Germany (Lonely Planet, 6th Edition) - Andrea Schulte-Peevers [181]
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Festivals & Events
Although more closely associated with Berlin, and later New York, the composer Kurt Weill was born in Dessau. Every March the city hosts a Kurt Weill Festival (www.kurt-weill.de, in German), reprising and updating his collaborations with Bertolt Brecht, such as The Threepenny Opera. Performances take place in Dessau and surrounds.
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Sleeping
DJH hostel ( 619 803; www.jugendherberge.de/jh/dessau; Ebertallee 151; dm under/over 27yr €14/17, breakfast €4.50, linen €3.50; ) When it moved to a new address, standards at Dessau’s hostel leapfrogged from the 19th to the 21st century. Professionally run by friendly staff, it has 150 beds in cheerful dorms sleeping from two to seven people, each with their own bathroom. The main Bauhaus sights are just a hop, skip and jump away.
Bauhaus dorms ( 650 8318; unterkunft@bauhaus-dessau.de; Gropiusallee 38; s/d €25/40; ) Since the Bauhaus school was renovated, you can channel the modernist dream by staying in the former students’ dorms. Don’t expect any flights of fancy, though. Rooms are of, shall we say, ‘monastic’ simplicity.
Hotel-Pension An den 7 Säulen ( 619 620; www.pension7saeulen.de, in German; Ebertallee 66; s €47-52, d €65-72; ) Rooms at this small Pension are not of the latest vintage but the garden is pleasant and the breakfast room overlooks the Meisterhäuser across the leafy street. There’s an ayurvedic wellness centre on site, should you be in need of a massage.
NH Dessau ( 251 40; www.nh-hotels.com; Zerbster Strasse 29; s €72-100, d €86-115; ) The neutral white-and-grey tones somehow feel more stylish than clinical in this modern hotel set in the pedestrianised strip leading to the Rathaus and tourist office. Wrap up a day on the tourist track with a session in the rooftop sauna with attached terrace for cooling down.
Steigenberger Hotel Fürst Leopold ( 251 50; www.dessau.steigenberger.de; Friedensplatz; s/d from €90/115, breakfast €16; ) Dessau’s grandest hotel is a modern contender with stylish and spacious rooms dressed in clear lines and subdued blues and reds. It’s clearly geared to the suit brigade but with a bar, excellent restaurant, fitness area and beauty spa, there’s plenty to appeal to leisure lizards too.
Elbpavilion ( 646 150; rohr@ksdw.de; 1-2/3-4 people Apr-Oct & Christmas €150/€200, Nov-Mar €75/120) Feel like a king and queen when staying in this elegant white tower right in Georgium Park, complete with fireplace but no TV or phone.
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Eating
Kornhaus ( 640 4141; Kornhausstrasse 146; dishes €2.50-11; 10am-11pm Fri-Wed; ) In an original Bauhaus building right on the Elbe River, this place can’t be beat for location, design and ambience even if the food is not terribly inspired. Dine outside on the big terrace or in the dining room with its crazily patterned carpet.
L’Appart ( 661 5975; Zerbster Strasse 8; snacks €2.50-6, mains €10-15; 11.30am-midnight, food to 9pm; ) The jazzy decor is a great foil for the tasty fare at this upbeat French brasserie with a nice terrace overlooking the market square and town hall. Locals in the know invade the place for the €5 weekday lunch specials.
Pächterhaus ( 650 1447; Kirchstrasse 1; mains €15-22; noon-3pm, 5-10pm Tue-Sun; ) Foodies on a mission won’t mind making the small detour to this gorgeously restored half-timbered farm house where seasonal and locally sourced ingredients get the gourmet treatment. In fine weather do anything to bag a table on the idyllic terrace beneath a canopy of vines.
The food’s only so-so, but Bauhaus fanatics can fuel up right in the storied Bauhaus-gebäude. Report either to the bright white Bauhaus Mensa ( 650 8421; Gropiusallee 38; dishes €2.50-5.50; 8am-2pm Mon-Fri; ) or to the slightly more welcoming Bauhaus Klub ( 650 8444;