Leipzig New Lakeland? Former lignite mining area? When we roll into the Kulkwitzer See holiday resort in the early evening, we feel more like we're in Scandinavia. Colourful wooden houses, Finnish huts and a picture-book view of the water through man-high reeds in the clear evening sun make us think of a peninsula in the southern Swedish archipelago. Only a perfectly restored QEK Junior caravan lovingly painted in the club colours of Dynamo Dresden with a Trabant as a towing vehicle on the camping meadow indicates that we have reached our destination in Saxony.
Excursion into history: cycle tour to Merseburg
On the first day of the tour, we cycle along small roads and cycle paths across the flat countryside. The first stop is at the beautifully renovated Altranstädt Castle with its small museum on the Northern War and the Altranstädt Peace between Sweden and Saxony in 1706. The next towns along the way, such as Kötzschau with its small railway museum or Luppenau, which is inhabited by storks, also offer wonderful old and well-kept buildings and are like oases in the middle of the extensive agricultural fields. The refinery towers of Leuna stand out against the sky from afar, and a little further north, the cathedral and castle towers of the university town of Merseburg.
After a visit to the Romanesque-Gothic cathedral and the Baroque palace with its gardens and orangery, we follow the Saale a little way upstream. In the small village of Wüsteneutzsch, a huge ruin made of reinforced concrete rises out of the meadows. Work began in 1933 on what was then the largest construction project in the German Reich. The Elster-Saale Canal was to connect Leipzig with the sea via the north German waterway network. Work was stopped in 1942 as it was not classed as important for the war effort. Since then, the 85 metre long, unfinished lock, which was once designed for 1000 tonne canal ships, has lain dormant.
Plan a swimming stop on the Neuseenrunde
On the second day of the cycle tour, we set off from the Kulki, as the people of Leipzig call their favourite bathing lake, heading south to explore part of Leipzig's New Lake District. Flooded as early as 1963 and opened as a local recreation area ten years later, the overgrown lake no longer shows that it was excavated during open-cast lignite mining. The historic railway station buildings still bear witness to the fact that the cycle path to Lützen runs along an old railway line. After Zitzschen, we arrive directly at the viewing point on the shore of Lake Zwenkau and learn from large display boards how the "post-mining landscape" was created from the former open-cast mining area. The lake was flooded between 2007 and 2015. With Lake Kulkwitz in mind, you can imagine what the still very artificial, young shore area will look like in a few decades' timed.
Via the popular leisure area in the south of Leipzig, Lake Cospuden or "Cossi", our route leads through the Elster-Pleiße floodplain forest towards Leipzig. On nice days, half the city seems to enjoy itself in Clara Zetkin Park, whether in the beer garden of the Scheibenholz racecourse or boating on the Elster floodplain. The beautifully landscaped park leads us right into the centre of Leipzig. To get to the Old Town Hall, we only have to cross one street. A short stroll through the city or a visit to a pub in the Barfußgässchen is on the programme before continuing our journey. If a spontaneous concert on the Sachsenbrücke invites you to listen, you can find the last few kilometres back to the Kulki in the dark.
The MYBIKE cycle tour tips for Leipzig
Tour 1: Merseburg, 54 kilometres, 240 metres in altitude, no gradients worth mentioning
The journey towards Merseburg runs along tarmac cycle paths and small roads. After Schladebach, we have to cross a larger country road for a short distance. After a short gravel ride to Merseburg, we return to the cycle path. We cross the city centre by pushing through the short pedestrian zone. After a short detour on the Saale cycle path, we turn off onto smaller roads and occasional country lanes. For the last few kilometres, we follow the cycle path along the eastern shore of Lake Kulkwitz back to the holiday resort on a partly asphalted and partly gravelled surface.
The GPS data for the cycle tour from Leipzig to Merseburg can be found in the MYBIKE Collection on komoot
Tour 2: Neuseenrunde, 51 kilometres, 220 metres in altitude, no significant climbs
The route from the previous day along the Kulkwitzer See to the southern shore. Between Göhrenz and Seebenisch on a finely tarmaced old railway line. Up to Lake Zwenkau we follow country roads with little traffic and country lanes. The cycle paths along Lake Zwenkau and Lake Cospuden are gravelled. We cycle through the alluvial forest and Clara Zetkin Park on smooth forest paths, fine gravel paths and tarmac roads. The way back to Lake Kulkwitz through the suburbs is mostly tarmac.
The GPS data for the Neuseenrunde can be found in the MYBIKE Collection on komoot
Information for a cycling weekend in Leipzig
Overnight stay
Kulkwitzer See holiday resort
Idyllically situated on a headland, the holiday resort offers a campsite, small Finnish cabins and beautiful Swedish houses and bungalows.
Seestraße 1, 04207 Leipzig, Tel. 0341/710770, www.leipzigseen.de/uebernachten/campingplaetze/campingplatz-kulkwitzer-see
Hotel Markgraf Leipzig (bed + bike)Könnerstraße 36, 04107 Leipzig, Tel. 0341/303030, www.markgraf-hotel-leipzig.com
Food & Drink
The racecourse restaurant at Leipzig's racecourse is beautifully situated in Clara Zetkin Park. From the beer garden, you can watch the rowers and canoeists at the confluence of the Pleiße and Elster rivers while enjoying matjestatar with beetroot and potato pancakes. www.rennbahn-leipzig.de
Bike & e-bike hire in Leipzig
ASB Die Fahrradwerkstatt, twice in Leipzig, touring bikes from 10 euros, e-bikes from 30 euros, www.asb-diefahrradwerkstatt.de
See & Experience
Canoeing on Lake KulkwitzBoat hire Wittig, Tel. 0177/5025708, www.kanuverleih.de/index.php/standorte/bootsverleih-am-kulkwitzer-see
Belantis Adventure Kingdom, large amusement park for the whole family between Lake Zwenkau and Lake Cospuden, www.belantis.de
Railway museum Bavarian railway station in Leipzig, with steam seminars and special steam trips, www.dampfbahnmuseum.de
Maps & Info
- Practical cycling and hiking maps (€8.00 each) are available from Publicpress, www.publicpress.de
- 0661 "Leipzig New Lakeland Southern Part",
- 0608 "Leipziger Neuseenland Nördlicher Teil",
- 0562 "Halle (Saale) - Petersberg - Geiseltalsee - Merseburg - Bad Dürrenberg"
- A brochure with cycle tour tips, maps and GPX data can be downloaded or ordered free of charge from Leipzig Tourismus und Marketing GmbH at: www.leipzig.travel/de/region/freizeit/aktiv-und-natur/mit-dem-fahrrad/
General information can be obtained from the Tourist Information LeipzigKatharinenstraße 8, 04109 Leipzig, Tel. 0341/7104260, www.leipzig.travel
