Saxony	Deutsch
Elbe	Moritzburg	Dresden Zwinger

I live in Saxony and am pleased to introduce this region of Germany to you. This site will hopefully provide you with some good travel advice and show you some of Saxony's highlights.

With the exception of some of the senior citizens, English is widely spoken in Saxony and people are known for their hospitality. 

There are several highlights in Saxony; I would recommend a visit to Dresden and to the area known as Saxony Switzerland near the Czech border. It is a great hiking area with huge sandstone mountains. It is only app. 70 miles far away from Prague, and makes for a notable side trip.

Now the details:
 

"Money is earned in Chemnitz and Zwickau, administered in Leipzig and spent in Dresden" (Saxony proverb)  Saxony was the industrial centre of the German Democratic Republic.

Unesco Heritage Sites: Park in Bad Muskau 

Scenic Routes: Via Sacra 500km 16 sacrale buildings in the Oberlausitz, Lower Silesia (Poland) and North Bohemia (Czech Republik), Silberstrasse tourismus-erzgebirge.de, Sächsiches Weinstrasse/ Saxon Wine Route  saechsisches-elbland.de,

National Parks: Saxonia Switzerland nationalpark-saechsische-schweiz.de, Nature Park: biosphaerenreservat-oberlausitz.de,

Biking tours:
Muldentalradweg muldentalradweg.de, Glauchau-Bad-Düben 80 km saechsisches-burgenland.de, 
Elberadweg: elberadweg.de, 
Oberlausitz Spree- bike trail or Niederlausitzer mountain-tourradwandern-oberlausitz.de,
Froschradweg 276 km spreeradweg.de/seiten/froschweg.html, oberlausitz.com, 

Hiking trails: 

Malerweg, vogtlandpanoramaweg.de,

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Big Towns  Chemnitz, Dresden, Leipzig

Chemnitz
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Karl Marx Monument

The Socialist Party (SED) renamed under their regency the city in Karl Marx Stadt, because of the many industrial workers living there. Because of its textile industry it was called the "Manchester of the east". "Chemnitz" has got its old name back in 1991. Photogenic is still the monument of "Karl Marx". There were some discussions of removing this socialistic relict, because Karl Marx hasn't had any reference to Chemnitz. But poor of sights, the council decided it has to remain as a part of the town's history. Early in the morning a bus goes from the central bus station to Prague/ Czechia, which returns in the afternoon. 

Halfway to Dresden is the renaissance castle "Augustusburg", which is enthroned on a hill, worth a visit. A funicular railway runs from Erdmannsdorf up to the castle, but walking is no problem. In the castle are some museum, but the most impressive thing is the building itself.  In Summer "Oederan" offers a park with 170 small-size miniature buildings of the Erzgebirge. 
There is a museum of an old coal mine in "Oelsnitz" ( 20 km west of Chemnitz ). 

Link: personal webside of a British living in Chemnitz chemnitz.co.uk,

 

Leipzig
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Town Hall 

Leipzig is still the trading centre of Saxony. The biggest trade fair between East and West was held in Leipzig before the fall of the wall, but today only some less important trade fairs are still taking place here. 
 

"Leipziger Demonstrationen" in 1989 The town was the nucleus of the resistance against the Socialistic regime in 1989. At first some Christian groups assembled at the "St. Nicholas Church" ("Nikolaikirche") for showing peoples protest. More and more people were gathering each week; in the end more than 100.000 people were peacefully demonstrating through the city. From Leipzig the demonstrations swapped throughout all the country and toppled the Socialistic government in 1990,  which lead finally to the "Unification of Germany" at the 3. October 1990.

Leipzig`s most famous son is "Johann-Sebastian Bach", who worked as a cantor from 1723-1750 in the St. Thomas Church "Thomaskirche". Leipzig's old town centre has been rebuilt and offers for night-life a great pub-scene and many political cabarets. 

Apart from the St. Nicholas Church and the St-Thomas Church also worth mentioning are the "Town Hall"  (Rathaus) in Renaissance style (1556), the "Mädler Passage" ( famous for "Auerbachs Keller" that was already mentioned in Goethe’s "Faust") and the "Gewandhaus" (music hall). Nearby is the biggest, just new renovated "Train Station" of Europe containing a large shopping mall.

Worth a visit is also the "Leiziger Zoo".  Recently a big terrain for monkeys and an "African Savanah" has opened, both are unique in the world. 

Völkerschlachtdenkmal click to enlarge

Three kilometers far from the centre is the "Völkerschlachtdenkmal", the most impressive and in my opinion also the most ugly sight of Leipzig. The 90m-high monument was built from 1898-1913 as a memorial of Prussia's victory in the "Battle of Nations" in the year 1813. 
 

The Völkerschlacht ="Battle of Nations"  in 1813 More than half million soldiers fight against each other and 100.000 soldiers died in that battle around Leipzig. It was the most important defeat of the French Napolean against the other former super powers of Russia, Prussia, Sweden and Austria.

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Elbe Valley
 

Torgau 

Hartenfels castle 

situated north east of Leipzig. Small renaissance town at the river Elbe with castle Hartenfels. It was the place, where American and Russian forces met late in April 1945 for the first time, splitting Nazi Germany into two pieces. 

 

Meissen meissen.de,
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Meissen

Meissen is another historic town with castle "Albrechtsburg" on top. Meissen is world wide famous for its "Meissener porcelain". Guided tours are offered and if your wallet is full of money, you might buy some of this precious porcelain. 

 

Dresden dresden-tourist.de, dresden.de,
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..  click to enlarge
 Semperoper                               Fuerstenzug 

Dresden was founded 800 years ago as an small Sorbian village at a ford at the Elbe. Later it became royal seat of the local kings. It is called " Elbflorenz" (Florence of the North) because of its outstanding buildings and the unique town ensemble.
It is undisputed the highlight of Saxony, and also one of the most interesting towns of Germany.

The baroque-style "Zwinger"skd-dresden.de, the "Semperoper" semperoper.de (opera), the "Town Hall", the river promenade "Brühlsche Terrasse" and other baroque buildings are setting up an unique historical ensemble in the city. Noteworthy is also the "Fuerstenzug fuerstenzugdresden.de", a big mural picture made of ceramic tiles made from "Meissen Porcelain". Today Dresden is Germans Silicon Valley with chip-factories, solar and computer industries.

The ruins of World War II remained during the Communism era in the city center. Only the Zwinger and the Semper-Opera were rebuilt. After the German Unification all the baroque buildings were rebuilt. 

The latest endeavour is the reconstruction of the "Frauenkirche"frauenkirche-dresden.org  financed only from donations. Every stone of the heap of the ruins was numbered, stored and fit together like a big puzzle. There is a cross of nails, given from Coventry /UK as a memorial of closeness to the victims and history ( Coventry was blitzed and raided by Nazi-Germany before )

rebuilt "Frauenkirche" click to enlarge  the ruins in the ninethies

The museum " Grünes Gewölbe " skd-dresden.de, (Green Vault) displays a very fine collection of jewels and other precious objects. The splendour of precious objects is a "must see", if it isn't booked out! 

Another famous museum is the "Old Masters Gallery", which displays paintings  of old masters including the "Sistine Madonna" from Rafael. 

The Hygiene Museum shows something about the human body. Looking at the transparent and cutout human bodies is a different choice, some don't like it.

The pub area called "Bunte Republik= colourful republic" is just across the Elbe in the Neustadt. There are about 400 pubs in the quarter, a concentration is around the Louisenstraße. From interest is also the Kunsthof Passage with the handicrafts shops and the imaginative restaurated houses.

In the Bautzner Str. 79 is the prettiest diary-shop of the world pfunds.de. 

Walking trip for sunny days:

Blaue Wunder

walk along the wide riverbanks southwards to the Blaue Wunder, which is a steel bridge from the 19th century. Dresdeners are very proud of and walk back along the other side of the shore. There are walking paths and many people are doing their activities there. 

Around Dresden - North -

Schloss Moritzburg  schloss-moritzburg.de,

Schloss Moritzburg

the palace is situated 15 km north east from Dresden. At first the Earl "Herzogs Moritz" had built there a hunting lodge in the 16th century. The old building was rebuilt by August der Starke between 1702 and 1727 after plans of the architects Poppelmann and Languelune to the Barocke castle you can see today. The castle was built for representing purposes. 
 

August Der Starke = August the Strong (1670-1733) came from the noble lineage of the "Wettiner". He was the elector from Saxony and King of Poland. Aside from his alleged 364 children he left the gorgious buidings of  the Zwinger, the Frauenkirche, the Brühlschen Terassen, the Taschenbergpalais, the Opera, the Grüne Gewölbe, as well as the palaces of Moritzburg and Pillnitz. While his elder brother was scheduled as successor of the throne August the Strong was trained as an architect and so he was sent as a young man to Italy and France to know about the architecture there and he learnt much about the court life of the European Emperors. When his brother died, he became king.  Due to his profession August spent money on building big palaces and he also took part on the city planning, while his collegue, the neighboured Prussian Friedrich Wilhelm I. prefered to invest the money in his army. The country prospered much as August promoted trade, handcrafts (especially Meissen Porcellain), science and agriculture. The weak point of August was the women, he was an extreme womanizer. At least 13 mistresses are known by name, the most famous liason was towards Gräfin Cosel, who was exiled to the fortress Stolpen, when she interfered too much in political matters.

Radebeul
nice town. An medieval looking center has the small village Altkötzschenbroda. 
 

Karl May (1842-1912) Author of the novels "Winnetou" and "Old Shatterhand"  was born in Hohenstein-Ernsthal at Chemnitz. He was the first German writer who wrote American "wild West novels. His birth place the "Karl May Haus" can be visited there. Karl May lived and worked in Radebeul for a long time and also died there. His house with the „Villa Bärenfett“ is today the Karl-May Museum. Despite the noble characters of the heroes in his novels, Karl May himself was often charged with theft, fraud and confidence schemes.

Around Dresden - South -

Paddle Steamer boat trip 

paddle steamer click to enlarge

from Dresden you can go by old fashioned paddle steamer ont he Elbe 

Link: saechsische-dampfschiffahrt.de, 

Schloss Weesenstein

Weesenstein click to enlarge

big castle 18 km south of Dresden near Pirna. Its more impresive von outside than from inside. 

Areas and smaller towns

Saxony Switzerland  nationalpark-saechsische-schweiz.de, saechsische-schweiz.de, 
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Saxony Switzerland  "boat shuttle" Kirschnitzklamm 

The "Sächsische Schweiz" (Saxony Switzerland) is a unique landscape you shouldn’t miss. "Schweiz" means, thinking of Switzerland, very nice landscape. Beside the "Sächsische Schweiz" there is for example also the "Hollsteinische Schweiz" and the "Fränkische Schweiz". 

There are marvelous opportunities for hiking, only the Alps in the South can offer the same in Germany. Many hiking trails lead through spectacular sandstone and basalt rocks, you can climb them up on ladders and have great views. It is recommended to start in Bad Schandau and to hike up the "The Schrammsteine" or visit the area around the "Affensteine". If you like hiking, you won’t be disappointed. It is really great even in winter! Nice is the "Bastei" and very interesting to do a boat trip through the "Kirschnitz-Klamm". Kurort Rathen or Bad Schandau are both starting points for hikes in this area. In Königstein there is also a huge fortress on top of the hill. The inside (entrance 5 Euro) is a little bit dissapointed, but there are nice views to the Elbe valley. For similar (and free) views also onto the Königsstein climb the opposite table mountain Lilienstein on the other "Elbe" side.
 

The Nazi stronghold Nazi thinking is quite popular in Saxony, the NPD a party with strong routes to the Nazis always reach between 5 and 10 per cent of the votes in Saxonies elections ( in NRW in West Germany it is about 0,1 per cent). In the wards of Saxony Switzerland they even reach between 10 and 20 per cent.

A nice market place with historical buildings is in Pirna.

Umgebindland
Around the Saxony Switzerland in the Oberlausitz and the neighboured areas of Polen and Tschech Republic you find the old
tradtional built houses in Umgebinde achitecture umgebindeland.de,.

More information for hiking in this area: Sandstone Table Mountains Trail

 

 "Erzgebirge"- Ore Mountains
===========================
The Erzgebirge (Ore Mountains) is situated south of Dresden and Chemnitz at the Czech border. The landscape is hilly, but only partly covered with forest.  Annaberg, Seiffen and Scheibenberg could be done in an one and half day trip. 

In the middle ages silver and other minerals were exploit out of many mines, some of them could be visited today. In the 20th. century uranium was mined, which was exported to the Soviet Union to build nuclear bombs. Many miners suffer today from silicosis as a result from bad working conditions in the mines. After the mines had gotten exhausted, people started to produce produce cotton and wooden toys. Nowadays the "Erzgebirge" is famous for its handmade woodcarvings. These handicrafts are sold especially in Seiffen see below and the villages around. The traditional style is significant. 

Winter in the "Erzgebirge" is very traditional. People display "Schwibbögen" (figured wooden arcs) in their windows and illuminate them with  (today electric) candles. Huge figured pyramids are built at market places. There are traditional relocation of miners in ancient uniforms and singing of fine Christmas choirs in churches.

 Freiberg
===========
Freiberg has a very fine historic city center. In the middle ages the town was rich because of the silver mines around. Today remained the "Bergakademie", a Technical University,  which subject is mining. Very interesting is the dome with the famous "minors pulpit" and the two organs from "Silbermann". He was the most famous organ builder in Germany and a friend of Sebastian Bach. 

 

 Annaberg-Buchholz annaberg-buchholz.de

Annenkirche

In Annaberg the church "Annenkirche" is noteworthy. Not very spectacular from outside, but the Church is very delicate inside. You find slender columns and on top very intricate star vaults. There is a mining museum, which leads you down to the 
pits.

In the suburb Frohnau is the technical museum "Frohnauer Hammer" that is an ancient water mill and blacksmith. Three big hammers are propelled by the waterwheel and bash with clacking noise on an anvil, where iron gets glowing and can be modeled. Not far away you can drive with a small train into an old silver mine; it is very dark there, you have the feeling how people had to work in former times, but you won’t see any silver now. 

around Annaberg

Scheibenberg 10 km from Annaberg

Orgelpfeifen, (Organ Pipes) 

the "Orgelpfeifen" (organ pipes) are worth a visit. At a break-off edge of a mountain there are regular formed gray basalt columns arranged like organ pipes. You find this kind of natural monument also at the Devils Post Pile monument in California, but those are not so big and beautiful arranged as in Scheibenberg, 

In Geyer and also in Thalheim is a spa with swimming pools, sauna, chutes and whirlpools etc. Entrance fee is moderate. If you visit a public sauna in Germany, you have to consider that there are mixed sessions at most times and people don’t bother to use it naked. It might be different in your country.

 

Seiffen
Seiffen is a "must", if you are interested in local handmade woodcarving. It's the centre of woodcarving products, but also very touristy. There is one shop after another selling these wooden figures. Typical woodcarving figures are the "Nutcracker", the "Pyramid",  "the Schwibbogen" ( figured arc ), "Bergmann und Engel" (miner and angle) and "Räuchermännchen" (incense man) in several designs.  Not only tourists but also native people buy these figures. Being hand made they are not cheap. Consider app. 20-50 $ and more per unit.  But it is worth a visit to see something traditional form the "Erzgebirge". 

Very fine is the interior of the church of Seiffen.  There is also a spa nearby.

 

Schwarzenberg
small village with a castle in town, some crooked alleys, an interesting steam train museum vse-eisenbahnmuseum-schwarzenberg.deand an absurd historical event just after World War II: 

Oberwiesenthal
A ski resort with lifts for skiing in winter or hiking in summer. Nice views from the top of the Fichtelberg (1250m).

 
Vogtland
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Kapellenberg 

the area is named after the Vogts (that means reeves or counts) who ruled the area for the kings in former times. 
It is a nice area with forests and hills. 

Hiking: there are many opportunities, from interest is the Vogtlandpanoramaweg 220km, one of germans premium walks 

Greiz pop ~ 28.000
was the residenz of the local earls "Reuß" and therefore it has three palaces. 

Nearby in Mylau is the Göltschtalbrücke, the largest brick bridge (built 1846-1851 mio bricks, 78m high, 574 m long, 4 storeys, 81 arches for the train Nuremberg Dresden ) of the world. No. 2 of the wold is nearby at Jocketa (12 mio bricks, 279 m long and 68 m high) 

Syrau
the stalagtite cave "Drachenhöhle drachenhoehle.de" and the last windmill of the vogtland are here the attractions

Talsperre Pirk and Pöhl, 
large lakes impounded by dams are both the Talsperre Pirk and Pöhl. The bigger Talsperre Pöhl has a shore of 27 km and also has several beaches, at Helmsgrün is a large nudist beach, where you also find some lonely places. There are also tour boats from one end of the lake to the other and return.

Bad Brambach and Bad Elster  pop ~ 5.000

Bad Brambach

nice spas with promenades and parks. In Landwüst is a open air museum and Raun is a typical small Vogtland village

Klingenthal/Markneukirchen  pop ~ 8.000
center of the music instruments handcrafts. There is a museum of music instruments and a music hall, where often concerts are played. In Morgenröthe-Rautenkranz is a museum, which commemorates the first German in space, Sigmund Jähn (Sojus 29) morgenroethe-rautenkranz.de,

links: vogtlandpanoramaweg.de, vogtlandtourist.de,

 Upper Lusatia - Oberlausitz -
===========

Bautzen 

Bautzen (Budysin), Görlitz and Zittau are towns with interesting historical centers. The area around the "Zittauer Gebirge" is a hiking area, with outstanding rock formations and an old ruin. 
During the Middle Ages ages the Six-City League of Upper Lusatia, consisting of the Lusatian cities Bautzen, Görlitz, Kamenz, Lauban, Löbau and Zittau, were established in 1346.

Kamenz (Kamjenc) pop ~ 20.000
native town of Lessing. From cultural interest is the late Gotic church St. Marien and the Westlausitz museum museum-westlausitz.de.

St. Marien
a Baroque monastery, which is a Cistercian nunnery 

Barockschloss Rammenau

Barockschloss Rammenau 

a Baroque palace with a mirrored ballroom and a nice park. The building is a museum about the philosoph Johann Gottlieb Fichte, born 1762 in Rammenau. 

Bautzen (Budysin) pop ~65.000 

Bautzen

Landmark is the "Wasserkunst", ein former defence tower, after that a water tower, today a technical memorial.
A bit leaning (1,44m) but not as much as its counterpart in Pisa and Suurhuusen (2,49 m) is the Reichenturm. 
In the castle Ortenburg there is the Sorbian museum. The Dom St Petri is used simultanely since 1524 by the Roman catholic and the Lutherian church, separated by a fence in the nave.

 

The Lusatian Sorbs http://ski.sorben.com/site/docs/english/index.htm, is a minority of about 60.000 people, living between Bautzen and the Spreewald. The Sorbs decend from a Savionic tribe, which was grew out by German tribes 1000 years ago. Some of them  have kept their own Slavonic language and culture. All signs are written in bilingual languages, but all Sorbs speak also German.

Kleinwelka saurierpark.de, irrgarten-kleinwelka.de,
a fun park for kids. Nearly 200 lif-sized dinosaurs from concrete are displayed in the park. There is also a big  rope jungle gym. Next to the Dinosaur park is a maze from 5.000 sqm

Bad Muskau muskauer-park.de,
an Unesco heritage cite because of the outstanding garden architecture is the Fürst Pückler Park , which is named by its initiator and owner Fürst Pückler (1785-1871). He created a park for "different views at every few steps" 

Görlitz pop ~65.000 europastadt-goerlitz.de, via-sacra.info,

Europa bridge  Untermarkt

a gem of a very nice restorated historical town center, which served sometimes as scenery for films. There are more than 4.000 heritage-protected buildings from Gotic, Rennaissance, Baroque, Jugendstil and Wilhelminian style outstanding are the 
Schönhof, the Biblische Haus, the Rathaus (Town Hall), der Reichenbacher Tower, and Kaisertrutz.  also some splendid churches, the most interesting are St.Peter Paul, a big Gotic hall church, the Frauenkirche, the Dreifaltigskeitskirche with wood craft altar and pulpit. 
Something remarkable of the old town hall. At the clockface of one of its clocks is a warrior, who drops his jaw every minute. Also remarkable the house 22 at the Untermarkt. The arched portal of the house is a whispering megaphone, you whisper something into the door at one side and you can hear it excellent at the other side. Have a look into the Art deco like shopping center "Hertie" at the "Am Marienplatz" (built 1914). The city has also a large quarter of the Gründerzeit builings around the city park, look for the street "Steinstrasse". Another attraction is the "Heilige Grab (Holy Tomb)", which should be a replic of Jesus tomb in Bethlehem, but it is less interesting as it seems. Goerlitz is part of the cultural route "Via-Sacra"( via-sacra.info).
At the market place "Untermarkt"  is the Slesian museum "Schlesische Museums" (schlesisches-museum.de). 

Görlitz lies exactly on the 15th meridian and is Germanys most east situated town. Before WWII. it was part of Slesia, which now belongs to Poland. The old eastern quarter is now the Polish sister city of Zgorzelec on the other side of the Neisse. You can get there by a short walk across the Europa Brücke, which is next to the Görlitz's town center. There aren´t any border controls more. 

Löbau

wrought iron tower 

The landmark of Löbau is the 28 m high wrought iron tower at top of the Löbauer Berg next to Löbau, which is the highest wrough iron construction in Europe.  FFrom some interest is the Bauhaus Scharoun house. Ask in the tourist information at the market place for a town map. 

Obercunnersdorf

"Umgebinde" house

has many so-called "Umgebindehäuser", which are a  typical attraction of the region 

 

Umgebinde houses  umgebindeland.de, are half-timbered-houses representing a combination of Franconian and Slavic style. This architectural style was developped in the 16th. century.  The block room in the floor, built  like a wooden box, was encased (=umgebunden) with a framework on which was the upper floor was built. The framework is the "Umgebinde".

Kottmannsdorf

Windmühle

near Obercunnersdorf is a windmill in Kottmannsdorf 

Zittau pop ~25.000 

Townhall "Fastentuch" 

old heritage buildings are the Town hall and the St. John (Johannis) church, but the highlight is the "Zittauer Fastentuch" from 1472 A.D. with it's medieval paintings. It is shown in the church "zum Heiligen Kreuz" (Entrance 5 Euro). 
 

Zittauer Fastentücher zittauer-fastentuecher.de, the  8,20m x  6,80m (56 sqm) "große Fastentuch" is a drapery created by an unown artist around 1472 A.D.  The drapery shows 90 painted pictures, which exhibit biblical thems from Genesis to Jesus Resurrection and the Last Judgement. It seperated in the Lenten season before easter the sanctuary  from the congregration. It survived the conoclasm in the times of the reformation, but was seriouls damaged by Russian troups in Word War II.  The 4,30m x 3,50m  (15 sqm) "kleine Fastentuch"  from 1573 shows the crucifixtion Christi. It is exhibited in the "Kulturhistorischen Museum".

Zittau is part of the nwe cultural route  "Via Sacra" ( via-sacra.info), which leads in 550 km through 16 different sacrale landmarks in Poland, Czech Republic and Germany. 

Zittauer Gebirge (Zitauer Hillside)  zittauer-gebirge-tour.de, zittauergebirge-info.de,
small hills covered with forests, hiking possibilities and impressive sandstone rock formations. At Oybin is the bee hive shaped small mountain Berg Oybin with ruins of  an medieval castle and convent, which was built by emperor Karl IV ( 1316-1378 ), who was also the Bohemian. The convent life was abolished in the 16tth century at the times of the reformation and counter-reformation. The complex decayed. The Gotic and Romanic ruins in nature inspired the Romantik painters in the 19th centuy, of whom Caspar David Friedrich (1774-1840) was the famoust. . 
Also from interest are the sandstone rockformations of the Mühlsteinbrüche in Johnsdorf.

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Mulde Valley (From North to South)
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Wurzen

Market  Cathedral

seat of the Bishop of Meissen with the cathedral St. Marien, the Bishop's palace and some collegiate buildings aside.
Nice is the market palce with its Renaissance houses and the "Ringelnatz-Brunnen" which reminds to the German poet  "Ringelnatz". 

Grimma 

Grimma  ruins of "Cloister Nimbschen" click to enlarge

nice historical old town. The flood of 2001 cause damage of about 200 millions of Euro, but all was rebuilt properly. 

Some kilometers South of Grimma are the cloister ruins from "Cloister Nimbschen", which decayed as there was no nuns anymore, who wanted to live there in the 17th century. The later wife from Martin Luther Elisabeth von Bora was freed from "Kloster Nimbschen". 

Nearby at  Hoefgen at the other river side is (person ferry only 1,10 Euro pp also bike)

Watermill Hoefgen

is the technical monument of an old watermill. 

There is a nice, small church in Großbothen, which isn't very old, but nice. 

Grossbothen Church

Trebsen

palace Trebsen

has a palace with beer garden and also accommodation in the castle.
 

Colditz schloss-colditz.de,

castle

is famous for its castle that was used  in World War II as a prison for preferred prisoners of war. Most of these were high ranked soldiers of the western allies, who weren't treated badly. Some famous getaways happened, such as some British soldiers escaped in Nazi uniforms.

Rochlitz   schloss-rochlitz.de,

Market  Castle   Porphyr quarry

at the Rochlitzer Berg the red brick stone of "Rochlitzer Porphyr", a quite expensive building material was mined. You can visit some old quarries at the "Roten Porphyr Weg". The castel is more than 1000 years old and you can visit it. In former times is served as a prison as there are some instruments of torture displayed. niceis alos the market place. 

Die Basilika Wechselburg ist eine berühmte Stiftskirche der Augustinerchorherren, heute ist die Anlage Teil eines Benedektiner Klosters. Die Basilika ist eine der besterhaltenen romanischen Großbauten Deutschlands und die älteste Sachsens (12 Jhd).

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Wechselburg

Monastery  collegiate church  click to enlarge

The "Basilika Wechselburg" was a famous collegiate church of the Augustinian choirs, but is a Benedictine cloister today. The basilica from the 12th. century is one of the best preserved roman buidlings in germany and the oldest in Saxony.

Rochsburg

Rochsburg

Grimma, Rochlitz, Wechselburg and Colditz are three little old picturesque towns especially around the market squares. There are many old castles there. Nice is also the castle Gnandstein, where is a nice restaurant that offers knight meals (eating with fingers).

I live in the Mulde Valley, send me an email, if I can help you. 
 

Zwickau 
=======

market place with the "Gewandhaus"old Parish houses
click to enlarge

from interest is the Market with the Gewandhaus (16th century), the cathedral St.Marien and the very old parish houses (13th century) 

is the town of the "Trabbi", which was built here. But Zwickau had one of the first automobile facories in Germany, before the Trabbi was Horch, DKW and Audi producing here. The autommobile museum "August Horch" tells more of the story of Zwickau's automobile story.

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Links:
general: sachsen-tourismus.de, sachsen-tour.de , willkommen-in-sachsen.de.
Dresden/Leipzig/Chemnitz:  staatl-kunstsammlungen-dresden.de, dresden-tourist.de, dresden.de, dresden-nightlife.de, dvbag.de (Bus)
Sax. Switzerland/Saechsische Schweiz: saechsische-schweiz.de/en/index.htm, saxony-switzerland.de (with accommodation)
Erzgebirge/ Ore Mountains:  erzgebirge.de , tourismus-erzgebirge.de , 
Oberlausitz: oberlausitz.com,
Vogtland: s: vogtlandpanoramaweg.de, vogtlandtourist.de,
Elbland: saechsisches-elbland.de, elbland.de , 
Burgenland/Muldevalley: saechsisches-burgenland.de, tal-der-burgen.de, saechsische-schloesser.de,

General of Germany
deutschland.de (Official Link Portal) ,  germany-tourism.de ,  sachsen-tour.de
Rail: bahn.de, 
Hostels:  djh.de Youth Hostels, backpackernetwork.de Backpacker, bandb-ring.de (B&B) , hostelz.com,

Backpackers in Saxony
Leipzig:  globetrotter-leipzig.de , hostel-leipzig.de, 
Dresden: boofe.de , lollishome.de, mondpalast.de, 

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