Discover Köthen (Anhalt)

Köthen (Anhalt) combines walks in the palace park with traces of its musical and cultural history. The palace, museums, St. Jakob and the animal park each offer a different focus. You can tailor your plans depending on whether you mainly want to spend time outdoors, explore historical themes in more depth, or combine the two.

Palace park and the palace setting

The palace park is open for walks beneath old trees and along the palace moat throughout the year. Its design evolved from a Renaissance garden into an English landscape park; it is also part of Saxony-Anhalt’s Garden Dreams network. A walk here therefore takes in both the former formal garden and the later landscape park design. The palace itself lies north of the old town, on an island at the southern edge of the Ziethen lowlands.

Bach, language and collections

The palace was Johann Sebastian Bach’s workplace as court music director from 1717 to 1723. Today, it serves as a cultural center and a center for the promotion and preservation of Baroque music. The German Language Experience Centre at the palace explores the history of the German language and linguistic phenomena through the history of the 17th-century Fruitbearing Society. Music history and language history thus come together at the palace, offering two different perspectives on Köthen’s culture.

The Naumann Museum preserves an early 19th-century bird collection that is almost unchanged. It comprises around 1,300 specimens in 113 original display cases. It also houses a complete scholarly work that is considered unique worldwide and has been preserved in its original location. Check the museum’s current visitor access arrangements before your visit.

Churches, historical traces and the animal park

St. Jakob Church houses an almost original Ladegast organ. The church also includes the princely crypt, with 40 elaborately designed coffins belonging to the House of Anhalt-Köthen. The Hahnemann House was Samuel Hahnemann’s former home and workplace. The interior smoke flue from his laboratory has been preserved in the house. Together, these places offer insight into different chapters of Köthen’s cultural and local history.

Historical city tours explore Köthen through stories about Johann Sebastian Bach and the washerwomen. If you would like to join a tour, confirm its current availability before your trip. Köthen Animal Park is located in the heart of the Fasanerie and is a great place for a family visit in both summer and winter. Seating is available at regular intervals.

Getting there and finding your way around

Köthen can be reached by bicycle, car or train. The Köthen Tourist Information Office is located in the former princely palace; check its opening hours before your visit. This lets you tailor your travel arrangements and planned visits to the palace, town and animal park to your interests.

Discover more destinations: Zerbst/Anhalt, Osternienburger Land, Muldestausee, Southern Anhalt, Zörbig, Sandersdorf-Brehna, Walternienburg, Raguhn-Jeßnitz

View the broader travel overview: Anhalt-Bitterfeld.