Malerweg, Stage 6: From Schmilka to Kurort Gohrisch (official version by TV Sächsische Schweiz)

From Schmilka, the Elbe ferry will take you to the Schmilka-Hirschmühle S-Bahn station. After about a hundred meters upstream along the Elbe, the Aschersteig trail branches off to the right; here you’ll join the Caspar David Friedrich Loop Trail. It’s worth taking a detour to the Kaiserkrone and the Zirkelstein. Follow the trail through the village to Wolfsberg, with its panoramic view, and on to Reinhardtsdorf, where a little-known treasure awaits: a church elaborately decorated in the rural Baroque style. This is where the oldest artistic depictions of Saxon Switzerland can be found! In the summer, the church is partially open. The Malerweg Elbsandsteingebirge trail then leads to the Krippenberg, following the Püschelweg*, the Elysiumweg, and the Koppelsbergweg to the Liethenmühle. Then follow the Alter Schulweg to the end and climb the two table mountains, Papststein and Gohrisch (Stein), one after the other. You’ll reach the stage’s destination, the spa town of Gohrisch, via the Muselweg.

* Tip: Immediately after the Kanigstein viewpoint, you can continue along the Caspar-David-Friedrich-Weg and visit the Bad Schandau neighborhood of Krippen, where the painter spent time and captured his experiences of nature and the landscape on paper, later using them as inspiration for his paintings. You’ll pass the boulder that is a central feature of Friedrich’s painting “Two Men Contemplating the Moon.” Once you reach the village, follow Talstraße until the ascent to Kellerfels begins on the left. Follow the “Gelber Punkt” hiking trail to Liethenmühle. This does not extend the hiking route.

GPS data updated in 2021