the Schrammsteinen

The Falkenstein by the Schrammsteine seen

height 381.2  m above sea level NHN
location near Bad Schandau ; District of Saxon Switzerland-Eastern Ore Mountains , Saxony ( Germany )
Mountains Saxon Switzerland
Coordinates 50 ° 55 '6 "  N , 14 ° 12' 4"  E Coordinates: 50 ° 55 '6 "  N , 14 ° 12' 4"  E
Falkenstein (Saxon Switzerland) (Saxony)
Falkenstein (Saxon Switzerland)
Type Rock peaks
rock Sandstone level d
Age of the rock chalk
First ascent 1864 by Schandauer Turner
Normal way Schusterweg III

The Falkenstein is one of the most impressive free-standing rocks in Saxon Switzerland in the Free State of Saxony . It is located near Bad Schandau in the Schrammsteinen , which it is in front of. The huge rock is almost a hundred meters high and is made of sandstone . In the Middle Ages there was a castle watchman on the Falkenstein - steps and joists carved into the rock are still visible today.

history

Since the middle of the 14th century , the Falkenstein has been expanded and used as a castle watchman. Like almost all of Saxon Switzerland on the right bank of the Elbe, it belonged to the Hohnstein lordship with its seat in Hohnstein Castle , which the Bohemian noble family of Berka von Dubá had received from Emperor Charles IV as a Bohemian fief in 1353 .

In 1409 Hinko von der Duba divided the rule between his five sons. The Falkenstein went to his son Heinrich as part of the new Wildenstein rule . This set up his manor in the castle on the Neuer Wildenstein . In addition to the Falkenstein, other castle wardens, for example on the Rauschenstein and Frienstein, also belonged to the rule . From around 1425 Heinrich von der Duba was repeatedly in feud with the Upper Lusatian Six-City Association and the Saxon electors . His nephews, who inherited the rule around 1435, carried on the feuds and attacked villages and merchant trains as robber barons. In the immediate vicinity of the Falkenstein, however, there were no trade routes with the exception of the Elbe . An old connection route from Postelwitz to Sebnitz gave the castle keeper strategic importance and access to the Elbe such as the Kirnitzschtal in these feuds . It also secured access from the Elbe to Wildenstein Castle.

From autumn 1439 onwards, Elector Friedrich II besieged the Berken on the Wildenstein to put an end to the feud. The castle guard on the Falkenstein was probably destroyed during this campaign. In 1451 the Berken finally agreed to an exchange of the Wildenstein rule for part of the Schluckenau rule in Bohemia. With this, the Falkenstein finally passed into Saxon ownership. In the list of castles drawn up in 1456, the Falkenstein was already one of the castle guards designated as derelict.

In 1543 and 1547 the rock is mentioned as part of the forest forests belonging to Hohnstein. The map of the First Electoral Saxony Land Survey created by Matthias Oeder in 1592 describes it as “bare and high” . During the Thirty Years' War , residents of the surrounding towns on the Falkenstein hid, as can be seen from weathered inscriptions, including the year "1631".

Wilhelm Leberecht Götzinger described the rock in 1804 as inaccessible and only accessible via ladders. In 1812 he proposed the establishment and securing of an ascent that could be used by tourists, which was rejected by the Saxon forest administration due to the high costs. In the following years there were occasional reports of ascents without giving more precise names and dates.

In 1864, when Schandauer Turner climbed the so-called Turnerweg, the birth of Saxon climbing was born on the Falkenstein . After lengthy preparations, Gustav Tröger, Ernst Fischer, J. Wähnert and H. Frenzel, all members of the men's gymnastics club in Schandau founded in 1847, climbed the summit. They erected a flagpole on the summit and hung three flags on it. Tröger published this on April 2, 1864 in the Dresdner Nachrichten . The gymnasts still used artificial aids that are not permitted under today's rules. Nevertheless, this first demonstrable modern ascent is considered the beginning of climbing in Saxon Switzerland due to its primarily sporting motives. Another ascent by Dresdner Turner is known for 1868, as they carved their names into the rock in the exit area. An ascent from 1871 is also documented by stamped names. In 1878, on the occasion of the silver wedding anniversary of the Saxon royal couple, there was an ascent with ladders by four members of the Schandau section of the mountain association for Saxon Switzerland , who lit a fire on the summit. Afterwards, plans to create a generally accessible ascent emerged again, which also failed due to a lack of money.

At the end of 1894, a weather vane in the form of a falcon was mounted on the Falkenstein as a sign of the summit . As early as 1903 the flag had to be repaired after damage. In 1929 the falcon, whose existence had been repeatedly criticized as disgrace, disappeared from the summit. A year later, the metal figure was discovered by chance in a crevice. At first it was owned by a climbing club, and since 1951 the falcon has been in the Bad Schandau local history museum.

Götzinger had already known about the existence of the old castle guard. In 1878, a broken medieval clay pot was discovered during the ascent at that time. During the ascent of the Turnerweg in the descent after the first ascent of the Schusterweg , Oscar Schuster and Martin Klimmer discovered artificial steps under vegetation in 1892, which had been part of the ascent to the castle watchman. The Dresden architect and local history researcher Oskar Pusch carried out a major investigation of the castle grounds at Falkenstein in 1940. Based on the results, he made a graphic reconstruction of the castle guard. He also discovered traces of fire rubble, which indicate that the castle watchdog was destroyed during fighting.

In 1964 and 1989 there were festival weeks to mark the anniversary of the first ascent in climbing. In 1989, a rope team managed the Turnerweg without using today's climbing shoes and ropes with clothing and equipment modeled on the first climbers of the time.

The castle guard

As with the other rock castles in the Elbe Sandstone Mountains, the constructions of the castle observatory were made of wood. Only beam bearings, folds and steps carved into the rock are still visible today. You can also see gullies carved into the rock to collect rainwater. The castle watchman was mainly located on the cliffs at the foot of the north side of the Falkenstein. A larger courtyard was demarcated there by palisades, from which stone steps led to the higher parts of the cliffs, where a niche carved into the rock, probably a guard room, can still be seen. This area was secured by a wooden battlement. Above the steps were the main buildings of the castle guard, about 15 meters high, nestled directly at the foot of the walls of the Falkenstein. In the course of the Turnerweg , steps and ladders finally led to the summit of the Falkenstein, on which there was probably a small guard room as a lookout.

The castle guard did not have a well or a cistern. The Scheidenbörnel , a spring that has now largely dried up a little north of the Falkenstein , was probably used to supply water . In addition, rainwater was collected, recognizable by the still visible grooves carved out of the rock next to Turnerweg.

Rock climbing

Mountain sport development

Since 1919, in Schusterweg located Schuster tag
Parts of the Schrammsteine ​​with the Falkenstein in the background

The summit can only be reached by experienced climbers. There are now over a hundred different climbing routes from level III on the Saxon difficulty scale to the Falkenstein and its sub-peaks Zinne and Turnernadel . In 2001 there were a total of 77 climbing routes and 68 variants of these routes on all three peaks.

The Turnerweg, the oldest Saxon climbing route, was first climbed in 1892 without artificial aids. In the same year, Oscar Schuster and Martin Klimmer started the Schusterweg (level of difficulty III) for the first time , which has since been the most popular and most traveled route to the Falkenstein. From 1894 a wire rope was attached to the smooth channels in the middle part of the path, which was replaced by iron clips a few years later. These aids were controversial among Saxon mountaineers, but in 1920 a majority of the representatives of the Saxon Mountaineering Association (SBB) voted to keep them. In 1930 the staples were sawed off by strangers. The remains represented a risk of injury, so they were removed by the SBB by 1937. Since then, there have been no more artificial aids at the Falkenstein. Since 1919 , the cobbler plaque, which is attached about halfway up the Schusterweg , has been a reminder of the first ascent, Oscar Schuster . For several decades it has become common practice among those who walked the Schusterweg to touch the nose of the plaque while walking.

The ascent of the Schusterweg opened a series of first ascents on the Falkenstein that followed quickly. Following the development of climbing, various paths were initially taken through the high rock chimneys of the Falkenstein, such as the northeast chimney (IV) by Schuster in 1896 and the Alte Westweg (IV) by Schuster together with Erwin Hübner in 1897 . As a result, the climbers more and more dared the way into the free wall and the cracks of the Falkenstein. Rudolf Fehrmann climbed the first cracks, especially the Neue Westweg (VIIa), which he successfully climbed on May 19, 1907. The Hohe Riss (V), first ascended by Max Matthäus in 1912, is one of the older crack paths that are still particularly popular today . Other crack paths from the time up to the First World War are the Eckweg (VIIa) and the Hohe Winkel (VIIb). Oliver Perry-Smith and the Fehrmann brothers first walked the most striking Rissweg of this period in 1913 , the Südriß , which runs almost continuously through the entire south wall of the Falkenstein.

In the years after the First World War, more and more climbers went into the free wall. By the mid-1920s, this led to some of the most difficult and striking new paths on the Falkenstein. Emanuel Strubich initiated the path into the wall on Falkenstein in 1915 with the Strubichweg (VIIb) that is named after him today . The Kotzwand (VIIa) followed in 1919, originally named Wehlsteinerweg by the first ascent Willy Kotz . Most important for this time in terms of difficulty and exposure is probably the Westkante (VIIc), first ascended in 1920 by Otto Dietrich. The Illmerweg (VIIc) by Paul Illmer , which was walked on in 1922, is also well-known , above all for the overhanging overhang known as the “mailbox” among climbers. The Renger Memorial Trail (VIIc, without support VIIIb) was controversial in terms of mountain sports. One of the “builders” held onto the safety ring when it was first visited . The first climbing team that was flawless therefore fell to the following rope team .

In the 1930s there were only relatively few first ascents on the Falkenstein. After Willy Häntzschel had climbed the Häntzschelweg (VIIb) in 1933 , one observer assumed that there were no problems that could be resolved properly on the Falkenstein.

Only after the Second World War did a new development phase begin in 1948. Outstanding was the west ridge (VIIIb), with which Dietrich Hasse, after Herbert Wünsches completed his crossing of wishes in 1948, also reached the VIII level of difficulty. From 1948 to 1970 there were a total of 19 first ascents, the new routes included Lothar Brandler's south face (VIIIb) from 1954 and the direct west edge (VIIIb) by Wulf Scheffler from 1956.

After a stagnation in the 1960s, a new increase in the difficulties only set in with Bernd Arnold , who from the end of this decade was able to record the most difficult first ascent in Saxon Switzerland for almost twenty years. On the Falkenstein he opened up one or more new paths almost every year up to the Xth degree until 1984. The most important tours of Arnold are Over the Dragon Back (VIIIc) from 1978, the Colorful Soap Bubble (IXb) from 1981, the West Pillar (IXc) that followed 1982 , Vacuum (Xa) from 1983 and the Star of the South (IXb) from the Estimated year 1984. Unlike previous climbers, Arnold sometimes used his path names to document his moods and impressions. Shortly before the colorful soap bubble, a planned visit to the USA failed due to the GDR authorities . Arnold completed a total of twelve new trails and twelve new variants of existing climbing routes on the Falkenstein. In the lower degrees of difficulty, other climbers first ascended the Reginawand and the Schönwetterwand (both VIIc) in 1979 and 1986 , which have since proven to be popular routes with high numbers of climbers .

In the 1990s, mainly short but difficult variants were entered, such as Kangaroo ( RP Xa) by Thomas Willenberg in 1993 as an entry-level variant for a tour guide or the Intergalactic Exit (IXb, RP IXc) by Uwe Richter in 1995 as an exit variant to the Southern Star . The heaviest of these variants is probably No cheating stone please (RP XIIb) by Thomas Willenberg. One of the last long independent paths also comes from Willenberg, the Naturfreundeweg (Xc, RP XIa), first climbed in 1999.

Minor peaks

From 1965, the Zinne , a northern rock pillar on the Falkenstein, which was previously known as the Kleine Zinne , was included in the climbing guides as an independent climbing peak . It was first climbed in 1899 from Turnerweg via today's Alten Weg (IV). Well known is the Mauseloch (III) discovered by Rudolf Fehrmann , the rock tunnel of which can only be mastered by very slim climbers. There are also a number of difficult paths from the various development epochs on the Zinne, including paths by Ehrhardt Renger, Willy Häntzschel, Dietrich Hasse and Bernd Arnold. The hardest ascent is currently the Scandinavian Training (IXb), first climbed in 1991 by Thomas Kubisch and Jürgen Höfer.

The gymnast's needle is hidden between the battlements and the actual massif of the Falkenstein . It was first climbed before 1923 via today's Alten Weg (V), the name of the first climber is not known. Since then, only two other climbing routes have been added, 1982, a jump (3 / VI) from Falk stone and 1985, a ramp starting from the artificial levels in Turnerweg , from the first to climb Bernd Zimmermann therefore Schauturnen named (difficulty VIIc). Due to the exposure of the gymnastic needle, it is rarely climbed.

statistics

The summit books of the Falkenstein are not completely preserved in the archives of the Saxon Mountaineering Association; the oldest dates from 1918. The books are missing from 1929 to 1934 and from 1952 to 1967. From the existing specimens and previous evaluations, it can be seen that the Falkenstein is one of the most popular climbing peaks in Saxon Switzerland. In 1900 there were only 38 rope teams with 106 participants, in 1920 the numbers had risen well over tenfold with 714 rope teams and 1415 climbers. Due to the war, the numbers fell in 1940 to 538 rope teams and 979 mountaineers, and then rose continuously from the 1950s onwards. In 1990, 1,491 rope teams with 3,445 participants entered the Falkenstein's summit book. Ten years later, the numbers fell slightly with 3064 climbers in 1362 rope teams.

The Schusterweg has been by far the most popular route on the Falkenstein since it was first climbed. In almost all years after the end of the climbing ban in Saxon Switzerland in the First World War, the number of climbs was well in the three-digit range; in 1990 the peak was reached with 739 climbs. The Südriß follows at a great distance, which had 90 inspections in the same year. Turnerweg and Hoher Riss are also used more frequently .

Individual evidence

  1. Map services of the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation ( information )
  2. Hans Pankotsch: Der Falkenstein, From the story of a climbing rock in Saxon Switzerland , Zittau 2001, p. 11
  3. Hans Pankotsch: Der Falkenstein, From the story of a climbing rock in Saxon Switzerland , Zittau 2001, p. 14
  4. Hans Pankotsch: Der Falkenstein, From the story of a climbing rock in Saxon Switzerland , Zittau 2001, p. 17
  5. ^ A b Alfred Meiche: Historical-topographical description of the Pirna administration. Dresden 1927, Falkenstein, p. 67 (PDF; 32.1 MB)
  6. a b Hans Pankotsch: Der Falkenstein, From the story of a climbing rock in Saxon Switzerland , Zittau 2001, p. 18
  7. a b Hans Pankotsch: Der Falkenstein, From the story of a climbing rock in Saxon Switzerland , Zittau 2001, p. 34
  8. Hans Pankotsch: Der Falkenstein, From the story of a climbing rock in Saxon Switzerland , Zittau 2001, p. 31
  9. Hans Pankotsch: Der Falkenstein, From the story of a climbing rock in Saxon Switzerland , Zittau 2001, p. 32
  10. Hans Pankotsch: Der Falkenstein, From the story of a climbing rock in Saxon Switzerland , Zittau 2001, p. 63
  11. a b c Hans Pankotsch: Der Falkenstein, From the story of a climbing rock in Saxon Switzerland , Zittau 2001, p. 15
  12. Hans Pankotsch: Der Falkenstein, From the story of a climbing rock in Saxon Switzerland , Zittau 2001, p. 79
  13. Hans Pankotsch: Der Falkenstein, From the story of a climbing rock in Saxon Switzerland , Zittau 2001, p. 10
  14. Hans Pankotsch: Der Falkenstein, From the story of a climbing rock in Saxon Switzerland , Zittau 2001, p. 35
  15. Hans Pankotsch: Der Falkenstein, From the story of a climbing rock in Saxon Switzerland , Zittau 2001, p. 43
  16. Hans Pankotsch: Der Falkenstein, From the story of a climbing rock in Saxon Switzerland , Zittau 2001, p. 44
  17. Bernd Arnold: Oscar Schuster and me. An attempt at rapprochement . In: Joachim Schindler: Oscar Schuster (1873–1917) - mountaineer, alpinist, developer, doctor, publicist. Dresden 2013, pp. 34–54, here p. 35.
  18. Hans Pankotsch: Der Falkenstein, From the story of a climbing rock in Saxon Switzerland , Zittau 2001, p. 48
  19. a b Hans Pankotsch: Der Falkenstein, From the story of a climbing rock in Saxon Switzerland , Zittau 2001, p. 49
  20. Hans Pankotsch: Der Falkenstein, From the story of a climbing rock in Saxon Switzerland , Zittau 2001, p. 50
  21. Hans Pankotsch: Der Falkenstein, From the story of a climbing rock in Saxon Switzerland , Zittau 2001, p. 55
  22. a b c Hans Pankotsch: Der Falkenstein, From the story of a climbing rock in Saxon Switzerland , Zittau 2001, p. 56
  23. a b Hans Pankotsch: Der Falkenstein, From the story of a climbing rock in Saxon Switzerland , Zittau 2001, p. 58
  24. a b Hans Pankotsch: Der Falkenstein, From the story of a climbing rock in Saxon Switzerland , Zittau 2001, p. 64 ff.

literature

  • Dietmar Heinicke et al .: Climbing Guide Saxon Switzerland. Band Schrammsteine ​​/ Schmilkaer area. Berg- & Naturverlag Peter Rölke, Dresden 1999, ISBN 3-934514-01-4
  • Hans Pankotsch: The Falkenstein. From the story of a climbing rock in Saxon Switzerland. Neisse Verlag, Zittau 2001, ISBN 3-934038-12-3
  • Joachim Schindler: The Falkenstein in Saxon Switzerland. in: Saxon Switzerland Working Group in the Saxon Heritage Protection Association (ed.): Bulletin 16. Pirna 2019, pp. 65–100

Web links

Commons : Falkenstein  - collection of images, videos and audio files