Torgau Old Town & Hartenfels Castle
Torgau / Schloss Hartenfels
A Renaissance old town on the Elbe, home to the castle of the Saxon electors and the grave of Luther's wife.
Torgau, on the Elbe in the German state of Saxony, was the main seat of the Saxon electors in the 16th century and one of the political centers of the Reformation. Hartenfels Castle is considered the best-preserved early Renaissance castle in Germany. Its outer spiral staircase, the Great Spiral Staircase, is its landmark. The castle chapel was consecrated by Luther himself in 1544 and is one of the earliest newly built Protestant churches. Bears still live in the castle moat. Two minutes' walk away is the late-Gothic Church of Our Lady, which holds the tombstone of Katharina von Bora, Luther's wife, who died in Torgau in 1552. Her former house is now the Katharina Luther Memorial. The old town also preserves its town hall and several Renaissance houses. In 1945, American and Soviet troops met on the Elbe at Torgau, and a memorial stands by the river. From Leipzig, the S4 line takes about 50 minutes, and the town suits a half-day or full-day trip.
Opening hours
Hattenfels Palace exhibition hall: Tue–Sun 10:00–17:00; closed Mondays
Nearby sights
- Monument to the Battle of the Nations
- Schumann House
- Russian Memorial Church
- Grassi Museum
- Leipzig Hauptbahnhof
- Mendelssohn House
- Leipzig Opera
- Augustusplatz