Dessau

60km southwest of Magdeburg, was once an attractive town at the centre of a patchwork of palaces, parks and gardens. The latter have survived, but war damage, Stalinist rebuilding programmes and years of GDR neglect have made the place rather workaday. But what does justify the journey here are remnants of the Bauhaus movement. Built here in 1925, the Bauhaus design school once made it the hub of Modernism and the first place where many modern designs were implemented – these include the Meisterhäuser, the villas of the most influential thinkers, and the Törten, the first modern housing-estate. All this makes it a place of pilgrimage for architecture students, but it is interesting enough to appeal to anyone inquisitive about the roots of modern design.

The "Bauhaus" (1926 by Walter Gropius) is a trendsetting building for modern architecture. It is 5 minutes walk from the main station (use west exit, not the main exit). It houses a postgradual college ("Bauhauskolleg") and exibition rooms. Opening hours 1000-1800 hrs.

Master houses, Ebertallee 1 -7. 5 minutes walk from the Bauhaus/10 minutes from the station. The Master Houses (1926 by Walter Gropius), dwelling houses for the Bauhaus teachers ("masters"), are an ensemble of originally one single and three double houses.

Georgium, Puschkinallee, 5 minutes walk from the Bauhaus, 10 minutes from the station. The Georgium park, part of the world cultural heritage, is a landscape park with baroque and english elements of late 18th century, which stretches almost from the station north up to the Elbe river. There is unlimited access to the park (beware of boars in the nighttime though).

Luisium, Waldersee (3 km north east oft the city centre). The Luisium is a English landscape park, which continues into the meadows of Mulde and Elbe. Small palace (rather a villa). Admission to the park is free.

Junkers Museum, Kühnauer Strasse 161a (1,5 km west of the city centre), open daily 1000-1700, admission 3 Euro. The exibition allows to discover the amazing engineering work of the aircraft pioneer Hugo Junkers.

Back in the Garden Realm the Georgium is the most treasured landscape park after Wörlitz and was created for Leopold III’s younger brother, Johann Georg.

The Georgium, in woodland on the floodplain about a kilometre from the Elbe has its fair share of follies like the ruins of a Roman portico, an Ionian temple, a triumphal arch and the enigmatic vestiges of a bridge.

The Neoclassical palace houses the Anhaltische Gemäldegalerie (Anhalt Painting Gallery), and has works from the 1700s to the 1900s by Dutch Golden Age painter Johannes Mytens, the landscape painter Jacob Philipp Hackert and the Realist Wilhelm Trübner.

The Residenzschloss in Dessau’s former old town was one of the first Renaissance buildings in Central Germany when it was completed in the mid-16th century.

Of this multi-winged palace on the central section know as the Johannbau still stands today after the complex was hit by bombs in the Second World War.

The surviving section, with curved gables and tower with a spiral staircase, is the venue for Dessau’s museum of city history.

Some standout exhibits are the model of the Dessau Synagogue, which was burned down during Kristallnacht in 1938, a cast iron collection and a trove of some 5,000 coins and medals.

Also seek out the educational models from the Philanthropium, an Enlightenment-era school from the late-18th century.

In Dessau you can join a cycling and walking trail that begins in Czechia and weaves its way across Germany for almost 1,000 kilometres before it meets the North Sea at Cuxhaven.

The riverside scenery in Dessau is as green as it gets, and the landscape is scattered with noble estates for detours.

If you’re in the mood for a day trip by bike you could reach Wittenberg upriver in a couple of hours.

Whether you go by bike or on foot, keep this restaurant building next to the Elbe in mind.

The Kornhaus was designed by Bauhaus architect Carl Fieger who worked under Gropius for many years as his draft artist.

He had a hand in the design of both the main Bauhaus building and the Masters’ Houses.

The building’s name comes from a granary going back to the 1700s and as a restaurant quickly became a favourite with tourists after it opened in 1930. The Kornhaus has two stories on the street side, with a stairway leading up to the beautiful, single-storey riverfront dining area, lit by tall windows and with a rotunda offering clear views of the river.

This 11-hectare space a few steps from the Hauptbahnhof (main train station) is the largest recreation area in Dessau.

The park surrounds the former mausoleum for the Dukes of Anhalt, a striking Neo-Renaissance monument finished in 1898. The main draw in the park is the zoo, which has won awards for animal welfare.

A lot of the 120 species at Tierpark Dessau are native to Central Europe, though there are a few exotic animals like jaguars, coatis, tamarins and alpacas.

These share the zoo with more familiar creatures including goats, lynxes, wolves and deer.

A recent addition to the park is a reproduction of the dune environments of the Wadden Sea, home to pied avocets, lapwings and other waders and waterfowl.

Dessau has always been famous for its numerous restaurants that serve delicious German food. However, fans of other culinary traditions will surely find a place to eat with ease. Landhaus Dessau remains one of the most popular restaurants in the city. This is the place where visitors can get acquainted with peculiarities of the local cuisine. Large selection of meat dishes, interesting side dishes and desserts will surely please fans of German food, and your favorite beverages will become an excellent addition to food. Pachterhaus restaurant is a no less attractive dining facility. The restaurant serves guests every day until late in the evening. Wide choice of dishes and cozy atmosphere will help to relax and have some rest after a busy day.

Taverna Zorbas restaurant is simply the best choice for family rest. Adults will surely appreciate a large selection of German beer and interesting homemade dishes, and young visitors will be delighted with fragrant pastries and soft drinks. Taverna Zorbas is always distinguished by relaxed casual atmosphere that makes rest in this restaurant even more enjoyable. Sweet-tooth travellers will fall in love with Eiscafe Palermo coffee house. According to local residents, this is the place where visitors can try the best ice cream in the city. The menu of the coffee house contains several dozen types of this popular delicacy.
Hope this helped !!!