UNESCO Central Elbe Biosphere Reserve

Natural river courses in the midst of regularly flooded, fertile floodplains have become rare in Central Europe. This can be experienced here on the Elbe, where the last contiguous floodplain forest complexes in Central Europe extend.

The Central Elbe Biosphere Reserve stretches along 303 river kilometers of the Middle Elbe through Saxony-Anhalt and is part of the transnational UNESCO River Landscape Elbe Biosphere Reserve. Vast meadows with centuries-old solitary oaks as well as the scenic attractions of the UNESCO Garden Kingdom of Dessau-Wörlitz, which is embedded in the Middle Elbe Biosphere Reserve, can be found here. Plants and animals that are almost extinct in other parts of Europe still have their habitat here.

The Auenhaus Information Center, located between Dessau-Roßlau and Oranienbaum, is the central contact point for nature lovers and provides information about the Central Elbe Biosphere Reserve. The permanent exhibition offers visitors the opportunity to better understand the special features of the reserve, its history and its tasks by means of replicas and models. Among other things, important protagonists of the floodplain habitat are presented and visitors can take a look inside an elaborately designed beaver lodge, the home of the Elbe beaver, probably the best-known inhabitant here on the Middle Elbe. At the multimedia stations, everyone can become active themselves, test their acquired knowledge and discover exciting things from the realm of nature.