Why this ride
An 86 km round trip from Wittenberg - roughly 1 h 50 in the saddle. On the way it passes Parks of Wörlitz, Historical Graveyard Dessau and back through Parks of Wörlitz.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
The Castle Church and Historical Graveyard Dessau
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 86 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 1 h 50
- 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
The Castle Church → Parks of Wörlitz
Speed drops and stays down. Park rather than crawl through. 19 km through ground somebody thought worth listing. The road passes it rather than bypassing it.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 23 km
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. 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
The Castle Church is where the day begins. Next is Parks of Wörlitz.
2. Parks of Wörlitz
Prince Leopold III Friedrich Franz of Anhalt-Dessau, a ruler of a small German state in the late eighteenth century, came back from travels in England and Italy and decided to turn his whole principality into a garden. The result, the Garden Realm of Dessau-Wörlitz, is now a World Heritage Site, and the parks of Wörlitz are its heart: an English landscape garden laid out around a lake fed by the Elbe, with canals, bridges, temples, a synagogue built as a temple of tolerance, and the palace at Wörlitz, designed by Friedrich Wilhelm von Erdmannsdorff and regarded as one of the first neoclassical buildings in Germany.
Read the complete Parks of Wörlitz write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Parks of Wörlitz comes up about 23 km into the recorded legs. Next is Historical Graveyard Dessau.
3. 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
about 43 km into the recorded legs you reach Historical Graveyard Dessau. Next is back through Parks of Wörlitz.
4. back through Parks of Wörlitz
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Parks of Wörlitz write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Parks of Wörlitz, late in the day. Next is The Castle Church.
5. The Castle Church
Return visit. Read the place description above.
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
Back at The Castle Church. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
The Castle Church to Parks of Wörlitz
The Castle Church → Parks of Wörlitz is 23 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Parks of Wörlitz to Historical Graveyard Dessau
Parks of Wörlitz → Historical Graveyard Dessau is 20 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Historical Graveyard Dessau to back through Parks of Wörlitz
Historical Graveyard Dessau → back through Parks of Wörlitz is 20 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Parks of Wörlitz to The Castle Church
back through Parks of Wörlitz → The Castle Church is 23 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.