Königstein (German pronunciation: [ˈkøːniçʃtaɪn] or [ˈkøːnikʃtaɪn] ; Upper Sorbian: Kralowc, pronounced [ˈkʁalɔfts]) is a town on the river Elbe in Saxony in Germany. Königstein lies in the Sächsische Schweiz-Osterzgebirge District and had a population of 2,089 in 2018. It includes land on both banks of the Elbe, but the centre and most of the town lies to the south of the river.
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The Biela or Bělá or Ostrovská Bělá is a river in eastern Germany and northern Czech Republic, a left tributary of the Elbe. The source is near Ostrov hamlet in the municipality of Tisá, in the Bohemian Switzerland, northwest of Děčín. After a few km it crosses into Saxony. The town Königstein is located at the confluence of the Biela with the Elbe.
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Königstein is a station on the Dresden to Děčín line that serves the town of Königstein in the German state of Saxony.
The station is served by the Dresden S-Bahn S1 service. Trains run to Pirna, Dresden and Meißen in one direction, and to Bad Schandau and Schöna in the other direction. The service provides two trains per hour in both directions for most of each day.
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Oflag IV-B Koenigstein was a German POW camp for Allied officers during World War II. It was located in Festung Königstein near the town of Königstein in Saxony.
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Königstein Fortress, the "Saxon Bastille", is a hilltop fortress near Dresden, in Saxon Switzerland, Germany, above the town of Königstein on the left bank of the River Elbe. It is one of the largest hilltop fortifications in Europe and sits atop the table hill of the same name.
The 9.5-hectare rock plateau rises 240 metres above the Elbe and has over 50 buildings, some over 400 years old, that bear witness to the military and civilian life in the fortress. The rampart run of the fortress is 1,800 metres long with walls up to 42 metres high and steep sandstone faces. In the centre of the site is a 152.5-metre-deep well, which is the deepest in Saxony and second-deepest well in Europe.
The fortress, which for centuries was used as a state prison, is still intact and is now one of Saxony's foremost tourist attractions, with 700,000 visitors per year.
The Königstein Fortress is situated above and to the south-west of the town.