Georgium Park

In 1780 Prince Johann Georg (1748-1811), the younger brother of the reigning Prince Leopold III (Anhalt-Dessau), began laying out his large landscape garden northwest of Dessau. The park turned out to be enormous, with an area of 3 square kilometers. In fact, we didn't even expect to see it all and strolled only in the southern part.

At the beginning of the 20th century, the park was neglected and built up uncontrollably. As a result, residential buildings reached the very center of the park. Restoration began only in the 1960s, and in 2000 the park was included in the UNESCO World Heritage List as part of the Garden Kingdom of Dessau-Vörlitz.












The Georgium Castle was built by Georg in the style of classicism. It is now home to an art gallery. Some works of art were stolen by U.S. soldiers and later appeared on the American art market. In July 1945, the Red Army Trophy Commission confiscated most of the available inventory and exported it to the Soviet Union in April 1946: 800 paintings and 17,000 engravings. In 1958/59, 600 paintings, 1,000 hand drawings and 10,000 engravings were returned.


Entrance to the Dessau Zoo, which is located in the park.


Getting there: Parking 51.841131, 12.233435. The Dessau train station is a stone's throw from the park.