Sights in Saxony Anhalt
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Dom
This grand cathedral is Magdeburg's main historical landmark and traces its roots to 937 when Otto I (912-73) founded a Benedictine monastery and had it built up into a full-fledged cathedral within two decades. Alas, fire destroyed the original a couple of centuries later. But by then the Gothic style was all the rage, which is why its successor is a three-aisled basilica with transept, choir and pointed windows. The burial place of Otto I and his English wife Editha, it's packed with artistic highlights ranging from the delicate 13th-century Magdeburg Virgins sculptures to a haunting antiwar memorial by Ernst Barlach. The church also has impressive eco-credentials: in 1…
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Lutherhaus
Even those with no previous interest in the Reformation will likely be fascinated by the state-of-the-art exhibits in the Lutherhaus, the former monastery turned Luther family home. Through an engaging mix of accessible narrative (in German and English), spotlit artefacts (eg, his lectern from the Stadtkirche, indulgences chests, Bibles, cloaks), famous oil paintings, and interactive multimedia stations, you'll learn about the man, his times and his impact on world history. Highlights include Cranach's Ten Commandments in the refectory and an original room furnished by Luther in 1535. Kids love the new exhibit in the cellar, which uses wooden models and sensor- activated …
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Grüne Zitadelle
It's piglet pink and resembles an iced birthday cake accidentally stuck in the oven for a few minutes. It has towers, turrets, golden spheres, trees growing from its facade and meadows sprouting on its rooftops. Right across from the cathedral, the Grüne Zitadelle is Magdeburg's newest, brightest and most inspired landmark. Completed in 2005, it was the final design of Viennese artist Friedensreich Hundertwasser and perfectly reflects his philosophy of creating highly unique spaces in harmony with nature, an 'oasis for humanity', as the master himself put it. Inside are offices, flats and shops, as well as a small hotel and a cafe. If you understand German, join the one-…
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Magdeburg Cathedral
Magdeburg was established as a trading post by Charlemagne in 805, but the city was made great by King Otto I, whose tomb is found in its weather-beaten Gothic Magdeburg Cathedral. Apparently the first of its kind on German soil when it was erected between 1209 and 1363, the twin-towered Dom features an impressive high-ceilinged interior and art spanning eight centuries.
Highlights include a pensive WWI memorial by Ernst Barlach and, through the doors beside it - push hard, the latch jams - the sculpture of the Magdeburger Virgins (dating from the 13th century and undergoing renovation).
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Haus der Geschichte
If you want to catch a glimpse of daily life beyond the Iron Curtain, pop by the Haus der Geschichte. The ground floor is devoted to temporary exhibitions, while the two upper levels take you through recreated GDR-era living rooms, children's rooms and kitchens alongside such environs as a pub, a store, a kindergarten and other public spaces. There's something oddly endearing about the toys, clunky early consumer items, and the tins and jars that would have been sheer gold for the son recreating the good ol' East in the movie Good Bye, Lenin!
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Haus Muche/Schlemmer
The Haus Muche/Schlemmer makes it apparent that the room proportions and some of the experiments, such as low balcony rails, don't really cut it in the modern world. At the same time, you also realise how startlingly innovative other features are. The partially black bedroom here is also intriguing; look out for the leaflet explaining the amusing story behind it - Marcel Breuer apparently burst in to paint it when reluctant owner Georg Muche was away on business.
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Hundertwasserschule
How would you like to study grammar and algebra in a building where trees sprout from the windows and gilded onion domes balance above a rooftop garden? This fantastical environment is everyday reality for the lucky 1300 pupils of Wittenberg's Hundertwasserschule. It was the penultimate work of eccentric Viennese artist, architect and eco-visionary Friedensreich Hundertwasser, who was famous for quite literally thinking 'outside the box'.
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Wittenberg English Ministry
From May to October, a changing roster of Lutheran guest preachers, usually from the US, holds free English-language services in Wittenberg's historic sites. Organised by the Wittenberg English Ministry, these are held at 5pm on Saturday in the Schlosskirche or the Stadtkirche. From Wednesday to Friday, half-hour services are also offered at 4.30pm in the tiny Fronleichnamskapelle (Corpus Christi Chapel) attached to the Stadtkirche.
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Stahlhaus
The Stahlhaus is home to a Bauhaus information centre where you can pick up an English-language pamphlet describing the architecture or join a German-language tour. These take you inside one of Hannes Meyer's red-brick, exterior walkway-access apartment buildings (the so-called Laubenganghäuser ) as well as to the Konsumgebäude (co-op building, still the site of a communal shop).
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Umweltbundesamt
In 2005 Dessau confirmed its reputation as an architectural trailblazer with the opening of the eye-catching new digs of the Umweltbundesamt. Built using the latest ecological technologies, its coloured and textured facade makes a striking sight as your train pulls into town. Public art graces the parklike outdoor areas, while the lofty, light-flooded forum is open to visitors.
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Town Church of St Mary
If the Schlosskirche was the billboard used to advertise the forthcoming Reformation, the twin-towered Town Church of St Mary was where the ecumenical revolution began, with the world's first Protestant worship services in 1521. It was also here that Luther preached his famous Lectern sermons in 1522, and where he married ex-nun Katharina von Bora three years later.
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Winckelmann-Museum
A 16m-tall, 45-tonne Trojan Horse (the world's largest replica, according to the Guinness Book of Records ) sits on the grounds of the Winckelmann-Museum. The Museum is devoted to the father of modern archaeology, local boy Johann Joachim Winckelmann (1717-68). You can climb into the belly of the horse and enjoy great views from the top.
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Jahrtausendturm
The conical Jahrtausendturm at the Elbauenpark is an unusual attraction. It soars 60m high and bills itself as the world's tallest wooden tower. It's fun to walk up its external spiral walkway and it looks wonderful when lit up at night. German-speakers will also be attracted by the fun, hands-on experiments and physics exhibits within.
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Kunstmuseum Kloster Unser Lieben Frauen
Magdeburg's oldest building, a decommissioned medieval monastery, is now the Kunstmuseum Kloster Unser Lieben Frauen and presents regional sculptures and contemporary art from Saxony-Anhalt. The front door, designed by popular local artist Heinrich Apel (b 1935), is fun: you knock with the woman's necklace and push down on the man's hat to enter.
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Kurt-Weill-Zentrum
Haus Feininger, former home of Lyonel Feininger, now pays homage to another German icon with the Kurt-Weill-Zentrum. There's a room devoted to Dessau-born Weill, who later became playwright Bertolt Brecht's musical collaborator in Berlin, and composed The Threepenny Opera and its hit 'Mack the Knife'.
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Meisterhäuser
On leafy Ebertallee, a 15-minute walk west of the Hauptbahnhof, the three remaining Meisterhäuser line up for inspection. The leading lights of the Bauhaus movement lived together as neighbours in these white cubist structures that exemplify the Bauhaus aim of 'design for living' in a modern industrial world.
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Melanchthon Haus
The rather text-heavy Melanchthon Haus discusses the life of university lecturer and humanist Philipp Melanchthon. An expert in ancient languages, Melanchthon helped Luther translate the Bible into German from Greek and Hebrew, becoming the preacher's friend and his most eloquent advocate.
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Bauhausgebäude
Across the world, many modernist masterpieces have fallen into ruin and, for a while, it looked as though a similar fate might befall the seminal Bauhausgebäude. Fortunately, major restoration, completed in 2006, successfully staved off the wrecking ball.
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Haus Kandinsky/Klee
The Haus Kandinsky/Klee is most notable for the varying pastel shades in which Wassily Kandinsky and Paul Klee painted their walls (re-created today). There's also biographical information about the two artists and special exhibitions about their work.
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Schlosskirche
Did or didn't he (Luther) nail those 95 theses to the door of the Schlosskirche ? We'll never know for sure, for the original portal was destroyed by fire in 1760 and replaced in 1858 with a massive bronze version inscribed with the theses in Latin.
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Exhibit
Lucas Cranach's old residential and work digs have been rebooted as a beautifully restored cultural complex built around two courtyards that often echo with music and readings. There's a permanent exhibit on the man, his life and his contemporaries.
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Galerie im Cranachhaus
Alongside the Lutherhaus, the former homes of two other Reformation stalwarts are now museums. The Galerie im Cranachhaus is devoted to artist Lucas Cranach the Elder, who lived in Wittenberg during the reformation and captured the action in fine detail.
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Anhaltisches Theater Dessau
The Anhaltisches Theater Dessau is a rather pompous neo-Roman structure that was commissioned by the Nazis and is at odds with most of the town's architecture, whether it be Bauhaus or GDR.
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Schlossturm
Next door to the Schlosskirche, you can climb the city's landmark Schlossturm, but be warned that the floor feels a little shaky in parts, and the view is expansive rather than breathtaking.
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Technikmuseum Hugo Junkers
Aviation fans will be wowed by the vintage aircraft at the Technikmuseum Hugo Junkers. Tram 1 goes straight to the museum (get off at Junkerspark) from the Hauptbahnhof.
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