Pirna Travel Guide
A detailed destination guide for your next Germany vacation
Pirna Overview
Pirna is a city in the Free State of Saxony, Germany, capital of the administrative district Sächsische Schweiz-Osterzgebirge. The city's population is over 40,000. Pirna is located near Dresden (Dresden vacation rentals | Dresden travel guide) and is an important district town as well as a Große Kreisstadt.
Pirna is located near the Elbsandsteingebirge in the Elbe valley, where the nearby rivers Wesenitz, in the north, and Gottleuba to the south, flow into the Elbe. Pirna is also called Tor zur Sächsischen Schweiz (gate to the Saxon Switzerland). The Sächsische Weinstraße, which goes from Pirna over Pillnitz, Dresden, and Meißen to Diesbar-Seußlitz, was dedicated in 1992. In August 2002, the city suffered great damage in the widespread flooding in Europe at the time.
Where to stay in Pirna?
Check out our selection of hand-selected and quality Pirna vacation rentals and holiday apartments.
Things to See in Pirna
Stadtmuseum Pirna, located at 2 Klosterhof
Botanical collections and Landschloss Pirna - Zuschendorf
DDR Museum - museum devoted to East Germany memorabilia
Richard Wagner Museum Graupa
St. Marien church
Schloss Sonnenstein
Dominikaner
Kies- und Badesee Birkwitz
[ source: wikipedia ]
Maps and Driving Directions to Pirna
Major roads in the city are the Bundesautobahn 17, 172, 172a, and 177.
Rathaus
[ source: Wikipedia]
Related Sites
We collected some useful links related to Pirna. If you know a few more sites not listed here, or also know some insider tips or point of interests for this destination? Please share and submit your Germany travel tip. If approved it will be shown on this page!
- Homepage of Pirna: Pirna (official home page)
- Wikipedia: Pirna
More about the History of Pirna
With the conquest of the Slavic communities and the founding of the Mark by the Germans (Heinrich I founded the castle of Meißen in 929), settlement in the Pirna area is again verifiable. The castle in Pirna, which was mentioned for the first time in 1269, probably already existed in the 11th century. In the context of the second Eastern German colonization the city was founded by Markgraf Heinrich der Erlauchte von Meißen).
The streets are aligned from east to west and from north to south forming a chessboardlike system. Only the streets east of the church are not in this shape because of the nearby Burgberg. In 1233, Pirna was mentioned for the first time in a document. In 1293, the king of Bohemia bought the city and the castle from the Bishop of Meißen. Thus Pirna belonged to Bohemia until 1405.
In 1837, steamship travel began on the upper Elbe. A few years later, a railway line connecting Dresden (Dresden vacation rentals | Dresden travel guide) and Pirna opened. Pirna became an industrial city in 1862 with the building of factories. Mechanical engineering, glass, cellulose and rayon production also expanded. In 1875, the sandstone Elbbrücke (bridge on the Elbe) was completed. During the First World War Pirna became a garrison and the engineer battalions 12 and 5 of the Royal Saxon field artillery regiment No. 64 were billeted on Rottwerndorfer Straße. In 1922/23, the city absorbed several municipalities including Posta, Niedervogelgesang, Obervogelgesang, Copitz, Hinterjessen, Neundorf, Zuschendorf, Rottwerndorf and Zehista.
[ source: wikipedia ]
What makes this Live Like a German Pirna Travel Guide special...
This Pirna travel guide provides you with an overview of Pirna, Pirna pictures, and a local travel guide that suggests many special trips, unique activities, and vacation ideas, that you can't find in a typical Germany travel guide.
Some of this information is compiled from popular and well-known sources (e.g., such as Wikipedia, Wikitravel, and great pictures from Flickr). However, what makes this Germany travel guide special is that most of the travel suggestions and insider tips are provided by local residents, property owners, and our readers, who share and submit their travel tips with us. All submissions are then editorially reviewed to ensure high quality. All this information is logically organized within this destination guide to make it easy for you to find things quickly.
In addition, the Pirna destination guide features restaurant recommendations, restaurant reviews, where to go for grocery shopping, sports activities, getting around, cultural events and highlights, entertainment, and health related information - so you are informed for your travel to Germany, and you can learn about all the cool things you can do during your Germany vacation!
