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Burg Arnstein – history and legends
The ruined castle of Arnstein stands on a 327-metre-high hill above the Kirnitzsch valley near Ottendorf and is known locally as the “Ottendorfer Raubschloss” – the Ottendorf robbers' castle. It was one of the larger castles in Saxon Switzerland. From the Buschmühle a waymarked path leads up via many steps and ladders in about 40 minutes.
Raids and downfall
The castle is first mentioned in 1436, when the Berka of Dubá had pledged it to Siegmund von Wartenberg of Tetschen. From here, raids were launched on Saxon territory and on the trade routes of Upper Lusatia; one of his henchmen even carried off inhabitants of Krippen, Schöna and Reinhardtsdorf to the castle. After a siege in 1437 the Arnstein burned down; in 1438 Wartenberg was forced to sell it to Saxony, and in 1451 it was destroyed once and for all.
The vanished treasure
According to one legend, the last robber knight was executed on a rock south of the castle, having hidden a treasure beforehand. Excavations in the cistern in 1987 and 1988, however, turned up nothing. You can still see beam supports, stone steps, a castle dungeon, the cistern and a cave with rock drawings.
Legend The kidnapped parson
Two castles are said to have stood on the Arnstein and on the Lorenzstein opposite, and their lords were locked in an endless feud. A knight from the Lorenzstein abducted a noble young lady, had a parson dragged from his bed in the middle of the night and forced him to marry the pair. After that he kept the clergyman at the castle for a long time – as an unwilling court chaplain.
Matching hikes
- Malerweg, Etappe 5: Neumannmühle bis Schmilka
- Kleinsteinhöhle und Ruine Arnstein ab Buschmühle
- Ottendorfer Rundweg mit Ottendorfer Hütte
As of: 09/2026
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