The Pömmelte Ring Sanctuary is a reconstruction of a sacred site more than 4,000 years old. The 115-metre-wide complex consists of wooden palisade rings, pits and embankments; you can see the entire site from a nine-metre-high viewing platform. This makes both the scale and layout of the reconstructed site visible. The Ring Sanctuary is freely accessible year-round, except during certain events. Free parking and accessible toilets are also available. Check in advance whether an event is taking place during your planned visit.
Cultural sites with a range of themes
Egeln Water Castle houses a museum of prehistory and early history. Castle festivals, markets and cultural events are also held there regularly. If you want to attend a particular event, it is worth checking the dates. Egeln thus brings together museum exhibits and a recurring programme of events.
Plötzkau Castle offers a different focus: several rooms and the tower house a museum covering a range of subjects. Below the castle, a roughly two-kilometre nature trail runs through the floodplain forest along the Saale. The museum and trail offer different options to choose from: themed exhibits in the castle rooms or a route through the floodplain forest by the river.
The town and mining museum in Staßfurt showcases the town’s history, as well as salt production by boiling and the potash industry. Together with the Museum of Prehistory and Early History in Egeln, it creates a clear thematic contrast: early history in one place, town history, salt production and the potash industry in the other. Beyond individual buildings, Salzlandkreis is represented on the Romanesque Road by six stops in five towns. The cultural offering thus extends beyond a single museum or place.
River routes and woodland landscapes
The 3 Rivers Cycle Route is a day trip of around 36 kilometres between Ilberstedt and Hohenerxleben. It follows the Bode, Saale and Wipper rivers and explores river landscapes with woods and meadows, as well as open agricultural uplands with expansive views in the central part of Salzlandkreis. Along this route, you will encounter both riverside landscapes and open areas shaped by agriculture.
The Bode Cycle Route crosses Salzlandkreis for about 51 kilometres, passing through floodplain landscapes, historic towns and villages. One particularly well-described landscape along the route is a tranquil floodplain with meadows, hedgerows and ancient oaks, extending as far as Rothenförde Weir, built in 1889. The distances distinguish the two cycling routes: the 3 Rivers Cycle Route is described as a day trip, while the Bode Cycle Route is described as crossing Salzlandkreis over a distance of about 51 kilometres.
The Saale Cycle Route runs through Salzlandkreis between Rothenburg in the Saalekreis district and Barby. There, it explores a tranquil river landscape with woodland and meadows. The EL-SA Tour passes through a sparsely populated part of Salzlandkreis with the largest contiguous woodland areas; one section of the route runs through the area belonging to the town of Barby. The cycle routes therefore highlight different landscapes: floodplains, meadows and riverbanks on the one hand, and extensive woodland on the other.
A specific distance is also given for a walking route: the nature trail in the floodplain forest near Plötzkau Castle is about two kilometres long. Compared with the cycle routes, it is a separate, shorter option; it runs through the floodplain forest below the castle along the Saale. Taken together, the routes described show the different ways to explore the river and woodland landscapes of Salzlandkreis.
Discover more destinations: Bernburg, Aschersleben, Hecklingen, Schönebeck, Welsleben, Staßfurt, Calbe, Nienburg, Barby, Seeland, Könnern, Egeln, Plötzkau, Baalberge, Wolmirsleben.
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