Tom`s travels: Köthen, Bernburg, Aschersleben & Eisleben (11/06/2022)

Taking advantage of the 9 euro monthly ticket introduced by the German government for three months during the summer, we decided to do a day trip using regional trains and visit a few cities on the way. We left Berlin early and reached the first stop of the day, the town of Köthen. Once there from the train station, we then headed on to visit the city center, passing first by a small square, the Holzmarkt. A few more meters then brought me to the central square, the Marktplatz, characterized by the large structure of the church of St Jakob. Built in the 15th century in a Gothic style it was partially refurbished in a neo-gothic style during the 19th century. To the south of the square was the tall and impressive Halle Tower, a medieval tower from 1462 facing the town of Halle and once part of the fortifications encircling the old town. Reaching then the northern part of town we walked through the Schloss Köthen, the town's castle. The complex was begun as a castle around the 12th century and later turned into a palace for the Princes and Dukes of Anhalt. Its main structure was rebuilt between 1597 and 1660, with additions in the 18th century, and the site is famous as Johann Sebastian Bach was employed there as Hofkapellmeister of Prince Leopold from 1717 to 1723. After the walk around the main courtyard, we then headed back to the train station from where we then took a ride to the next town, Bernburg. At the station I then walked on foot through the city center, passing by the Schloßkirche St. Aegidien, a baroque church that was once a romanesque building and featuring the princely crypt. Shortly after the church we then passed by the city's town hall, a neo-renaissance building from 1895. Behind it, I then reached the town's main attraction, the large Bernburg Castle. It rises on high sandstone cliffs in the western part of town right above the Saale river. The castle was built over several centuries starting from the 12th century. Its oldest parts are the remains of the castle chapel and the imposing keep tower, Eulenspiegelturm. The Blue Tower and other parts are Gothic, while the rest is due to the reconstruction wanted by Prince Wolfgang, an early confessor of the Reformation, who had the western part of the so-called "Langhaus" of Bernburg Castle constructed starting in 1538 and turning it into one of the most impressive Renaissance palaces of Central Germany. At the end of the 17th century, some Baroque elements were also added to the castle. The castle interiors were closed as there was restructuring taking place, but the large central courtyard was still accessible so we walked around admiring the architecture and the view over the river as well. From there we then headed back to the train station, moving on to the next stop, Aschersleben. Again once there we headed on to visit the city center, soon approaching the 42m high Johannisturm, and gate, from 1380 and once part of the medieval walls that encircled the town. Right after it was the Schmale Heinrich, another tower, dating from 1442. Aschersleben is one of few German towns showing large segments of the medieval city wall, in fact around 1.8km of the original 2.2km are still preserved. Originally there were five city gates, but all but one, the Johannistor, were demolished in the 19th century. Several towers were demolished as well, out of 51 towers and bastions, 15 are still existing. Moving on, we passed by the Heilig-Kreuz-Kirche, originally dating to the 12th century but rebuilt after a fire in the 16th century. Right in front of it, we passed the nice town hall dating to 1517, and further, on the small but nice square, the Markt, enclosed by tenement houses. In the southern part of town, we came across the Stephanikirche, built in the 15th century in a gothic style it features a large three-naved interior and a single bell tower. After a walk around the rest of town admiring the nice architecture we headed to the bus station to take a ride to the last town of the day, Eisleben. Famous as both the hometown of Martin Luther and the place where he died it is therefore known as Lutherstadt Eisleben. The bus dropped us off just outside the western part of the old town, and from there we made our way through admiring the architecture. We first passed by the Knappenbrunnen, a fountain in a small picturesque square, and then reached the Andreaskirche, a late Gothic hall church from the 15th century where Luther gave his last four sermons in 1546. The church was unfortunately closed, but right next to it we then came to the Luthers Sterbehaus, a late Gothic patrician house built around 1500 and where it is believed Luther died on the 18th of February 1546. We just entered the building's courtyard as the house itself was a museum but we weren't particularly interested in seeing it. A few steps from there we then reached the central square, the Marktplatz, surrounded by nice and old buildings including the town hall, featuring a transition from late Gothic designs to those of the Renaissance. Further on we reached another of the town's main monuments, the Luthers Geburtshaus, a townhouse from the middle of the 15th century, in which Luther was born on the 10th of November 1483. Also a museum we decided to skip the visit as well, walking on to reach the nearby St.-Petri-Pauli-Kirche, originally dating to the 14th century and with a large tower dating to the end of the 15th century. It was here that Luther was baptized in 1483. The church was closed so we continued walking around the rest of town. After a nice round the city it was time to head to the train station from where we then got our ride back to Berlin.