Wednesday, May 30, 2018
It was time to check out of the Viking Astrild and continue with the land portion of the Elegant Elbe cruise. We boarded motor coaches, which would take us on today's included excursion with stops at the palaces of Wörlitz and Potsdam.
 |
An elderly couple was always ready to wave
as our motor coaches left the Klein
Wittenberg dock, as they did yesterday |
Wörlitz Palace is part of the Garden Realm of Dessau-Wörlitz that includes several towns and their palaces. It is a UNESCO World Heritage site as an example of the "principles of the Age of Enlightenment to the design of landscape." Wörlitz Palace and Park (1769-1773) were developed by Duke Leopold III of Anhalt-Dessau after he returned from a Grand Tour of Europe, and wished to replicate the naturalistic landscapes he saw in England. The park was meant to be educational in terms of architecture, gardening, and agriculture, and thus was open to the public from the beginning.
 |
St Peter's Church (1805-1809) at the edge of Wörlitz Park;
Martin Luther preached here |
 |
Espaliered crabapple trees on the kitchen
buildings/Küchengebäuden (1770-1772,
by Friedrich Wilhelm von Erdmannsdorff) (KSS) |
 |
| More espaliered plants (KSS) |
 |
The Gray House/Graues Haus that was the private
residence of Louise, the wife of Duke Leopold III,
because the palace was accessible to the public |
 |
Wörlitz Palace/Schloss Wörlitz (1769-1773, by
Friedrich Wilhelm von Erdmannsdorff) was the first
neo-Classical building in Germany, housed the
Wedgewood Collection that was open to the public |
 |
| Surprise! We were going for a "gondola" ride |
 |
| A neo-Gothic conservatory/Palmenhaus |
 |
Our "gondolier" takes a break from rowing to answer questions,
with the Wolf Bridge/Wolfsbrücke behind him |
 |
| Heading down the Wolf Canal |
 |
| A Gothic folly (building that is more decoration than functional) |
 |
| Peter & Beth on the gondola cruise |
 |
| Hornzackenbrücke/bridge |
 |
| A few leftover rhododendron blooms |
 |
| White Bridge/Weisse Brücke |
 |
| The stone High Bridge/Hohe Brücke |
 |
| Agnes Brücke |
 |
An elderly couple hot-foots it past Golden Urn/Goldene Urn,
erected in memory of the daughter of Leopold III, who died at birth |
 |
Nuphar lutea/Yellow Water-lily, plus a dragonfly
(against the large leaf on the left)! |
Suddenly a very loud banging/whomping and splashing sound was heard behind us, and startled, we all turned to see a swan that seemed to have almost landed in the boat!
 |
| The swan then followed us for parts of the trip |
 |
A vineyard with 99 plants, because with 100 or more
plants you have to officially register and pay taxes,
according to our gondolier |
 |
Nymphaeum (1767-1768), behind which is a wine cellar that
is below the vineyard hill |
We were given free time after the gondola ride.
 |
Cable ferry, of which there are several, used for crossing arms or
to islands of the huge man-made lake in Wörlitz Park |
 |
Synagogue (1787-1790) to express Duke Leopold III's tolerance,
and to replace one he had torn down to build his gardens |
The story is that on Kristallnacht in 1938, the garden director of the park, Hans Hallervorden, prevented the complete demolition of the synagogue.
 |
| A street in town |
We returned to the motor coaches to go to Potsdam.
 |
| Asparagus fields |
 |
| Wind farm |
Next: Potsdam.
No comments:
Post a Comment