Tourist Attractions in Bernburg

The Augustinian convent in the new section of Bernburg (c. 1300) is incorporated in the town walls.

In Calbe, 13km/8mi northeast of Bernburg, several Renaissance and Baroque houses can be found in the Markt.

The interior of the 12th C St Laurence's church in Calbe was modernized in 1964-65.

The parish church of St Stephen in Calbe, just outside Bernburg, is a Late Gothic hall-church (15th C.) with a brick-built porch, two low towers and a Late Gothic winged altar, pulpit and font (by U. Hachenberg, 1561-62).

The cruciform church in Bernburg has a tower and dome designed by J. A. P. Bunge and built between 1827 and 1829.

Of the old houses in Bernburg, mostly Renaissance and Baroque, the following are particularly notable: in Thälmannplatz No. 28 (1746) and No. 2 (Late Gothic, c. 1530), with benches in the entrance doorway; in Breite Strasse No. 25 (c. 1600; the old Ducal Chancery), No. 103 (1550; half-timbered) and No. 115 (1775), in Late Baroque style, with a richly decorated facade.

The Neustädter Brücke, in Bernburg, has several arches and was renovated in 1787.

Nienburg, 5km/3mi northeast of Bernburg, has a church which originally belonged to a Benedictine monastery. A masterpiece of German High Gothic, it was begun in 1242 as a basilica and completed after 1282 as a hall-church. Notable features of the interior are a Late Romanesque column with representations of the months, a painting by Lucas Cranach the Younger (1570) and a number of 14th century grave slabs.

The Nienburger Torturm in Bernburg has a Renaissance gable and is one of the few surviving towers in the town walls.

In Plötzkau, 8km/5mi south of Bernburg, is a Renaissance palace (1566-73) built on the foundations of a medieval castle, with 21 dormers and four main gables.

On the banks of the Saale in Bernburg can be found the Krumbholz recreation area, with a zoo, a Red Indian village, a Fairytale Garden and a miniature railroad. There are boat trips on the Saale.

The parish church of St Mary (13th C.) in Bernburg has a richly sculptured choir (c. 1420).

The unfinished Late Gothic hall-church of St Nicholas, in Bernburg, has parts of an Early Gothic basilica.

The parish church of St Stephen (12th C.), in the Waldau district of Bernburg, is an aisleless Romanesque church with a flat roof.

The walls round the old town and new town sections of Bernburg (15th-17th C.) are almost completely preserved.