World-class cultural highlights
UNESCO World Heritage in Lutherland
And these are our treasures
#1 Nebra Sky Disk
The Nebra Sky Disk is a fascinating testimony to early astronomy and craftsmanship. As the oldest known concrete depiction of the heavens in the world, it reveals our ancestors' astonishing knowledge of cosmic phenomena. The bronze disk with its golden applications of the sun, moon and stars was created around 3,600 years ago and was buried on the Mittelberg near Nebra in Saxony-Anhalt. Today, this unique artifact can be admired in the State Museum of Prehistory in Halle.
#2 Quedlinburg
Over 2,000 half-timbered houses from six centuries characterize the townscape and make Quedlinburg a unique, world-class work of art. The narrow alleyways and winding squares invite you to experience history up close. The Romanesque collegiate church of St. Servatius, once one of the most important churches in the Holy Roman Empire, is enthroned on the Stiftsberg. Its cathedral treasury is one of the most valuable in Europe and bears witness to the former glory of the Ottonian dynasty.
#3 Wartburg Castle in Eisenach
A mystical place with almost a thousand years of history. Luther used it as a hiding place from his persecutors. He began translating the Bible here. It was the home of St Elisabeth and inspired Richard Wagner to write his "Tannhäuser" opera.
#4 The Jewish heritage in Erfurt
In the heart of Erfurt's well-preserved old town is the oldest synagogue in Central Europe that has been preserved up to the roof. It is the centrepiece of the city's UNESCO World Heritage complex. It is completed by the mikvah and the Stone House, a Jewish town house from the 13th century. They are valuable contemporary witnesses to an influential Jewish community in medieval Erfurt.
#5 Naumburg Cathedral
Naumburg Cathedral of St. Peter and Paul rises majestically above the old town of Naumburg and is one of the most important sacred buildings of the High Middle Ages in Europe. As a unique testimony to the transition from Romanesque to Gothic, it was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2018. The four-towered cathedral impresses with its harmonious combination of different architectural styles and is home to true masterpieces of medieval art, with a fascinating synthesis of the arts by the so-called Naumburg Master unfolding in the famous west choir.
#6 Luther memorials in Eisleben and Wittenberg
Eisleben and Wittenberg take you into the fascinating world of the Reformation and its protagonists. The Luther memorials are not only a place of history, but also of lively debate on questions of faith, education and social change.
#7 Classical Weimar
Palaces, gardens and collections created during the city's "Golden Age". Goethe, Schiller, Herder and Wieland shaped the intellectual life of the city and turned it into a European cultural metropolis. They were supported by the art-loving Duchess Anna Amalia and her son Duke Carl August.
#8 Garden Kingdom of Dessau-Wörlitz
Leopold III Friedrich Franz von Anhalt-Dessau had seven parks gradually created in his principality from 1765 onwards, a green wonderland with water features, sculptures, mazes, bridges, orangeries and palaces. Today, the unique cultural landscape extends over 142 square kilometers south of the Elbe. Never has anyone given shape to the ideas of the Enlightenment more beautifully and generously than Prince Franz.
#9 The Bauhaus in Weimar
The most influential design school of the 20th century began in Weimar when Walter Gropius founded the "Staatliches Bauhaus" here in 1919. A visit to the Bauhaus Museum Weimar makes it clear that it was not just about form and colour, but also about a new world view. Another visitor magnet is the Haus Am Horn, built in 1923 as the world's first Bauhaus model house.
#10 Bauhaus and its sites in Dessau
In Dessau, the Bauhaus developed into a world-class school of art, design and architecture. Functionalism and New Objectivity were the keywords of design. Between 1925 and 1932, Dessau became the cradle of classical modernism, which still characterizes the formal language of the creative avant-garde today. You can experience the historic rooms on guided tours of the Bauhaus building. The Bauhaus Museum Dessau shows the pioneering exhibits, while the Masters' Houses bear witness to the ideas of the new building style.
#11 The Hainich National Park
A primeval beech forest as it was common in Central Europe a long time ago. Without human intervention, left to its own devices. You can experience the wild nature in selected places such as on the treetop path in the Hainich or on designated hiking and cycling trails.
#12 UNESCO Biosphere Reserve Middle Elbe
The UNESCO Middle Elbe Biosphere Reserve is a fascinating natural paradise along the Elbe in Saxony-Anhalt. It is home to the largest contiguous hardwood floodplain forests in Central Europe and offers a unique stage for the interplay of nature and culture. Discover the diversity of flora and fauna on bike tours or hikes along the 19 floodplain trails. Watch white-tailed eagles, listen to the songs of rare bird species and, with a bit of luck, catch a glimpse of the Elbe beaver.
Did you know that the Thuringian Forest is home to the last manufactory in the world where garden gnomes are still moulded and painted by hand? Or that the Thuringian town of Altenburg is the birthplace of the Skat game? And that the Rhön Star Park is one of 16 International Dark Sky Reserves worldwide where you can still observe the starry night sky undisturbed by artificial light sources?
Castles, palaces, cathedral churches, garden landscapes, picturesque old towns, architecture worth seeing - the cultural heritage in Saxony-Anhalt is large and diverse. Thanks to this broad spectrum, the state has a unique concentration of UNESCO World Heritage Sites, from which world-changing ideas such as the Reformation and Modernism originated.
Header: Park of Kochberg Palace©Alexander Burzik, Klassik Stiftung Weimar
