A modest stone column tucked into a small park in Berggießhübel carries over three centuries of Saxon postal history. It is one of the distance columns erected on the orders of Elector Frederick Augustus I, once marking distances along the old road from Dresden to northern Bohemia.

The setting is quiet and low-key - a small park near the bridge over the Gottleuba and the former Gottleubatalbahn railway station makes for a pleasant short stop while exploring the Eastern Ore Mountains (Osterzgebirge). In summer the column sits beneath green tree canopies, in winter snow accents its stone form, and year-round the nearby river adds a gentle backdrop.

The column itself is a replica - the original was destroyed by flooding in 1927, and the recovered coat-of-arms fragment now rests in the museum at Lauenstein Castle. The current copy, erected in 1957 with an authentic crest piece from Meissen, stands in a spot well worth a peaceful pause.

• Berggießhübel, town centre - on foot, approx. 5-10 minutes, easy route
• Parking along the S 173 road (Pirna-Hellendorf), right by the bridge over the Gottleuba

• The column stands in a small park by the bridge over the Gottleuba river
• Near the former Gottleubatalbahn railway station
• The original crest fragment is displayed in the museum at Lauenstein Castle

Interesting fact: the coat-of-arms fragment from the original column lay in the riverbed for nearly half a century before being recovered during construction of the Gottleuba dam in 1973.