Augustusburg Tourist Attractions
|
|
Situation and characteristics:Augustusburg, a charming little holiday resort in the central Erzgebirge, above the Zschopau valley, lies 13km/8mi east of Chemnitz. Its chief attraction is its Renaissance Schloss on the Schellenberg.
Funicular
From Erdmannsdorf station in the Zschopau valley, 13km/8mi east of Chemnitz, a funicular (1911) runs up to Augustusburg (length of track 1200 m/1300yd, height difference 168 m/551ft, time 8 minutes).
Augustusburg Palace
The Renaissance Schloss (1567-72; now a museum and youth hostel) in Augustusburg is the largest in the Erzgebirge, originally built as a hunting lodge for Elector Augustus I of Saxony. Of particular interest are the North Doorway, the "Heraldic Doorway" and the well-house, with the 130 m/425ft deep well and wooden windlass.Only fragments of the interior decoration have been preserved. In the Hasensaal (Hare Room) are a series of paintings (by H. Göding) of the "War of the Hares against the City of the Hunters and Hounds" (one of the popular "world turned upside down" themes). In the Venus Room there are also wall paintings by Göding.
Chapel
The Schlosskapelle (by Erhard van der Meer, 1572) in Augustusburg is an aisleless, barrel-vaulted chapel with two- and three-story galleries around three sides. It has a carved and gilded altar (probably from the Salzburg workshop of W. Schreckenfuss, 1571), an altarpiece by Lucas Cranach the Younger on which Elector Augustus and his family are depicted in front of Christ crucified, and a fine Baroque organ (by G. Reukewitz, 1758).
Museums
Within Schloss Augustusburg are a museum on the game animals and birds of the Erzgebirge and a motorcycle museum. In the stables behind the palace can be seen a collection of coaches (mainly from the royal court at Dresden).In the tower of the Lindenhaus is a collection of material on the architectural history of the palace. There are also periodic special exhibitions in the tower.
Surroundings
Switzerland of Hetzdorf
In the valley of the Flöha, near Augustusburg, is the Hetzdorfer Schweiz. In the villages of Hohenfichte and Hennersdorf are two old covered wooden bridges, of which very few have survived.
Adelsberg
There are pleasant walks through the Sternmühlental, near Augustusburg, to the Adelsberg (504 m/1,654ft; outlook tower).
