The Bauhaus and The Castle Church

Scenic road chapters

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. The Bauhaus

   The Bauhaus building in Dessau is a glass box that changed the way the world builds. Walter Gropius designed it in 1925 and 1926 for the school he had moved here from Weimar, and the structure combines workshops, classrooms, a studio block and a theatre in a plan that looks like a pinwheel from above. The famous feature is the glass curtain wall on the workshop wing, which hangs in front of the structure like a transparent skin, one of the first of its kind in the world. Inside, the stairs, the lamps and the lettering carry the look of the movement.

   Read the complete The Bauhaus write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   The Bauhaus is where the day begins. Next is Garden Kingdom of Dessau-Wörlitz.

2. 2. 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 comes up about 19 km into the recorded legs. Next is The Castle Church.

3. 3. The Castle Church

   On 31 October 1517, according to tradition, a professor of theology named Martin Luther nailed a list of ninety five theses to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, challenging the sale of indulgences by the Catholic Church. Whether he actually used a hammer is debated by historians, but the theses spread rapidly across Germany and beyond, thanks to the printing press, and they sparked the Reformation, which transformed the religious, political and cultural life of Europe. The original wooden door was destroyed by fire in 1760, and in 1858 it was replaced by bronze doors bearing the text of the theses in Latin. Luther is buried inside the church, as is his friend and colleague Philipp Melanchthon.

   Read the complete The Castle Church write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   about 42 km into the recorded legs you reach The Castle Church. Next is back through Garden Kingdom of Dessau-Wörlitz.

4. 4. back through 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 through Garden Kingdom of Dessau-Wörlitz, late in the day. Next is The Bauhaus.

5. 5. The Bauhaus

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete The Bauhaus write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Back at The Bauhaus. That is the ride.