Churches in the Garden Realm

This corresponded entirely to the ideal of the prince, who cared about nature and tolerance and understanding between religions. An expression of this attitude is the famous view of tolerance from the Elbe dike at the “Golden Urn” in Wörlitzer Park. From here you can see both the Jewish synagogue and the Protestant church of St. Peter. In the foreground is with the “warning altar” a commitment to nature.

Prince Franz had some churches of the Garden Kingdom rebuilt, others rebuilt. They are particularly committed to the neo-Gothic style, but also to the Neo-Romanesque style. The original Romanesque church of St. Petri Wörlitz, which was rebuilt in 1804-1809 in the English Tudor Gothic style, stands out in particular. The interior is preserved with its original equipment. In the tower of the church, the Bible Tower, there is an exhibition on the Bible and the church year. From the 66 meter high viewing platform you have the most beautiful view over the garden kingdom. Martin Luther had already preached here in 1532.

One of the first neo-Romanesque churches in Germany is the Evangelical Church in Großkühnau (1828-30) with equally charming interiors and magnificent galleries. The church of St. Bartholomäi in Dessau-Waldersee from the 1720s was rebuilt by Fürst in a classicist style. It received an obelisk as a very extravagant tower. At the back of the church is the final resting place of the prince and his wife Louise.

The original Romanesque church in Dessau-Mildensee is the southernmost example of Central German brick Romanesque; it was redesigned in the neo-Gothic style. The double tower façade of the neo-Gothic church Vockerode shines strikingly out into the landscape – you can see it particularly well from the motorway since the chimneys of the Vockeroder power plant were blown up. The neo-Gothic church in the village of Riesigk near Wörlitz was completely rebuilt. Princess Agnes, the sister of Prince Franz, is buried here. A special feature of the church in Rehsen is the baroque pulpit altar.

The town church oranienbaum (1712) with its elliptical floor plan is committed to an emphatically Reformed architecture. It is one of the few surviving Protestant central buildings in Anhalt – although it was later rebuilt.