- Artificial volcano in Wörlitz before the eruption
An eerie rumble will be heard this weekend in the Wörlitz Park. For the first time in five years, the artificial volcano is set to erupt again on Friday (16th August) and Saturday (17th August). "It's the perfect illusion," said State Archaeologist and acting director of the Garden Realm in Dessau-Wörlitz, Harald Meller.
The 17-meter high artificial volcano stands on the one-square-kilometer island called Stein on the eastern shore of the Wörlitz Lake. Since November 2000, the Garden Realm Dessau-Wörlitz (district of Wittenberg) with its lakes, canals, castle, temples, houses, and original bridges has been a UNESCO World Heritage site.
Show with fire, water, pyrotechnics, and acoustics
"Here, one can probably experience the only controllable volcanic eruption in the world," Meller said, eagerly anticipating the event. Fire, water, pyrotechnics, and acoustics will provide the spectacle. The eruption will be visible and audible from many points in the park. According to Meller, the Garden Realm will showcase something that Prince Franz and his contemporaries would have experienced.
Prince Leopold III Friedrich Franz of Anhalt-Dessau (1740-1817) had the Wörlitz Park created gradually over decades from 1764 as the first landscape park in the English style on the European mainland. Today, thousands of visitors walk through the over 112-hectare area each year.
First volcanic spectacle over 200 years ago
The first spectacle of this kind took place on 10th August 1794, the Prince's birthday. Afterwards, the so-called Wörlitz Vesuvius lay dormant until it was reactivated in 2005. "People in the 18th century were impressed - just as people are impressed today," said Meller, announcing that "it is planned to let the volcano erupt every year in August."
The technical director of the eruption, Wolfgang Spyra, spoke of a fantastic illusion. "We try to recreate the magic that comes from this artificial volcanic eruption with today's possibilities," he said. "The volcanic cone will be fired with pinewood, and there will be sounds. Lava will pour into the Wörlitz Lake without actually flowing. This should surprise the guests."
This year, the volcanic eruption is set to be the highlight of a multi-hour program in the Wörlitz Park, explained the artistic director, Uwe Quilitzsch. The tickets for the seats in the gondolas are already sold out.
The Garden Realm Dessau-Wörlitz, being a UNESCO World Heritage site, shares its rich history with modern-day visitors. The reactivated artificial volcano, a significant feature of the park, is set to erupt for the first time in five years, reenacting a spectacle that initially occurred over 200 years ago, on the European Union's world heritage site.
