Zeitz Travel Guide

Schloss Moritzburg (1657-78), a Baroque palace built on the ruins of an earlier episcopal castle, is now a museum (history of the town, mining in the Zeitz-Weissenfels area, pictures, glass, pewter, porcelain, etc.). It also contains the German Museum of Prams, the biggest collection of prams in all of Europe. Also featuring the wonderful castle garden, the Cathedral of St. Peter and Paul and several important libraries located in the gate-house, the Moritzburg Castle complex is a unique cultural-historical center.

Hours: Wednesday to Sunday 10am - 5pm.

Admission: Adults 2.50 €, Concessions 1.25 €.

The Underground System is one of the tourist attractions of the over 1000 year old former Bishop and Duke town of Zeitz. You can find these passages and vaults in the center of the upper part of town and also on the hillsides of the oldest part of Zeitz in Bruehl and around the Nicolai square. On commencing this tour the visitor will see the first of many round-vaulted ceilings in many different proportions: wide and high (from 3 m in height) and from 4 to 30 m in length.

During the Second World War, the once isolated passages were turned into air raid shelters with the addition of connecting passages, electric lights, locking doors made from wood or steel and sometimes seating. Before the wars these tunnels were also used as hiding places. The main reason for the construction of these halls was food storage and the individual wealth of the medieval people rather than shelter or secrecy.

Hours: March to October: Tues, Thurs & Sat 10am - 5pm. Wednesday and Friday 10 am - 3pm. November to February: Tuesday 2pm - 5pm. Wednesday to Friday 10am - 3pm. Saturday and Sunday 10am - 5pm.

Admission: Adults 3.50 €, Concessions 2 €.

In 1889 a briquette factory named Herrmannschacht by Richard Herrmann started operating. The technical equipment was manufactured by another famous Zeitz enterprise called Zemag. All of the briquette presses, dryers and other machines were powered by only one steam engine of 12 H.P., which was replaced by an electric motor in 1914. All the machines and units of the first phase of industrialization in Middle Germany have been preserved to this day. Since 1945, increasingly brown coal from the environs of Zeitz was processed in the briquette factory. The last day of production was December 31, 1959. Already in 1961 the factory was listed as a historic monument. Today it is the oldest preserved briquette factory of the first generation in the world and a very important monument of industrial history.

In 1994 the Central German Park for Environment and Technology association was founded to preserve old industrial monuments for later generations. Today the briquette factory is a fantastic industrial museum. In a small brown coal forest, in the factory itself and in a museum of stoves visitors can discover the development, manufacture and utilization of brown coal.

Hours: April to September, Tuesday - Sunday 10am - 5pm.

Admission: Adults 3.50 €, Concessions 2.50 €.