Gartenreich Dessau Wörlitz

Oranienbaum-Wörlitz, Germany, Germany

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The Gartenreich Dessau-Wörlitz (Garden Kingdom of Dessau-Wörlitz) is a UNESCO World Heritage Site located in the Oranienbaum-Wörlitz district of Saxony-Anhalt, Germany, covering about 142–143 square kilometres along the Elbe River.

Created between 1764 and 1800 by Prince Leopold III Friedrich Franz von Anhalt-Dessau after he was inspired by English landscape gardens and Enlightenment ideas during his travels to England, Italy, France, and the Netherlands, it is considered the first German landscape park laid out in the English style. The kingdom is not just a collection of palaces and gardens but a unified cultural landscape designed as a beautiful, educational environment open to everyone, blending nature with cultural elements through flowing transitions.

It features numerous parks, palaces, and gardens embedded in the Elbe floodplain, including the famous Wörlitzer Park with abundant water areas, plus the Dutch-inspired baroque garden at Oranienbaum, the Georgium, Mosigkau, and others. The landscape includes artistic structures from antiquity to classicism such as temples, bridges, sculptures, a synagogue, a model of Rome's Pantheon, and even an erupting model of Mount Vesuvius, all serving an educational mission covering horticulture, agriculture, and architecture.