On a nice sunny day I decided to do a day trip from Berlin to Saxony Anhalt. My first stop of the day was the town of Coswig, located right on the bank of the Elbe river. Once there I left the train station and headed into town, reaching shortly after the church of St Nikolai. Built as a romanesque building in the 12th century it was destroyed during the Schmalkaldic War in 1547, rebuilt after it suffered damaged during the Thirty Years' War and again refurbished at the end of the 17th century when it took its current form. The interior featured a nice baroque furnishing while the exterior still held an impressive 6m high gothic portal from the original church. From the church I walked over to the main square, with its town hall, also destroyed in the Schmalkaldic War but rebuilt in a Renaissance-style incorporating some elements of the late Gothic predecessor. The building was then extended in the 19th and 20th centuries. A little further, on the western side of town I then reached the castle. Originally a structure from the 12th century was located there, but was destroyed along with the rest of the town in the Schmalkaldic War. It was rebuilt thereafter, and expanded during the 17th and then 18th centuries into its impressive baroque form. Unforunately though the castle has fallen into disrepair and currently finds itself in a pitiful condition. Nonethrless it was an admirable structure and looked much better from afar as I walked away from it. I reached the bank of the Elbe river and here then waited for a ferry to take me to the other side. Along with a couple of cyclists we paid our ticket and were ferried to the other bank. Once there I followed the cycle path and after a few kilometers reached the Wörlitzer Park which I had previously visited. This cultural landscape and Unesco world heritage site is known as the Dessau-Wörlitz Garden Realm was created in the 18th century under the regency of Duke Leopold III of Anhalt-Dessau and is one of the first and largest English parks in Germany and continental Europe. I walked through it and enjoyed the beauty of its trees, lakes and atmosphere before continuing on southwards. I left the park behind and headed through open countryside until I reached the next village, Horstdorf. Once I passed the village I reached a main road a few hundred meters later went out of it to enter a small forest. At the end of it I then came to the park of the Oranienbaum Palace. The main alleway that cut right through the middle of the park had a beautiful blooming lane of rhododendrons. Originally a baroque garden it was transformed into a landscape garden at the end of the 18th century English landscape gardener Sir William Chambers into the only English-Chinese garden still largely preserved in Germany. In fact it sill featùures a nice five-storey pagoda, a Chinese teahouse accessible from the water and several arched bridges. On the southern side, there's the Orangerie, built in 1811 and measuring 175m in length and thus one of the largest in Europe. On the eastern end of the park I then reached the palace itself. It was built between 1681 and 1685 as a summer residence for Princess Henriette Catharina, wife of Prince John George II of Anhalt-Dessau. After the death of the prince in 1693, the palace was rebuilt for the widow as her residence into the present three-winged palace with clear dutch influence. I walked around it and admired it from the other side, the main part facing the city, as well. I didn't go inside as it required a visit with a guided tour only and I wished to continue onwards. I visited the town which developed around the palace after its construction, including the baroque church from 1712. Then I headed out eastwards and left the town behind. Soon after I reached the small village of Goltewitz with its village church dating to the 13th and 14th centuries. I continued onwards and entered a large forest which i followed for most of the rest of the way. Trough some deep parts and then a couple of open fields I continued so for several kilometers until I eventually reached the remote station of Radis where I could get a train back to Berlin.
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