Cities & Landscapes

Aken is an ideal starting point for cultural day trips to the surrounding area. The city on the southern bank of the middle Elbe, about eight kilometers west of Dessau-Roßlau, is surrounded by an exceptional floodplain landscape belonging to the Biosphere Reserve Middle Elbe. 

Charmingly framed by the Elbe-Elster lowlands and the densely wooded Annaburg Heath, the small town of Annaburg lies about 35 km southeast of Wittenberg. It is the easternmost town in Saxony-Anhalt. Visitors will notice the massive 16th century Renaissance castle Annaburg, the impressive marketplace with its half-timbered houses, the Porzellaneum, a museum for the history of stonewares, and more.

The former residence town of the Princes of Anhalt-Bernburg lies in the heart of Saxony-Anhalt, in the Lower Saale Valley Nature Park, about 45 km from the Bauhaus city Dessau-Roßlau.

The city of Bitterfeld-Wolfen, one of the largest cities in Saxony-Anhalt, sits in the middle of the Goitzsche Landscape Park. The Bauhaus city Dessau-Roßlau is only about 30 km away. 

The historic town of Coswig (Anhalt), charmingly set on the Elbe about 15 km to the West of Wittenberg, is only a stone’s throw away from the Garden Kingdom Dessau-Wörlitz on the opposite shore of the river.

The town city of Dessau-Roßlau is located 35 km from Wittenberg on the edge of the UNESCO Biosphere Reserve Middle Elbe, nestled in the riverine landscapes of the Mulde and Elbe with their lush forests and meadows. 

Nestled in the Düben Heath Nature Park, 35 km to the south of Wittenberg, lies the community of Muldestausee.

Gräfenhainichen, on the edge of the Düben Heath, about 25 km to the south of Wittenberg and the Bauhaus town Dessau-Roßlau, is the birthplace of the influential Protestant hymn writer Paul Gerhardt. 

Kemberg, located 16 km to the south of Wittenberg, represents the northern entrance to the Düben Heath Nature Park. One highlight of the beautiful old town of Kemberg is St Mary’s, whose 86-meter-high tower is among the major works of neo-Gothic church architecture in Saxony-Anhalt.

In the heart of Anhalt and less than 25 km away from Bauhaus city Dessau, the former residence of the princes and dukes of the Köthen line is waiting to be discovered. 

A visit to Wittenberg, Luther’s city, framed by the Middle Elbe and the Fläming, means experiencing world history up close. 

The small town of Oranienbaum lies only 13 km to the east of the Bauhaus city Dessau in the Biosphere Reserve Middle Elbe. Princess Henriette Catharina of Orange-Nassau turned Oranienbaum, originally a small hamlet in Anhalt called Nischwitz, into what it still is today: a unique gem of Dutch baroque architecture in the middle of Germany.

Das Osternienburger Land ist eine Einheitsgemeinde, die sich zwischen den vier Städten Aken, Dessau, Köthen und Bernburg befindet. Die größtenteils landschaftlich geprägte Region bietet viel Raum für ausgedehnte und entspannte Stunden in der Natur. 

The charming little town of Wörlitz, only about 10 km bee-line from Wittenberg in the Biosphere Reserve Middle Elbe, looks back on over 1000 years of history. Wörlitz rose to fame in the second half of the 18th century through one of the earliest and most beautiful English landscape parks in continental Europe. Today, the heart of the UNESCO-protected Garden Kingdom Dessau-Wörlitz beats just outside the city.

Between the Elbe and the Fläming, about 20 km from the Bauhaus city Dessau-Roßlau, Zerbst looks back on 1000 years of eventful history. In the first reformed town of Anhalt, Princess Sophie Auguste Friederike von Anhalt-Zerbst, the later “Catherine the Great,” grew up protected by imposing castle walls. Johann Friedrich Fasch, the court conductor of the time, also helped the town achieve musical fame and glory.

The Central Elbe Biosphere Reserve is one of the oldest biosphere reserves in Germany and is traversed by the Elbe, Germany’s third largest river.

Where once excavators dug into the earth to bring lignite to the surface, Lake Goitzsche today caters to water sports enthusiasts, nature lovers and other guests. The region around Lake Goitzsche offers many possibilities for day trips and also for longer vacations.

 

The Düben Heath, located south of Lutherstadt Wittenberg/north of Leipzig, is part of the natural river landscape between the rivers Mulde and Elbe. It is the largest mixed forest area in Central Germany and became a nature park in 1992. Here, many hiking/nature trails traverse beautiful heath forests and moorlands, passing small forest lakes, romantic clearings and tranquil places.

The northernmost elevation in Germany before the sea is the wooded Fläming with hills up to 200 meters above sea level.

The area of the Lower Saale Valley became a protected landscape in 1961 because of its scenic beauty and natural treasures. Thanks to floodplains, variously shaped side valleys and rocky slopes, the area has long offered naturalists and artists stimulation and inspiration. Many protected animal and plant species are at home here and there are various cultural monuments to discover.