The Household Garden

An example of self-sufficiency on the fortress

View over the fence during the opening hours of the Königstein Fortress:
April  –  October: 9 a.m.  – 6 p.m. | November – March: 9 a.m.  – 5 p.m.
Cultivation/sowing, care and harvesting of vegetables, herbs and flowers: from March/April to October/November

Location: next to the Treasury House

Family friendliness: Our gardening team welcomes questions about gardening in the past & today!

Accessibility: no access to the garden for visitors, good view over the fence on the east side (Parade Ground)

Photography: allowed for private use | photo permission required for commercial use

»… that every senior and junior official, as well as every invalid, has their own little garden.« *

* Friedrich Alexander von Bernewitz, fortress prisoner 1820/21 and 1848

For centuries, self-sufficiency in fruit and vegetables was vital at the fortress. The soldiers cultivated every possible area and even terraced the "rocky holes" near the casemates. At times the number of inhabitants exceeded 1500, so it was necessary for all soldiers and officers to cultivate their own crops in the garden plots allocated to them. Even when the supply of the fortress crew improved in the 19th century thanks to the railway and steamships, growing one's own crops was worthwhile and offered a change from everyday military life.

The kitchen garden on the south side of the treasure house was reconstructed from historical photos taken in 1915. It is an example of the self-sufficiency of the fortress inhabitants 100 years ago and shows a cross-section of everything they grew:

Vegetables: tomatoes, courgettes, pumpkins, radishes, carrots, kale, chard.
Kitchen/medicinal herbs:
Flowers:

Festung Königstein gGmbH
01824 Königstein

Phone: +49 (0)35021 64 607
info@festung-koenigstein.de

Opening hours

April - October 9 a.m. - 6 p.m.
November - March 9 a.m. - 5 p.m.
Last admission 1 hour before closing time