Pirna, Saxony

View of Pirna, Saxony, with the Church of St Mary
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pirna_St_Marien_z_vrsku_DSCN2692.JPG
Author: Jan Sokol


Pirna is a town in the district of Sächsische Schweiz-Osterzgebirge, in the administrative region of Dresden, in Saxony, Germany.

Human habitation in Pirna goes back to the stone age. Archaeologists have found stone tools here dating back to between 12,000 and 8,000 BC. Germanic tribes were living in the Elbe valley from the 4th century BC. The present town is believed to have existed since the 11th century.

Pirna is remembered as the site where 15,000 disabled people were gassed by the Nazis between June 1940 and August 1941, before the practise was stopped by pressure from the local people. The Sonnenstein Memorial commemorates the dead along with a plaque at Sonnenstein Castle.

How to go to Pirna

Pirna is located to the southeast of Dresden. You can take Autobahn 17 heading southeast and turn off to Autobahn 17a to reach Pirna.

A street in Am Hausberg, Pirna
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pirna_Am_Hausberg_(01-2).jpg
Author: Norbert Kaiser

Places of Interest in Pirna

 Latest updates on Penang Travel Tips