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Germany, Saxon Switzerland, 28.10.2012 Here: View from the Bastei onto the sandstone landscape during early morning fog. ||.The Bastei is a spectacular rock formation towering 194 metres above the Elbe River in the Elbe Sandstone Mountains of Germany. Reaching a height of 305 metres above sea level, the jagged rocks of the Bastei were formed by water erosion over one million years ago. They are situated near Rathen, not far from Pirna southeast of the city of Dresden and are the major landmark of the Saxon Switzerland National Park..The Bastei has been a tourist attraction for over 200 years. .Saxon Switzerland (German: Saechsische Schweiz) is a hilly area and national park around the Elbe valley south-east of Dresden in Saxony, Germany. Together with the Bohemian Switzerland in the Czech Republic it forms the Elbe Sandstone Mountains..Saxon Switzerland alone has some 1,000 peaks, as well as several hollows. .The German name for Saxon Switzerland, Saechsische Schweiz, appeared in the 18th century. Two Swiss artists, Adrian Zingg and Anton Graff, were appointed in 1766 to the Dresden Academy of Art..They felt the landscape was reminiscent of their homeland, the Swiss Jura..In September 1990, even before the reunification of Germany, a national park was created in Saxon Switzerland in order to protect the unique natural character of the hill range. The 93 km¬= area covers two physically separate regions: one near Rathen - the region of the Bastei, Polenz valley, Brand and Uttewalder Grund - and the other embracing the whole Saxon Switzerland Hinterland (Hintere Saechsische Schweiz) between the Elbe and the state border with the Czech Republic and including the Schrammsteinen, Grosser Winterberg, Grosser Zschand and Kirnitzsch valley. (KEYSTONE/LAIF/Daniel Rosenthal/laif)