The Wehlgrund in Saxon Switzerland

Saxon Switzerland

Saxon Switzerland is a hilly climbing area and national park around the Elbe valley south-east of Dresden in Saxony, Germany. Together with the Bohemian Switzerland in the Czech Republic it forms the Elbe Sandstone Mountains....

 in Eastern Germany is a right-hand, side valley of the Amselgrund

Amselgrund

The Amselgrund is the name given to the valley of the Grünbach stream in the heart of Saxon Switzerland in Eastern Germany. It runs from Niederrathen upstream to Rathewalde. The wild and romantic valley takes hikers through the Rathen rock basin with its bizarre rock formations...

, between the Bastei massif and the Kleiner Gans. Amongst the steep rock faces of the upper valley and the heavily divided head of the valley is the romantic and natural backdrop for the Rathen Open Air Stage

Rathen Open Air Stage

The Rathen Open Air Stage is a natural stage in Saxon Switzerland in East Germany. It is located in a hollow at the upper end of the Wehlgrund valley between the rocks of Kleine Gans and Großer Wehrturm below the famous Bastei rocks and Neurathen Castle...

. The Wehlgrundbach flows along the valley bottom and empties into the Grünbach in the Amselgrund valley a short distance above Niederrathen

Rathen

Rathen is a village in the Elbe Sandstone Mountains, in Saxony, Germany, about 35 km southeast of Dresden on the Elbe River. Rathen has between 400 and 500 inhabitants....

. North of the open air stage near the rocks of the Gänse rises the imposing Wehlnadel and, in its vicinity, are the Wehltürme rock towers. The Bastei may be reached from the Wehlgrund over the Rathen Staircase (Rathener Treppe) of 487 steps.