Pirna

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 and is an important district town as well as a Große Kreisstadt. It is also known for the gassing of about 15,000 disabled people in Schloss Sonnenstein between June 1940 and August 1941, killings which ceased after pressure was exerted on the authorities by the local population. Today, a small plaque at the base of Sonnenstein Castle remembers the dead.

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. This was particularly unfortunate as it undid many well-executed restoration schemes carried out post 1990 re-unification.