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Of all the holiday areas of the former East Germany, the
Land of Saxony is one of the most enticing. It offers a
landscape of vast forests, lakes and mountains, age-old
cities such as Dresden and Leipzig, and a wealth of
cultural and historic attractions. Now, before mass
tourism arrives, is an ideal time to visit this
fascinating area.
Take the Elbe Valley, with its lovely palaces like
Moritzburg and Pillnitz (both outside Dresden), and its
steep granite slopes dotted with orchards and vineyards.
On the Elbe stands Meissen, where Europe’s first
porcelain factory was founded in 1710.
In the Erzgebirge (Ore Mountains) on the Czech border,
silver was discovered in 1168, and its wealth created
many interesting town centres and great Gothic churches,
such as those at Freiberg, Schneeberg and Annaberg-Buchholz.
An interesting gateway to the region is the historic
commercial and university town of Chemnitz, which was
saddled with the name Karl-Marx-Stadt under the ‘old
regime’. Chemnitz possesses the smallest castle in
Saxony, the Rabenstein, a fine newly restored opera
house and a “Petrified Forest” whose
250-million-year-old trunks stand in the very heart of
the town centre.
For sheer scenic beauty, visitors will find it hard to
resist “Saxon Switzerland” along the Elbe upstream from
Dresden. This is a highly romantic landscape of huge
eroded rocks and precipitous cliffs that make it a
paradise for the experienced climber. The views from
such spots as the Bastei promontory certainly compensate
for the climb!
Halle, close by in the neighbouring land of Saxony-Anhalt,
draws music-lovers to its Händel House, where the town’s
most famous son, the composer of the “Messiah”, was
born. Halle, founded over 1,000 years ago on the basis
of its rich salt sources, is now a centre of modern
business and industry but still retains a solid core of
fine old churches, houses and civic buildings.
Lastly, film-fans who enjoyed “The Great Escape” will
want to visit Colditz Castle, the scene of some of the
most famous prisoner-of- war escape exploits of the
Second World War. |
