Garden Kingdom of Dessau-Wörlitz
As the first English-style landscape garden in mainland Europe, the 18th century Garden Kingdom of Dessau Wörlitz unites garden design and architecture in perfect harmony. Here you’ll find manor houses, more than 100 buildings of varying sizes and a range of sweeping parks and gardens, all spread over an area of 140 square kilometres on and around the banks of the rivers Elbe and Mulde.
The garden is predominantly the work of Leopold III, Duke of Anhalt Dessau (1740-1817). As an adherent of the Enlightenment, the Duke used the art of landscape gardening to give expression to political views.
Many of the structures and statues were also designed for the moral improvement of the observer. Between 1769 and 1773, mainland Europe’s first ever classical building, Wörlitz House, was built in the centre of Wörlitz Park.
In a period of over 40 years, other grand houses and parks were built in and around Dessau. These include Georgium Palace – in which the unmissable Anhalt Art Gallery can be found – Luisium Palace, Wörlitz Park and the wooded park on Sieglitzer Berg hill.
Kühnau Park represented the culmination of this phase in 1805. Over time, the older structures of Oranienbaum Palace and Mosigkau Palace were integrated into the overall scheme, so that this landscape in today’s Saxony-Anhalt resembles an open-air architecture museum covering the period from antiquity to the modern era. Numerous tree-lined avenues, dyke paths and sightlines link the individual gardens and parks.
A weekend stay in one of the many holiday homes here should give ample time to appreciate the perfection of this landscape. You can explore the Garden Kingdom at your leisure on foot or by bike and then maybe take in one of the many concerts held as part of the Garden Kingdom Summer from May to September.
The Garden Kingdom of Dessau-Wörlitz
UNESCO World Heritage since 2000
From the selection criteria
The Garden Kingdom of Dessau-Wörlitz is an outstanding example of the application of the philosophical principles of the Age of the Enlightenment to the
design of a landscape that integrates art, education and economy in a harmonious whole.
Information and Contact
Tourist-Information Dessau-Roßlau
Zerbster Straße 4
06844 Dessau-Roßlau
Tel. +49 340-204 14 42
Kulturstiftung Dessau-Wörlitz
Tel. +49 340-646 15 0
Fax: +49 340-646 15 10