The best MTB trails around Schönwölkau

Definitely worth seeing

Definitely worth seeing

The Lober-Leine Canal is the artificial outflow of the Lober and Leine rivers into the Mulde River. It begins north of Benndorf and flows into the Mulde between Pouch and Löbnitz (Delitzsch district). The canal was constructed between 1949 and 1951[2] because the original riverbeds had to give way to the Goitzsche open-cast mine. It was approximately 14 kilometers long and was rerouted in 1982[2] to clear the construction site for the Rösa open-cast mine. After the 2002 floods, which destroyed its mouth, it was temporarily used to flood the Seelhauser See, a former open-cast mine lake. In 2004, the canal and its confluence with the Mulde were restored through extensive excavation work. Source: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lober-Leine-Kanal

Beautiful rest area above the Lober-Leine Canal with a view of Lake Seelhausen

The keep is the oldest building (dating from 1206) in the castle complex. The so-called Witch's Cellar is also located here. Behind it stands the main building, which was built as the administrative seat of the town of Düben and now houses the local history and landscape museum. Next to the main building is the so-called castle warden's cottage, which now contains a small café. All the buildings were extensively renovated between 1997 and 1999. At the foot of the castle is the also restored mill. Source: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burg_D%C3%BCben

Düben Castle was also the site of one of the last witch trials in Germany. Tradition tells of a witch's cellar in the castle, torture (which was outlawed in Saxony in 1783), a witch's grave, and a witches' dance floor, among other accounts. During the Seven Years' War, King Frederick II of Prussia stayed at the castle and established the largest supply depot for his army in Saxony there, guarded by 5,000 soldiers. This led to the Battle of Torgau on November 3, 1760, which Frederick II won despite heavy losses. During the Wars of Liberation, from October 10 to 14, 1813, Napoleon established his headquarters at Düben Castle. According to his own account, the uncertainty surrounding the military and political situation there made it the most horrific time of his life. After 1815, the castle, along with the town of Düben, became part of Prussia. The judicial and revenue office, established in the castle in 1780, was dissolved in 1942. After the Second World War, a landscape and local history museum about the town of Bad Düben and the Düben Heath was established by 1953 under the direction of local historian Willy Winkler. Exhibits on the history of the castle and town of Düben, as well as the economic development of the region, are on display. During renovation work in the castle tower in October 2017, a wall frieze by Paul Haffner (1874–1965) was discovered behind loose paint in the interior of the timber-framed upper story. Haffner played a key role in the design of the landscape museum's exhibitions in the early 1950s. In addition to numerous murals and illustrations that aided in understanding the museum's contents, Haffner, who worked in the printing shop of museum founder Willy Winkler, drew the inventory cards for the collection objects, produced many drawings and preparatory works for the museum, and contributed to the scenery painting for the local theater.[1] Due to extensive renovation and reconstruction work, the landscape museum in the castle is currently closed and is expected to reopen to visitors in April 2019. The grounds around the castle, including the ship mill, remain open to the public. Source: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burg_D%C3%BCben

Düben Castle was first mentioned in 981 in the chronicle of Thietmar of Merseburg, during the dissolution of the Bishopric of Merseburg, still under its Slavic name "Dibni." The castle's location was advantageous due to the ford across the Mulde River on an old trade route. A Slavic settlement also grew up next to the castle. During the German eastward expansion, Flemish immigrants founded the village of Neumark near the castle around 1200. Later, Frankish and Saxon settlers took over the old Slavic farmsteads, thus forming the town of Düben. In 1017, Düben Castle was owned by Count Albi, who was soon succeeded by Count Frederick of Eilenburg. In connection with the Battle of Welfesholz in 1115, Wiprecht of Groitzsch conquered the castle and from there seized several manor houses in the surrounding area. Margrave Otto the Rich was also imprisoned here for a time. Through an inheritance agreement, the castle came into the possession of the Thuringian Landgraves in 1291, who granted it as a fief to their followers. In 1450, the castle was completely destroyed during a feud between the brothers Frederick and William of Thuringia. From 1530 onward, the castle housed the administrative seat of the Electorate of Saxony's Düben district. The castle gained supra-regional notoriety during the Kohlhase Affair, which began in 1532 with the nobleman von Zaschwitz and the Elector of Saxony and dragged on until 1540 (trials in Düben in 1533). The most famous head of the district was likely Philipp Melanchthon Jr. in 1554. During the Thirty Years' War, on September 15, 1631, King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden, Elector George William of Brandenburg, and Elector John George I of Saxony formed an alliance here against the Catholic Emperor Ferdinand II and subsequently defeated the imperial troops of General Tilly at the Battle of Breitenfeld. The alliance did not help the town of Düben, which was destroyed three more times (in 1631, 1637, and 1641) by passing mercenary armies. Source: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burg_D%C3%BCben

Düben Castle, formerly also called Dibni, Dewin, Diben, Dybin, and Dewen, rises on a small hill on the right bank of the Mulde River. The castle is located directly next to the bridge carrying the B2 highway over the Mulde within the town of Bad Düben (Neuhofstraße 3) in the district of North Saxony. Source: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burg_D%C3%BCben