A bike tour along the Street of the German Language

Short Description

On this tour, we follow the Road of the German Language from Köthen through the World Heritage Region of Anhalt-Dessau-Wittenberg. We ride on the EuroVelo R1 cycle path from Köthen through the Eike-von-Repgow village of Reppichau to Dessau. Continuing on the Mulde Cycle Path and the Elbe Cycle Path, the tour leads us through Vockerode and Wörlitz, passing through the picturesque Elbe floodplains to Wittenberg. We then follow the Coal | Steam | Light Cycle Path, which takes us past the post-mining lakes of the Dübener Heide to Gräfenhainichen and the Book Village of Mühlbeck-Friedersdorf.

Description

The German language is over 1200 years old and with around 100 million speakers, it is the most spoken native language in Europe today. One in five Europeans speaks it as their mother tongue, and one in seven as a foreign language. It is the key to education, integration, and participation in German society. The expressive power and beauty of the German language have inspired poets and thinkers.

In the city of Köthen in the World Heritage Region, Prince Ludwig of Anhalt-Köthen founded the Fruchtbringende Gesellschaft in 1617. As the first German language society, it significantly contributed to the development of a unified German language. In addition to Köthen, many other places where the rich cultural language German was significantly shaped are part of the tourist route Road of the German Language. On this tour, we follow the thematic route and utilize regional and cross-regional cycle paths.

Route Description

From the starting point, we ride to Köthen Castle and park the bicycles in the bike boxes in the Prinzessinnengarten at the castle. A visit to the German Language Adventure World in Köthen Castle is worthwhile. Plan at least two hours for the exhibition visit. After an overview of the history of the German language, we enter the Ludwigsraum, located in the princes living room. Here, the emblems of members of the Fruchtbringende Gesellschaft hung almost four hundred years ago. Today, the emblems of the members are displayed on the walls again. In the center stands Prince Ludwig, the founder of the Fruchtbringende Gesellschaft. At an interactive shop window, we can search for members of the Fruchtbringende Gesellschaft in a virtual library. We continue and can enjoy creating words with Harsdörffers large word-finding ring. Martin Luther was an inspiration to the members of the Fruchtbringende Gesellschaft. The next room is dedicated to him with powerful word creations and phrases. What would the German language be without its dialects? A listening station in the next room allows us to experience 70 different dialects of the German-speaking region. Passing through the standard language of newsreaders, we arrive at the language work of the 21st century. Younger children can settle in the small language bus and stamp to their hearts content. If our feet are tired, we can sit in the cinema hall and conclude the adventure through the German language with a movie.

Johann Sebastian Bach also performed at Köthen Castle nearly three hundred years ago. On the same floor as the German Language Adventure World, you will find the Bach Memorial Site, the prehistoric collection, and the national cultural heritage Naumannmuseum, the worlds oldest ornithological collection, practically unchanged since 1830.

Further Information

Learn more about the Road of the German Language: www.strasse-der-deutschen-sprache.de