Rabenau offers two distinct ways to explore the town: the Rabenauer Grund, with its path along the Red Weißeritz, and the history of chairmaking, preserved and presented at the German Chairmaking Museum. This distinction can help you plan your visit: you can focus on the landscape and railway, or explore traditional crafts and local history. Both topics are associated with specific places and details.
Rabenauer Grund: River, Rocks and Narrow-Gauge Railway
In the Rabenauer Grund, a path runs alongside the Red Weißeritz, past the historic narrow-gauge railway and towering rock formations. The river, railway and rocks together shape the walk described here. The Rabenauer Grund has been designated a nature reserve since 30 March 1961. Those interested in the path will therefore encounter not only a railway and river, but also a designated protected area.
The Weißeritz Valley Railway is Germany’s oldest public narrow-gauge railway still operating on a regular schedule. This distinction adds a notable aspect of transport history to the railway setting in the Rabenauer Grund. The walk and the railway’s history appeal to different interests, but both can be connected with the Rabenauer Grund.
Chairmaking at the Museum and in Local History
The German Chairmaking Museum is housed in the outbuilding of the former Rabenau castle complex. Its exhibitions showcase chairmaking, historic tools and woodworking machinery, as well as exhibits on local history and material about the Rabenauer Grund nature reserve. Traditional chairmaking is preserved and presented at the museum. A visit therefore offers more than a look at tools: it connects the history of the craft with other topics from Rabenau.
The museum offers specialist guided tours of the permanent exhibition, traditional wooden chairmaking and special exhibitions. Other tours are aimed at people with visual impairments, apprentices, children and young people, and senior citizens. You should check the relevant details and dates directly with the museum.
The long tradition is also reflected in the scale of the former trade: by 1900, Rabenau had around 150 chairmaking workshops and 13 factories. At the same time, Rabenau has retained its status as a centre of artistic chairmaking in Saxony. The historical figures and the museum’s present-day displays offer two perspectives on the same craft: its former prevalence and its enduring significance to local culture.
Further Traces of the Chairmaking Craft
The Chair Fountain also celebrates the craft: bronze figures depict a chairmaker’s family comprising a father, mother and child. Since 18 May 2013, Rabenau’s post-mile column has once again stood at its original location. Both sites add further concrete points of reference to local history, without requiring any single object to represent the entire subject.
The Adventure Trail “Legendary Mühlberg” also has a connection to the museum: it includes a memory task for children linked to the German Chairmaking Museum. Rabenau therefore offers several distinct themes for planning a trip: nature, the railway and the chairmaking craft.
More Destinations
Discover more destinations: Obernaundorf, Freital, Gohrisch, Rathmannsdorf, Sebnitz, Lohmen, Porschdorf, Glashütte.
For the main travel overview: Saxon Switzerland.
