Königstein

Where is Königstein?

Königstein is part of the Brandberg Massif.

You will find it in: Namibia.

Summit: 21.126° S, 14.549° E

The story behind it

The Brandberg is a single lump of granite that once cooled deep underground and was later laid bare, so the whole mountain now stands like an island above the gravel plains. In the evening sun the bare rock glows orange and red, which is why its name means fire mountain. Rain almost never falls here, and there are no streams on the way up, so climbers carry every drop of water and usually spend two days on the mountain. In the Tsisab ravine at the foot are hundreds of paintings made long ago by San hunters on the rock walls, among them the famous figure known as the White Lady. Rock hyraxes sunbathe on the boulders, black eagles sail along the cliffs, and desert elephants sometimes walk through the dry riverbed below.

Find it on the globe

Königstein is there as a small peak with its own shape — a horn, a ridge, a volcano — standing on the surface. From far away the planet is only a blue ball; detail arrives as you zoom in, and this one appears once you are close enough. Open it on the globe.

It sits at its real coordinates, not near them — the same numbers listed in the facts above. Switch off the layer for this kind of place and it disappears again; the buttons for that are down the right-hand edge.