Blechburg

The Blechburg is a ruined lookout tower with a bastion on the northern edge of the Jägerberg hill in Radebeul, Saxony. It stands on a wooded slope about 235 metres above sea level, above the Villa Jägerberg. The villa at the foot of the steep slope is nearly 200 metres away and the road below is at 158 metres. The tower was built in 1844 by wine merchant August Traugott Hantzsch in Gothic style. The 17-metre-high granite structure had an octagonal base, tapering upwards with a crenellated top. Inside, a ground-floor storeroom led to a main room reached by an external staircase. Above this, a slender stair turret with a pointed roof gave access to the viewing platform. A separate bastion jutted from the hill’s edge, offering views across the Elbe valley to Dresden. Today only the protected ruin remains, with its outer walls still standing. The first step of the old staircase can still be seen. The site once formed part of the Bilz Sanatorium’s network of paths laid out by natural healer Friedrich Eduard Bilz. The tower was deliberately burned in 1944 and has stood empty since.