Why this ride
From Wörlitz it runs 383 km to Wörlitz; allow about 5 h 18 of riding. The stops in between: Luther's birthplace, Classical Weimar and back through Luther's birthplace. It was put together for the scenery rather than the shortest line.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Garden Kingdom of Dessau-Wörlitz and Classical Weimar
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 383 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 5 h 18
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Scenic road chapters
Luther's birthplace → Classical Weimar
This part of the ride is 95 km of Luther's birthplace → Classical Weimar.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 95 km
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Garden Kingdom of Dessau-Wörlitz
In the late eighteenth century, a small German principality decided to remake its entire landscape as a work of art. Prince Leopold III Friedrich Franz of Anhalt-Dessau, inspired by travels in England and by the ideas of the Enlightenment, created a vast network of parks, gardens, palaces and estates along the Elbe and Mulde rivers, combining beauty, education and agriculture. The result, the Garden Kingdom of Dessau-Wörlitz, is one of the earliest and largest landscape gardens in continental Europe, and it was listed by UNESCO in 2000.
Read the complete Garden Kingdom of Dessau-Wörlitz write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Garden Kingdom of Dessau-Wörlitz is where the day begins. Next is Luther's birthplace.
2. Luther's birthplace
Martin Luther was born in Eisleben on 10 November 1483, and by an odd twist of fate he died here too, in 1546, while on a visit to settle a dispute between the counts of Mansfeld. The house where he was born was rebuilt after a fire in the seventeenth century and became one of the first museums in Germany dedicated to a single person. Together with the house where he died and the sites in Wittenberg where he lived and taught, it forms the UNESCO site of the Luther Memorials in Eisleben and Wittenberg, listed in 1996. The museum tells the story of Luther's family, his childhood and the beginning of the Reformation, and it has been extended with modern exhibitions.
Read the complete Luther's birthplace write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Luther's birthplace comes up about 97 km into the recorded legs. Next is Classical Weimar.
3. Classical Weimar
Weimar is small, about 65,000 people, and for a few decades around 1800 it was the cultural capital of the German-speaking world. Goethe moved here in 1775 at the invitation of the young Duke Carl August, and stayed for most of his life. Schiller came later, Herder and Wieland were already in town, and together they made the little court a place where poetry, philosophy and theatre were taken very seriously. The Goethe house on the Frauenplan and Schiller's house nearby are open to visitors, and the Park an der Ilm, a landscaped garden along the river, has Goethe's garden house. The UNESCO listing covers these and other buildings of the era.
Read the complete Classical Weimar write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 192 km into the recorded legs you reach Classical Weimar. Next is back through Luther's birthplace.
4. back through Luther's birthplace
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Luther's birthplace write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Luther's birthplace, late in the day. Next is Garden Kingdom of Dessau-Wörlitz.
5. Garden Kingdom of Dessau-Wörlitz
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Garden Kingdom of Dessau-Wörlitz write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Garden Kingdom of Dessau-Wörlitz. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Garden Kingdom of Dessau-Wörlitz to Luther's birthplace
Garden Kingdom of Dessau-Wörlitz → Luther's birthplace is 97 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Luther's birthplace to Classical Weimar
Luther's birthplace → Classical Weimar is 95 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Classical Weimar to back through Luther's birthplace
Classical Weimar → back through Luther's birthplace is 95 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Luther's birthplace to Garden Kingdom of Dessau-Wörlitz
back through Luther's birthplace → Garden Kingdom of Dessau-Wörlitz is 97 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.