ツェルビッヒの天然記念物・トップ20

Lake Ludwig near Holzweißig (Saxony-Anhalt) is an idyllic natural bathing lake that originated from a former open-cast lignite mine in Holzweißig-West. It offers a popular sandy beach with a designated swimming area, good water quality, and is a peaceful destination for hikers and cyclists near Bitterfeld.

The Ludwigsee was the oldest coal mine in the Goitzsche. By the time of reunification in 1990, it had already been mined out and a small lake had been created. The groundwater, which rose until 2007, caused the lake to grow to over 100 hectares. The Ludwigsee was initially fenced off for many years because its steep banks and unrehabilitated slopes were prone to landslides. After the final water level was reached, the dangerous steep edges were secured by blasting and the fence could be dismantled. The gradual development of the bank area can be clearly observed here.

The Cösitz manor (also Cösitz Castle or Cösitz Manor) In the year 750, there was already a Sorbian rampart on the site of today's manor, which was mentioned in documents in 839 when it was conquered by the Saxons. From 1370 to the middle of the 16th century, the complex was the ancestral seat of the Kositz family. After the plague of 1636 and pillage by Swedish troops in the Thirty Years' War, the village and the manor were desolate. In 1877, the rampart of the castle was demolished, which later enabled the construction of the east wing of the building. The building known today as the castle was built on behalf of Hubert Freiherr von dem Bussche-Lohe and his wife Jeannette von Wuthenau in 1891. The west wing was built in 1937, as was the English landscape park. The design for the new wing was drawn up by the retired senior building inspector and architect Hans Volkmann. The Baron had already had a small living space extension to the building planned by the man from Halle in 1933/34. It remained in the von dem Bussche family until it was put up for auction in 1945. In recent years, the manor has been renovated and apartments have been built. In the landscape park there is still a beech tree with a trunk diameter of six meters and a crown of 38 meters, making it one of the thickest beech trees in Germany. Remnants of the ramparts up to five meters high have been preserved. Source: Wikipedia

Great park with castle, grotto & copper beech.

Castle in Cösitzer Park. Great grounds with pond, grotto and copper beech.

Even if the name suggests it: the Franzenstein near Seeben is not a grave of a Frenchman, at least not in the first sense, but a prehistoric menhir from the Neolithic Age (3,600 to 2,200 B.C.E.). This stone setting can be found on a lonely path between Tornau, Seeben and the Posthornteich under a tree that shades it. Due to the height (1.82 meters) of the stone, it is assumed that it was intended to represent an embodiment of the deceased with whom a dialogue could be sought here. The legend of a French officer who is said to have died or been buried here was also linked to this stone. There used to be two chestnut trees on its side, today the path is called after the stone. Source:https://www.halle-im-bild.de/fotos/friedhoefe-ruhestaetten/franzosenstein-seeben

The park is pretty. The building is stylistically rather questionable.

Access to the Cösitz castle and castle park