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The Elbe River

What with the sausages, the beers, the oompah bands, you may have forgotten how beautiful it is in Germany. The Elbe River tour will remind you. The Elbe passes through the stunning scenery of northern Germany on its way to the North Sea, cutting a course as full of history as it is of beauty. We will follow it upstream into the Czech Republic, where the river’s name changes to Labe but the scenic pleasures continue. Despite the cliffs and mountain vistas, our own course is not onerous. We’re on the bicycle path along the river much of the way.

Castles are plentiful and we will visit several, but for architecture buffs there’s more to see than medieval turrets. Dessau was the seat of the Bauhaus movement before Hitler closed it down; Dresden has been much restored following its World War II bombing; and Prague, our final destination, is famously the setting of Gothic, baroque and Renaissance buildings still functioning in daily life. Aside from the natural wonders of the country we’ll be passing through, we’ll explore the English-style Dessau-Wőrlitz Garden Realm, laid out by a German prince in the 18th century. In Wittenberg we’ll see the church door where Martin Luther nailed his theological arguments and divided the Christian world for ever after.

Meissen porcelain came from this part of the country. We will not only have lunch in that ancient and lovely city but also visit the Meissen Porcelain Works. A completely different experience will take place with our visit to the Hugo Junkers Aircraft Museum in Dessau, where the life and works of the pacifist aircraft engineer whose designs were to revolutionize not only planes but, ironically, their use in war, are displayed. Another memorable visit will take us to the World War II “model” German camp, Terezin, which presented one face to the world and another to the unfortunate political prisoners of all sorts who were held there before being sent on to their deaths.   
   
The final day on the bicycles takes us to Melníc, a wine town in beer country. We will visit the Lobkowitz Château there, where the wine cellar dates to the 13th century and the Château itself has Gothic touches, baroque touches, and the peculiar decoration called sgrafitti in which the surface is cut away to show a contrasting layer beneath. Two nights in Prague close the tour, bracketing a day to explore that storied city by walking tour and on your own.

Not to put down sausage, beer, and oompah bands, but bicycling along the Elbe River through Germany and into the Czech Republic will bring new adventures, new sights, and a new understanding of an interesting and beautiful section of Europe.