Mönch (rock)

The Mönch (also Mönchstein) is a rock pinnacle and popular climbing peak in Saxon Switzerland in Germany near the spa town of Rathen.

The weather vane on the summit, in the shape of a tin monk, is visible from afar and acts as a navigation aid.

With it disappeared the medieval staircase that enabled the Mönch to be climbed, although traces of the timber beams remain today.

Even well-known climbers like Oscar Schuster, Rudolf Fehrmann, Emanuel Strubich and Bernd Arnold have made the first ascent of climbing routes on the Mönch.

Whilst most of the weather vanes and summit symbols were destroyed or dismantled again in the succeeding decades, that on the Mönch was one of the few that remained in Saxon Switzerland.