Elegant Elbe: Wörlitz Palace (5/30/2018)

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.