Bad Schandau (German: [baːt ˈʃandaʊ] ⓘ; Upper Sorbian: Žandow, pronounced [ˈʒandɔf]) is a spa town in Germany, in the Sächsische Schweiz-Osterzgebirge district of Saxony.

The original town centre nestled on the steep, towering sandstone rocks on the right-hand, northern bank of the river Elbe and squeezed in places into the narrow valley of the Kirnitzsch.

A rural tram line, the Kirnitzschtal Tramway, accompanies the little river for several kilometres and offers access to the nearby walking area.

The borough of Bad Schandau consists of the core town and the villages Krippen, Ostrau, Porschdorf, Postelwitz, Prossen, Schmilka, and Waltersdorf.

The original craftsmen's and merchants' settlement left of the Elbe with surviving timber-framed houses that were mentioned as early as 1379 has been a summer resort since the end of the 19th century, when development of tourism began.

A memorial tablet on the Keller Museum, house number 76 in the main road named after him and in whom the inventor once lived, celebrates him and his work.

The local sandstone quarries (at times the most important in the region) worked from the second half of the 16th century until 1907; were then reforested and are accessible today via the Elbe Promenade (Elbpromenade).

[5] Schmilka, the border village to the Czech Republic on the Elbe at a height of 117 metres (384 ft), has been part of the borough of Bad Schandau since 1 January 1973.

The hills of Schrammsteine and Großer Winterberg may be ascended from Schmilka along various paths and climbs such as the Saints' Way (Heilige Stiege) or the Rübezahl Way (Rübezahlstiege).

Ostrau has been directly linked to the town of Bad Schandau since 1904 with an electric passenger lift that was built at the initiative of the hotelier, Rudolf Sendig, who also financed it.

But even in 1900, there were ambitious plans for this location with its long-distance, all-round views to be turned into an exclusive tourist centre with sports facilities and an airfield.

[5] In the first half of the 14th century, German settlers acquired the Elbe meadows between Rathmannsdorf and Postelwitz from the feudal estate of Hohnstein and founded a trading post here.

Schandau was first mentioned in the records in 1445 and was given, in effect, the status of a town as a result of its important location as a trading site on the Elbe in 1467 by a council constitution.

The position of Schandau in the heart of the romantic "Saxon Switzerland" has made it a place of importance, and thousands of tourists make it their headquarters in summer.

The 2009 film, Inglourious Basterds, directed by Quentin Tarantino, was shot primarily in Bad Schandau,[13] and at Studio Babelsberg in Berlin.

[13] Bad Schandau's town profile on the right bank of the river is dominated by the hotels of the Gründerzeit bordering the Elbe, the two bridges and St John's Church (Johanniskirche).

The interior of the church with its wooden coffer, single-storey matroneum and stained glass windows in the chancel is the result of fundamental conversion work in 1876–77.

1 with its timber-framed upper storey) since 1896 has been the Sendig Fountain next to the church, which for reasons unknown lost its Art Nouveau top extension with sculptures during World War II; it was reconstructed from 1994 to 2011.

The spa facilities and the 3,500 m2 Botanical Garden (Pflanzengarten Bad Schandau) with over 1,500 species of plants is located at the entrance to the Kirnitzsch valley.

Due to its view over Saxon Switzerland around Bad Schandau, especially the rocks of the Schrammsteine, but also because of the understated Art Nouveau ornamentation, a journey on the technical monument has become something of a tourist attraction.

Bad Schandau railway station is a stop for EuroCity links between Berlin and Budapest, the CityNightLine between Prague and Copenhagen/Amsterdam/Zürich as well as the S-Bahn between Meißen and Schöna that passes through Dresden.