Dessau-Roßlau: Bauhaus, Culture and Cycling Routes

Bauhaus, art collections, theaters and signposted cycling routes shape the visitor experience in Dessau-Roßlau. There are also museums with exhibitions on nature and prehistory. You can tailor your stay to a range of interests, such as architecture and art, music and theater, or a route through urban areas and river landscapes.

Bauhaus, Architecture and Collections

The Bauhaus Museum Dessau houses the world’s second-largest collection of Bauhaus exhibits. The Bauhaus building was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1996. The collection and World Heritage designation offer different ways to explore the Bauhaus.

The Anhalt Art Gallery Dessau is located in Georgium Palace. Its collection includes paintings, drawings and prints from 1400 to the present day. Another architectural highlight is the Kornhaus: Carl Fieger designed it in 1929 as a modern restaurant with a large window façade overlooking the Elbe. Following extensive renovation and restoration work in keeping with heritage conservation requirements, it reopened on October 3, 2012.

Luisium Palace was built in the northeast of Dessau between 1774 and 1778. Mosigkau Palace and Park are among the few Rococo ensembles in Germany that have largely been preserved in their original state. These various buildings and collections each offer a distinct focus within the cultural scene.

Theater, Music and Museums

The Anhaltisches Theater Dessau produces theater and music for Dessau-Roßlau, the Anhalt region and Wittenberg, as well as their visitors. Its five departments are musical theater, concerts, drama, ballet and puppet theater. The Anhalt Philharmonic is based at the Anhaltisches Theater and presents symphony and chamber concerts.

The Alte Theater is a smaller venue of the Anhaltisches Theater. Its program features puppet theater, contemporary productions and improvisation. The Kurt Weill Centre in Dessau has an archive and hosts events as well as a festival dedicated to composer Kurt Weill.

The Museum of Natural History and Prehistory in Dessau features permanent exhibitions along a tour on the upper floor and in the 40-meter-high museum tower. The permanent exhibition “Fascination of Nature” presents large-scale dioramas of landscapes from the river floodplain of the “Middle Elbe River Landscape” Biosphere Reserve. Nature is thus a specific exhibition theme, while the tour and tower provide the setting for the permanent exhibitions.

The Hugo Junkers Technical Museum in Dessau has a Junkers F 13 flight simulator suitable for people aged 14 and over. The “Apollo 11” virtual reality experience takes visitors through space and lets them explore the moon. Advance booking is requested for both the simulator and the VR experience.

Cycling Routes and River Landscapes

The signposted Bauhaus Buildings cycling tour is just over 18 kilometers long. Both its northern and southern loops start at the main railway station. At 62 kilometers, the circular tour through Dessau-Roßlau is considerably longer: it connects the outer urban areas north and south of the Elbe and takes in the floodplain landscape and the Vorfläming. The distances offer different scales—from Bauhaus buildings to a longer tour through urban areas and landscapes.

The signposted Garden Kingdom Tour Prince Franz, which loops around Dessau-Roßlau, connects the palaces and parks of the Garden Kingdom of Dessau-Wörlitz. It is named after Prince Leopold III Friedrich Franz of Anhalt-Dessau (1740–1817). The Elbe Cycle Route passes directly by numerous UNESCO World Heritage Sites in and around Dessau-Roßlau; the EuroVelo Route R1 runs directly through the city. Coming from Wittenberg, the Luther Trail approaches Dessau via the Elbe Cycle Route and first passes through the Luisium.

The Middle Elbe river landscape extends across the south of Dessau-Roßlau. Further afield in the region, the Middle Elbe Biosphere Reserve protects floodplain forests, oxbow lakes and meadows along the Elbe; it has been part of UNESCO’s biosphere reserve program since 1997. Check local conditions before setting out.

Discover more destinations: Dessau-Roßlau, Mildensee, Kochstedt, Roßlau, Burgenland District, Halle, Saalekreis, Magdeburg.

Go to the main travel overview: Saxony-Anhalt.