Discover Harbke

Harbke brings together garden landscapes and local history. The castle park is a clear focal point, while the church, historic landmarks and local history museum offer further cultural themes. This lets you get to know the place from several perspectives and focus on the park as well as Harbke’s local history.

Castle Park and Access

The approximately six-hectare castle park combines a former Baroque pleasure garden with a landscape park. Rare trees of dendrological value add a botanical dimension alongside the garden’s development; the castle ruins and orangery add architectural history to the grounds. The orangery dates from 1830/31 and is designed in the Neo-Gothic style. Garden styles, trees and historic buildings thus come together as different themes for a visit to the park. The park is open year-round at no charge, while the castle courtyard is accessible only during events. If you would like to include the courtyard, check the event dates before travelling.

The park’s main paths are generally wheelchair accessible. However, some sloping side paths are not suitable for everyone. The orangery is accessible via a ramp, but has no restroom facilities. Check the access information before your visit if you rely on particular paths or ramp access.

Sights in Harbke

Harbke’s sights include St. Levin’s Church, dating from 1572, which is associated with the Fritzsche-Treutmann organ. A wooden sundial from 1640 and the tombstones of the von Veltheim family add to the historic landmarks; the Grauer Hof is the local history museum. These offer different cultural points of interest: church and organ history, a historic timekeeping instrument, tombstones and local history. You can focus on one theme as you explore or combine several aspects.

Landscape and Culture in the Börde

In the wider destination of the Börde, the landscape of Börde district extends from the fertile Börde in the south—the largest contiguous area of black earth soil in Germany—to the meadows and wetlands of the Drömling in the north. Wooded ridges and the Colbitz-Letzlingen Heath, home to Europe’s largest contiguous lime forest, shape the centre of the district. This regional setting adds further landscape experiences to the garden and cultural themes specific to Harbke.

The Börde’s cultural attractions also offer a range of highlights. The “Romanesque Road” includes ten sites in the district; churches, monasteries, palaces, castles, museums and historic monuments are among the region’s sights. Hundisburg Castle is one of the most significant rural Baroque palaces in Saxony-Anhalt. Its Baroque garden is distinguished by perfect symmetry and detailed garden design. For regional comparison: Harbke combines a former pleasure garden with a landscape park, while the garden at Hundisburg Castle is known for symmetry and highly detailed Baroque garden design.

Another regional attraction is the Hundisburg Brickworks Technical Monument. It brings together a brickworks and a technology museum, featuring brick production using the hand-moulding method, a coarse ceramics workshop for shaping and pottery, a building materials workshop and a carpentry shop. The historic narrow-gauge railway offers a visitor ride of around two kilometres, passing historic kilns, a bucket-chain excavator and the former clay pit.

Discover More Destinations

Also discover Oschersleben, Bertingen, Haldensleben, Colbitz, Ingersleben, Ummendorf, Schwaneberg and Altenhausen.

See the wider travel guide: Börde.