Herzberg (Elster): Gardens, History and Starry Skies

Herzberg (Elster) combines gardens and nature with historic buildings and attractions related to the starry sky. The Botanical Garden, St. Mary’s Town Church, Grochwitz Castle, the zoo and the Zeiss Planetarium each offer something different.

Gardens and Nature in Herzberg

Herzberg Botanical Garden was established in the early 20th century as a school and display garden for botanical education. As an extracurricular learning centre, it teaches visitors about plants, habitats, biodiversity, climate change and sustainable garden design. Its programmes are aimed at children, young people, adults and older people. If you are planning a guided tour or group activity, coordinate with the garden in advance.

The garden includes a historic rock garden. Its original concept was to showcase alpine and drought-tolerant plant communities. This also links garden design with the garden’s educational purpose, with plants and their habitats at the centre.

Herzberg Zoo offers a different perspective on the landscape. It is set in a park-like area with mature trees and several ponds. Animals living there include white-handed gibbons, Bactrian camels and mouflons. As the animal population can change, check which species are currently on view before your visit. The grounds of Grochwitz Castle are also ecologically remarkable: their marginal habitats, particularly the ponds, provide an important habitat for amphibians, which occur there in an unusually wide variety of species.

Architectural History and Garden Design

St. Mary’s Town Church is a three-aisled Late Gothic hall church. Grochwitz Castle represents a different period in history: most of its present-day building fabric dates from the 19th century. This refers to the greater part of the surviving structure, not to a single year of construction.

Villa Marx has its own garden. Carl Marx presumably had an Art Nouveau villa and garden built near Niederlausitz railway station, opposite the town park, between 1906 and 1907. At the foot of the pavilion in the garden is a pond bordered by limestone terraces, with a sunken garden alongside it. The villa and its garden add another example of architecture and garden design in Herzberg to the town’s churches and castle.

Planetarium, Observatory and Activities

The Zeiss Planetarium in Herzberg offers a varied programme for children and adults throughout the year. If you are planning a visit, check the programme and specific dates in advance. The observatory is located on the water tower, 37 metres above the ground. The planetarium and observatory thus offer two different ways to explore the starry sky.

The ElsterPark Adventure World offers a range of activity and experience modules throughout the year, which can be booked for groups, school classes, children’s birthday parties and team-building events. You can also rent canoes, kayaks, trekking bikes, e-bikes and wheelchair-accessible bikes at ElsterPark. The rental options listed thus include both watercraft and various types of bicycles. When planning, you can choose between a bookable group activity and a specific rental option.

Elbe-Elster as a Broader Travel Destination

The broader travel destination of Elbe-Elster also offers a distinct perspective on industrial history. The F60 visitor mine is located in Elbe-Elster district, south of Lichterfeld. The Louise briquette factory, considered Europe’s oldest surviving briquette factory, is in Domsdorf. Plessa Power Station is one of Europe’s oldest lignite-fired power stations and retains its original building fabric. These regional examples represent a different focus from Herzberg’s gardens, buildings, wildlife and planetarium-related attractions.

Discover more destinations: Schlieben, Sonnewalde, Finsterwalde, Schönewalde, Massen-Niederlausitz, Lebusa, Doberlug-Kirchhain, Plessa.

View the broader travel guide: Elbe-Elster.