Why this ride
From Dessau it runs 360 km to Dessau; allow about 5 h 09 of riding. On the way it passes 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
Historical Graveyard Dessau and Classical Weimar
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 360 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 5 h 09
- 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
Historical Graveyard Dessau → Luther's birthplace
85 km on Historical Graveyard Dessau → Luther's birthplace.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 85 km
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Historical Graveyard Dessau
Dessau is best known for the Bauhaus, but the city's older story is one of parks and princes. The Historical Graveyard, laid out in the Enlightenment spirit of the late eighteenth century, was designed as a landscape garden as much as a burial ground, with winding paths, old trees and monuments set among greenery. Prince Leopold III Friedrich Franz of Anhalt-Dessau, who created the nearby Garden Realm of Dessau-Wörlitz, believed that gardens could educate and uplift, and the cemetery follows the same idea: a place to walk and reflect.
Read the complete Historical Graveyard Dessau write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Historical Graveyard Dessau 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 85 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 180 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 Historical Graveyard Dessau.
5. Historical Graveyard Dessau
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Historical Graveyard Dessau write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Historical Graveyard Dessau. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Historical Graveyard Dessau to Luther's birthplace
Historical Graveyard Dessau → Luther's birthplace is 85 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 Historical Graveyard Dessau
back through Luther's birthplace → Historical Graveyard Dessau is 85 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.