The best traffic-free bike rides in Porphyrlandschaft Bei Gimritz

At least the tower is clearly visible from the cycle path.

The Swan Bridge connects the popular tourist destination of Peißnitz Island with Kröllwitz and Heide-Süd. Below the bridge (on Peißnitz Island), the Peißnitz Express train has a stop and a level crossing.

With its church tower at the northwest corner of the nave, this is a rather atypical church building for this region. The church tower is largely still in its original condition.

I don't know if I, as a cyclist, should consider this a highlight. In any case, cyclists can now get through (dismounting, because it's so narrow), while drivers have to take detours.

From the ferry you have this great view

In 1565, the gatekeeper's house was built on the upper castle. The keep of the upper castle appears already ruinous in Merian's 1640 account. It was completely demolished in 1697. The upper castle burned down in the town fire of 1660. In 1663, the Trothas sold their fief to Johann Heinrich von Menius. He built the Menius House on the town side from 1663 to 1689. The lower castle was sold in 1446 by Archbishop Friedrich to Koppe von Ammendorf and Caspar aus dem Winckel. The Ammendorf family received the Saale side of the castle, and the Winkel family the town side. In 1555, the Winkel family acquired the Ammendorf share, thus becoming the owner of the entire lower castle. Around 1600, the lower castle underwent extensive expansion under Christoph aus dem Winckel. Three gables in Baroque style were added to the courtyard side of the Ammendorf house. The striking Winkel Tower at the northern tip was built in 1606. Between 1768 and 1770, the Winkel House was renovated in the Rococo style. In 1795, the Winkels sold the entire Wettin estate to the von Merode family, who sold it to Prince Louis Ferdinand of Prussia on November 4, 1803. Louis Ferdinand had the Winkel Palace expanded once again for residential purposes until 1806. After his death, the lower castle was used solely for commercial purposes. The tenants established a brewery and a distillery in the buildings. Between 1806 and 1813, the gatehouse on the north side was demolished and the access road was widened. Around 1830, the upper floors of the north and south wings were demolished. The keep, which had long been in ruins, was demolished in 1860, as was St. Peter's Church in 1840. Several outbuildings were built on the castle grounds in the 19th and 20th centuries. They still define the castle's appearance today. The area around the gate of the Lower Castle was significantly altered after 1930 when it was used as a Gauführerschule (district leader school) for the Nazi Party. In the early 1950s, the Finance School for Farmers moved into the Lower Castle. Source: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burg_Wettin

The Altzell Annals name a Dietrich II as Count of Wettin. After Dietrich's assassination in 1034, his son Thimo inherited the county. His son, Conrad II, was known as "the Great," an important figure in Saxon history. He resided at the castle from 1091 onward. The rulers of several Central German landgraviate and margraviate (e.g., Meissen, Thuringia), as well as the rulers of Saxony and Thuringia, and, for a time, of Poland, Great Britain, Belgium, and other European states, descended from the Counts of Wettin. In 1123, Conrad appointed ministerials from the Schochwitz family as burgraves. They had to step down when Henry, Conrad's son, resided at the castle from 1156 onward. The construction of the upper castle as a burgrave's castle should be seen in this context. There were now two castles on the castle rock, each with a separate outer bailey. In 1217, the Wettin line of the counts died out. The Wettin Counts of Brehna inherited Wettin. On November 14, 1288, Otto IV of Brehna sold the County of Wettin to the Archbishop of Magdeburg. It was transformed into an archiepiscopal office. The Counts of Brehna were members and supporters of the Knights Templar. Count Frederick II was a Knight Templar and fell at Acre on October 16, 1221. His son Dietrich donated the town of Mücheln to the Order around 1240. A noble family called the Wettin, which temporarily held the castle as a fief, is not related to the margravial family. The castle's subsequent history, from around 1300 onward, is linked to a complicated fiefdom system. The upper castle and the lower castle were divided into several fiefs with associated lands. Important fiefdoms were the Schraplausche and Trotha fiefdoms on the upper castle. In 1440, the von Trotha family owned both fiefdoms of the upper castle. Since 1592, the Schraplausche fiefdom had been owned by the Prince of Brandenburg. Source: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burg_Wettin

The early development of Wettin Castle, like many old castles, is shrouded in the mists of history. It is assumed that a Slavic castle complex already existed in Carolingian times, which became the center of an early German castle ward during the German Eastward Settlement. The Slavic name of the nearby deserted village of Pögritz means "below the castle."[1] The name Wettin can be traced back to the Old Sorbian vitin. Vitin comes from the Old Sorbian root vit, which translates as "welcome!". Accordingly, the town of Wettin, located at a ford on the Saale River, with its castle, was a controlled gateway from Germanic to Slavic regions, particularly into the Gau Nudzici, whose eponymous town of Neutz is not far from Wettin. The castle was first mentioned in a charter of King Otto I dated July 29, 961, as Vitin civitas (City of Wettin). Wettin is a castle ward town that owes tithes to the Moritz Monastery in Magdeburg. In 1157, it appears as "In burcwardo Witin in villa que dictur Pothegrodice" (in the castle ward Wettin in the place where P. is mentioned), and in 1126 as Witin. The name of the village of Pögritz, located near the castle, can be traced back to the Slavic word podgrad (in the 12th century, Pothegrodice), meaning "under the castle." Whether it was a Slavic settlement beneath a Slavic rampart or a later settlement beneath the German castle remains to be determined. What is certain, however, is that Wettin was the central location of an important castle ward. The castle ward belonged to the domain of Margrave Rikdag. His relative Dedo was granted the County of Wettin in the 10th century. Source: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burg_Wettin