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Burg Wildenstein – history and legends
On the 337-metre-high Neuer Wildenstein rock in the National Park lie the remains of Burg Wildenstein. Part of the rock is the Kuhstall, a natural rock arch 11 metres high and 17 metres wide – one of the best-known sights in Saxon Switzerland. Climb the Himmelsleiter, the “Ladder to Heaven”, and you'll be standing on the remains of the old castle, with its beam holes and cistern.
The Berka robber knights
In 1410 the lordship of Wildenstein was separated from Hohnstein and fell to Heinrich Berka of Dubá; it included Sebnitz, half of Neustadt and more than 20 villages. The sources disagree on exactly who built the castle. From here the Berkas raided travellers and neighbours; they were besieged several times and finally surrendered in 1436. In April 1451 Wildenstein passed to the Wettins for good.
Why the Kuhstall is called the Kuhstall
There are two explanations for the name, which means “cowshed”: according to tradition, during the Thirty Years' War the local people hid their cattle from the Swedes in the rock arch; according to the other, the castle's men kept stolen cattle here. There has been a mountain inn next to it since 1824, and since 1898 the Kirnitzschtalbahn tram has brought visitors closer in comfort.
Legend The Pfaffenklunst
A cleft in the rock at the foot of the Kuhstall is called the “Pfaffenklunst”, the Parson's Crevice. The Catholic priest of Lichtenhain is said to have fled there from his parishioners, who had turned Hussite – in vain: they found him in his hiding place, the “Pfaffenloch”, and hurled him into the abyss. That, they say, is where the old saying comes from: “Wollen wir, so wollen wir, wie die Lichtenhainer Bauern” – “If we want to, then we want to, like the Lichtenhain farmers.”
Legend Wochenbett, Taufstein and Schneiderloch
All around the Kuhstall, place names recall times of war: during the Thirty Years' War, the farmers are said to have fled here with their livestock. One cave is called the “Wochenbett”, the childbed, because a pregnant woman gave birth to her child here, and on the “Taufstein”, the font stone, the refugees' newborns are said to have been baptised. The “Schneiderloch”, the Tailor's Hole, which can only be reached by ladder, was according to legend the hiding place of a tailor who was in truth a robber chief – until he was found and executed.
Links to other places
Wildenstein was part of the Berka estates around Hohnstein and, like them, was subject to the Bohemian crown. In 1437 the Berkas at Wildenstein helped the Saxons besiege the nearby castle of Arnstein. In compensation for Wildenstein, Albrecht Berka received, among other things, parts of the Bohemian lordship of Tollenstein in 1451.
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As of: 09/2026
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