KÖNIGSTEIN, a small town of Saxony, on the Elbe, 17 miles S.E. of Dresden. Above it, at an elevation of 779 feet from the river, towers the hitherto unimpassable fortress of Königstein, the retreat, in all cases of extreme danger, of the Saxon monarchs and their treasures. Its strength is due mainly to its lofty and isolated position, the nearest height being 3000 yards distant, as well as to the solid and precipitous nature of the surrounding rock on which it stands. The gateway is high up the cliff, and is approached by a slanting way cut through the rock, and by a wooden drawbridge. Two years' provisions for 1200 men are always kept stored, in time of war, in vast casemates hallowed out of the rock. There is an inexhaustible supply of water from a well bored in the rock to the depth of several hundred feet, and the plot of land that surrounds the fortress produces some corn and vegetables, and pasturage for one or two cows. The last occasion on which this place became an asylum for distressed loyalty was in 1849, when the king lived here three months. Packing-boxes are kept always ready for conveying the most valued treasures of Dresden to Königstein in case of danger.