Discover Weißenfels

Weißenfels offers a range of themes to help you plan your trip: the history of the Duchy of Saxe-Weissenfels, museums dedicated to local history and music, and excursions featuring nature and leisure activities. Views and rental services are also part of what the city has to offer. You can tailor your stay to the themes that interest you most.

Castle history and historic memorial sites

Neu-Augustusburg Castle was built between 1660 and 1694 on the foundations of the former Weißenfels Castle. Until 1746, it served as the residence of the ducal line of Saxe-Weissenfels. Its construction and ducal use thus represent two distinct periods in the castle’s history. The castle church of St. Trinity is an early Baroque church and is considered one of the finest of its kind in central Germany. The princely crypt contains finely crafted tin and wooden sarcophagi belonging to the dukes of Saxe-Weissenfels.

The Weißenfels Museum devotes its exhibitions to the Duchy of Saxe-Weissenfels and the history of the city. It also houses the largest shoe museum in the eastern German states. The museum thus brings together topics from regional history and a distinctive type of collection.

The Heinrich Schütz House is the composer’s only surviving original residence. Its exhibition presents his life and work across three floors. Another historical focus awaits at the Gustav Adolf Memorial: it commemorates the autopsy of the Swedish king Gustav II Adolf in 1632 at the former Geleitshaus. A large diorama depicts the Battle of Lützen with around 10,000 tin figures; there is also an exhibition on the Thirty Years’ War.

Views, nature and leisure

The Bismarck Tower in Klemmberg Park offers expansive views over the Saale Valley. The Weißenfels Home Nature Garden offers a very different visitor experience: the grounds cover 12,600 square metres and are home to around 200 animals. Its features include landscaped enclosures, a bog garden and a rock garden. The “Path of the Senses” nature trail adds to these areas. Nature watching and the garden and enclosure features provide a distinctive experience alongside castle history and museums.

The Weißenfels all-weather toboggan run offers rides at speeds of up to 40 kilometres per hour. The facilities also include mini golf and other activities. For trips on the water, the central Weißenfels boat rental offers rowing boats, pedal boats, motorboats that do not require a licence, canoes, inflatable boats and kayaks. A Weißenfels bicycle and boat rental is located directly on the Saale Cycle Route and offers bicycles, including e-bikes. The leisure options reviewed here therefore include both trips on the water and activities on two wheels.

More cultural themes in the wider Burgenlandkreis destination

Those who explore the wider Burgenlandkreis destination as well as Weißenfels will find further distinct cultural and historical themes. Naumburg Cathedral has held UNESCO World Heritage status since 1 July 2018. Its architecture, stained-glass windows and sculptures are described as unique in the world. Neuenburg Castle was founded around 1090 by the Thuringian count Ludwig the Springer and is a prominent stop on the Romanesque Road. The Nebra Ark is a modern visitor centre at the site where the Nebra Sky Disc was found; guided tours, activity programmes and special exhibitions are offered there. The centre also features a digital planetarium with a 22-minute show about Bronze Age astronomical knowledge.

Discover more destinations: Leißling, Storkau, Burgwerben, Droyßig, Kaiserpfalz, Osterfeld, Teuchern, Gleina.

Go to the wider travel overview: Burgenlandkreis.