2010 was a very busy year for Saxony-Anhalt politicians. They decided, yet again, to morph a bunch of independent towns and villages together — like they did with Raguhn-Jeßnitz.
It’s political goings on don’t change the fact that Raguhn-Jeßnitz (or parts of it, anyway) fall into the Middle Elbe Biosphere Reserve, and within the Düben Heath.
Oh yeah, lots and lots of hiking trails through the countryside. Biking paths are always an option too along this glacial valley.
Whether you’re hoofing it, or biking it, the sites of Raguhn-Jeßnitz won’t change like the seasons. The Baroque Garden Maze in the village of Altjeßnitz doesn’t change its location.
The maze, BTW, is located alongside where Altjeßnitz Castle used to be. It had originally been built here in 1699, destroyed by a fire in 1946 — and by the time the 1970s rolled around, the castle was totally demolished.
One of Martin Luther’s contemporaries, Philipp Melanchthon, was here visiting the Altjeßnitz Village Church (which looks more like a chapel) in 1533.
In Jeßnitz, a town in the Düben Heath, also is a cloister ruin to see. The Klosterruine Salegast is located in the Salegast Forest; and the Fascist Memorial can be found on Leopoldstraße.
I’m sorry if it seems like I’m all over the place, just trying to hit up all of Raguhn-Jeßnitz’s villages.
For anyone interested in visiting the UNESCO Middle Elbe Biosphere Reserve, the villages of Lingenau, Tornau vor der Heide, and Marke are found along its edge.
Marke also has the Bockwindmühle (a mill) and the Glockenturm (Bell Tower) to see; and it’s where the annual Village Festival (at Pentecost) is held.
Schierau is another village along the Biosphere, and it’s got a crumbling brick, and a military defense-like tower Village Church.
By no means am I saying this like a bad thing — I don’t know what it is about this decaying church, I love it just the way it is.
Schierau is also where you’ll find the Kriegerstein, or Warrior Stone. The big boulder with the Iron Cross was originally put here back in the 1920s for the 13 men it lost during World War I. After World War II, a memorial plaque was added.
WWII history doesn’t end here. In the town of Raguhn, there was a subcamp of both the Buchenwald and Ravensbrück Concentration Camps here.
Thankfully they’re long gone, but the St. James Church and the St. George Church still remain.
Maybe the politicians had a point by combining all these villages — it keeps it all together in one place.
