Delve into the Renaissance, Reformation and World War Two in this hidden gem of a town on the River Elbe
The northern Saxon town of Torgau is one of the most fascinating places to visit along the River Elbe. It’s also a regular stop for Elbe river cruises that run between Prague and Berlin.
There are more than enough things to do in Torgau to warrant a cruise stop, or a day trip from Leipzig, Dresden, or even Berlin. Schloss Hartenfels, the finest Renaissance Castle in Germany, was home to the Electors of Saxony, rulers over this part of eastern Germany, in the 16th century.
It’s also a popular stop for visitors with an interest in Second World War history, as it is where the US Army and Red Army met in April 1945, shortly before the final defeat of Nazi Germany.
I was very curious to find out more, so I took a short train ride from Leipzig to see for myself. And here’s what I found.
Schloss Hartenfels
Schloss Hartenfels is one of the most beautiful castles in Germany. It’s in a spectacular location next to the Elbe, and is one of the most iconic sights along the great river.
Part of the Castle is occupied by local government offices, with sections of the building open to visitors.
The most beautiful feature is the Grosse Wendelstein spiral staircase. It’s a wonderfully light structure, supported only by exterior pillars, with no central support. The steps to the staircase are decorated with some brightly painted coats of arms and reliefs, with an intricately decorated doorway at the top.
Also look out for the Schöner Erker, pictured above. This beautiful double oriel window was restored in the 2000s. You can walk around the courtyard, admire this and climb the Spiral Staircase for free.
The Castle also hosts regular exhibitions, which give you a glimpse of some of the Castle’s superb interiors. There is a permanent exhibition on the Castle’s history and, when I visited, there was also a temporary exhibit on fairytales.
The main entrance to the Castle is on the north side, away from the river on Schlossstrasse. You cross the bridge over the bear pit to enter the Castle. Here three brown bears reside – I’m not an advocate of keeping them like this, but at least they have far more space to roam than some poor bears I’ve seen at other castles in Central Europe.
The Castle Chapel – The First Protestant Church In The World
When I visited Torgau, the Castle Chapel (Schlosskapelle) had just been nominated for UNESCO World Heritage status. It’s currently on the Tentative List, and it’s likely to be some time in the 2030s before it gains World Heritage status.
Saxony was where the Reformation first took hold, and it was supported by its ruler, Elector Johann Friedrich I. He commissioned the construction of the Chapel, which was built in 1543-44 in consultation with Martin Luther.
The Chapel is the first purpose-built Protestant church in the world. Luther offered advice on the layout of the church, which was to become a model for Protestant churches across Europe over the next few hundred years.
One of the most distinctive features is the emphasis on height (rather than the length of many Catholic churches). This brought the congregation, some of whom would sit in the raised galleries, closer to the pulpit and the Word of God.
The Chapel is relatively small, but still gives a strong impression of height. It’s remarkable that this rather humble and austere chapel should inspire the likes of the stunning Frauenkirche in Dresden 200 years later. The impression is different, but the principles followed were very similar.
The Soviet War Memorial
There are two war memorials in Torgau – the Soviet one in the shadow of Schloss Hartenfels, and the Much humbler American one in a field across the river from the town.
The US Army and Soviet Red Army met at Torgau on April 25th 1945. Some prisoners of war were held by the Germans at Fort Zinna in the Torgau area, and the Americans sent a reconnaissance party led by Sub-Lt William Robertson to investigate. As well as finding the prisoners, Robertson’s patrol also saw the Soviet forces on the opposite bank of the Elbe.
Robertson improvised an American flag using a bedsheet and watercolour paints, which he then raised at a tower in Schloss Hartenfels. Some Soviet soldiers fired red flares in response. The Americans didn’t have the required green flares to fire in response, so shot at one of the red flares.
Fortunately one of the Soviet officers there helped avert any misunderstanding. Representatives of the two armies then made their way across the old, destroyed bridge over the Elbe for their famous meeting.
The Soviet memorial – by Avraham Miletzky – was soon completed, and inaugurated in September 1945.
The US War Memorial
The smaller American memorial is on the eastern side of the river, barely five minutes’ walk from the Torgau side. It consists of three simple sandstone monuments, each with a flag (US, German and Russian).
They commemorate the 1945 meeting, and also the ‘Spirit of the Elbe’, ‘dedicated to peoples of all nations resolving their differences without war.’
Stadtkirche St Marien – St Mary’s Town Church
The main parish church of Torgau makes for an intriguing contrast with the Castle Chapel. It’s only a short walk from the Castle, and much of it was built only 50 years before the Chapel.
It’s a typical hall church found right across western and central Europe, with a long nave. It was completed around the late 15th or early 16th centuries, and was one of the last churches of this type to be built in this part of the world before Protestant design principles took precedence.
The church is also the final resting place of Martin Luther’s wife, Katharina (nee von Bora). She fled an outbreak of the plague in Wittenberg, but died in Torgau a few months later at the age of 53.
Explore Torgau Museum
The town’s Museum is housed in the former Chancellery building, where the Electors of Saxony once lived. Tsar Peter the Great of Russia also lived in the building for a period in 1711.
It’s the best place to learn about the town’s history, which took a huge upturn in the 15th century when it became the seat of the Saxon Prince-Electors. The main building (Kanzleihaus) hosts the main exhibition (entry €5.00 for adults). Watch out for temporary exhibitions too – they have one on Vacations in The GDR at the time of writing.
There are also several smaller branch museums in Torgau. The Priest’s House, on Katharinenstrasse was, like the church nearby, built around 20 years before the Reformation (1517 onwards), and is a rare example from the period. A few doors away, there is a small museum dedicated to Katharina Luther. It’s the house where she died in 1552, succumbing to injuries sustained when her carriage crashed on her journey to Torgau.
Ringenhain House Museum
The best of these small museums around Torgau is the Ringenhain House Museum, home to the wealthy mayor of Torgau, Paul Ringenhain, on Breite Strasse.
In 1596 and set about lavishly decorating it. The ceiling and wall paintings are stunning – the ceiling of the Angel Room is one of the highlights, adorned with panels of Angels in various poses and guises.
A combination ticket with the main museum costs otherwise it’s €4.00 entry per adult.
Coffee on the Marktplatz
The Markt is the main square in the centre of Torgau, surrounded by fine townhouses, which are home to a hotel, several cafes and shops and the tourist information centre.
I stopped by here at Landbackerei Schroder, where I warmed up on a coffee and delicious pastry in their Café Katharina. They also have tables in the square in the summer months, a great spot to stop for half an hour in between museums!
Torgau Youth Detention Centre
Anyone with an interest in the history of Communist east Germany should pay a visit to this exhibition. It’s in the GDR’s only Youth Disciplinary Centre (Jugendwerkhof), where around 4,000 adolescents were sent to be re-conditioned by the State regime. This involved being worked to the bone and being brainwashed into becoming conforming young socialists.
Any of these museums on the GDR – including the superb Stasi prison in Bautzen – tell the story of the prisoners simply. Life in detention in East Germany was brutal, and the regime took an almost sadistic pleasure in tormenting their victims.
So this exhibition is particularly poignant, as the Stasi put their insidious methods to work on some of the most vulnerable members of society, inflicting terrible trauma on them that would live with them to this day.
If you’re visiting Leipzig and are interested in the history of the GDR, don’t miss the excellent Stasi Museum Leipzig, in the secret police’s former headquarters in the Runde Ecke building in the city centre. And it’s only a ten-minute walk from there to the Nikolaikirche, where the peaceful demonstrations that brought down the GDR regime, began in 1989.
Places To Visit Near Torgau
Torgau is a regular stop for Elbe river cruises, which because of river conditions in dry weather can mean a coach trip with nights on board the boat.
Torgau is roughly halfway between Meissen and Lutherstadt Wittenberg, where Martin Luther set the Reformation in motion in 1517. Most of the sights in the town – one of the most beautiful in Germany – are linked to Luther in some way. The Castle Church is where he nailed his 95 Theses to the door, St Marien Church is where he regularly preached, and there’s the Luther Haus Museum which tells his story, along with that of the wider Reformation. Wittenberg is a 45-minute drive down the Elbe from Torgau – otherwise it’s a 90-minute train ride with a change at Leipzig.
A few miles across the river from Torgau, the Graditz Stud Farm is part of the Saxony State Stud organisation, along with the Stud at Moritzburg near Dresden. They are open Monday to Friday, and the attached Museum is open Thursday afternoons and the first Saturday of the month from 3.00 pm to 5.00 pm.
Also check out my guide to the best places to visit on the River Elbe, covering the entire length of one of Europe’s great rivers.
Otherwise the best place to visit near Torgau is the superb city of Leipzig – which is undoubtedly one of the best places to visit in Germany.
Where Is Torgau
Torgau is in the northern part of the Saxony region of eastern Germany. It’s one of the main towns on the River Elbe, to the northwest of Dresden and Meissen, and southeast of the World Heritage towns of Lutherstadt Wittenberg and Dessau. It’s also only a few miles from the state border with Brandenburg.
Here are sample distances from Torgau to the nearest major German cities:
Leipzig to Torgau – 35 miles (53 km)
Dresden to Torgau – 70 miles (112 km)
Berlin to Torgau – 84 miles (136 km)
How To Get To Torgau
The easiest way to get to Torgau is by train. And the easiest place from which you can reach it is Leipzig. Regional trains from Leipzig main station (Leipzig Hbf) will get you to Torgau in just 36 minutes. And the local S4 S-Bahn train takes 50 minutes. The €49 Deutschlandticket is valid on either of these trains.
If you’re planning a day trip from Dresden to Torgau, you’ll need to change trains at least once. The quickest option is to travel from Dresden to Leipzig and catch one of the trains I’ve described above from there. Alternatively, you can get the train to Doberlug-Kirchhain and wait over 1 hour and 20 minutes for your connection to Torgau. Not ideal.
If you’re travelling from Berlin to Torgau, you’ll also have to change once, but it’s easier than from Dresden. Trains from Berlin Hbf take you to Falkenberg (Elster), where you change for the S4 S-Bahn train to Torgau (final destination Leipzig).
If you’re driving, Torgau isn’t on a motorway (autobahn) but it is at the junction of three national roads – the B87, B182 and B183. If you’re driving to Torgau from Berlin, take the B101 south, then the B87 near Herzberg.
And if you intend to drive to Torgau from Leipzig, the B87 is the most direct route. From Dresden, take the B6 to Riesa, then the B182 from there to Torgau.
Where To Stay In Torgau
Most of the best-rated places to stay in Torgau are guesthouses. Of these, Pension Wehner is a great pick. It’s in a magnificent townhouse in the centre of town, midway between the train station and Schloss Hartenfels.
Pension Am See is another great choice – this guesthouse is on the shore of a lake, a few minutes’ walk from the centre of town, and close to the station.
Altes Bootshaus – the Old Boathouse – is another popular Torgau guesthouse, very close to the River Elbe, Schloss Hartenfels and the Elbe cycle route.
Of the hotels in Torgau, the best bet is the Hotel Torgauer Brauhof – it’s halfway between the station and old town, ideal if you’re travelling by public transport.
Hotel Goldener Anker gets the best reviews of any of the hotels in the centre of town. It’s on the main square, the Markt, and its location is excellent.
Things to Do In Torgau – Final Words
Torgau is very much a town for history buffs – whether you’re interested in the Renaissance, the Reformation or the Second World War, there’s plenty to see there. If you’re planning to see all of the museums you could easily run into a second day there.
It also makes a good stop if you’re cycling along the Elbe Radweg (Elbe Trail). The countryside around is pancake-flat, as the river leaves behind a few oxbow lakes on its way to the North Sea. So the going is pretty easy.
This part of Eastern Germany is fascinating – we spent three months exploring Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt, but could have spent quadruple that and still complained about not having enough time.
My article on the best places to visit in eastern Germany is a good starting point, as it covers everywhere from Berlin to the Baltic Sea, and from the Czech and Polish borders to the Harz Mountains. The companion piece on the best day trips from Dresden has a narrower remit, focusing on the area immediately around Dresden, including a hop across the border into the Czech Republic.
Check out more of my articles on the region, including the best things to do in Görlitz, the gorgeous border town (and film location) a few steps from Poland. Half an hour closer to Dresden, the medieval town of Bautzen is also worth a day of your time, with the intriguing Sorbian Museum telling the story of the Sorbs, a tiny Slavic minority whose language and culture have survived over a thousand years.
I also recommend venturing west from Torgau and Leipzig if you have time. Take a look at my guide to the best things to do in Quedlinburg, one of the most beautiful small towns in Europe, and possibly the best-preserved medieval town on the continent. And further into the Harz Mountains, check out my article on things to do in Goslar, another U|NESCO-inscribed gem.
It’s an absolutely compelling part of the world, and as I say, even after three months in the region I want more and more.