Rare interior view of Königstein Fortress preserved

The Königstein Fortress has received a rare interior view of the complex in Saxon Switzerland from a private German owner. The family of a collector from North Rhine-Westphalia donated the painting, which measures around 22 by 35 centimetres and was created around 1830 by the Romantic artist Ernst Ferdinand Oehme, to the museum, as the mountain fortress announced on Tuesday. This is linked to the wish for the work on paper and cardboard to be shown publicly there - the "View of the large barracks at Königstein Fortress" will be on display from mid-June.

Oehme (1797-1855) was an important Dresden painter of German Romanticism and a contemporary of Caspar David Friedrich. According to reports, he achieved the impossible with this painting due to the military secrecy of the time. "Interior views of the fortress from this period are extremely rare," said Andrej Pawluschkow, research associate at the fortress. It is a mystery how Oehme managed to work artistically on the rocky plateau.

Pawluschkow spoke of a "substantial enrichment" for the fortress's art collection and also a gain for research. Oehme also painted the New Garrison House, which was built in the 18th century and "no longer exists today". Until now, the view belonged to the Fritz Busche (1890-1964) collection, which brought together important works of Romantic and Realist painting between 1949 and 1964. It will now be one of the exhibits in the planned show "Along the Elbe", which will include paintings from this period by a collector from the region.