Two sites which have been awarded UNESCO World Heritage status impressively underline Saxony's reputation as the number one cultural tourist destination in Germany: “Muskauer Park / Park Mużakowski”, a joint Polish-German site, and the “Ore Mountains / Krušnohoří Mining Region” site of German/Czech cultural heritage.
The Fürst-Pückler-Park, Bad Muskau – horticulture in the east of Saxony
To the north of Görlitz, the river Neisse flows through one of the loveliest landscaped gardens on the Continent: Fürst-Pückler-Park in Bad Muskau having been extremely well cared for and preserved. Inspired by the idyllic valley landscape, the famous landscape architect, lord of the estate and travel writer Count Hermann von Pückler-Muskau created a park of princely proportions here between 1815 and 1845. Subsequent owners further developed and added to the park in the terraced landscape of the meadows along the Neisse in a manner befitting Pückler’s memory. What makes the 830-hectare park so special is that it is divided by the Neisse: one part is in Saxony, the other in Poland.
The “Ore Mountains / Krušnohoří Mining Region” – 800 years of mining history
With over one million visitors arriving every year and more than three million visitor nights, the Ore Mountains are one of Saxony’s most popular holiday regions. Idyllic landscapes, unique river valleys and picturesque villages have their origins in the more than 800 years of mining history which give the Ore Mountains their wealth, their name and their economic importance. By giving the German/Czech “Ore Mountains / Krušnohoří Mining Region” World Heritage status in July 2019, the UNESCO was recognising the region as an important part of Saxony’s more than 1,000-year-old cultural landscape, with its characteristic features.