The Goddess and Public History

The Dessau-Wörlitz Garden Realm is a cultural landscape and World Heritage Site in Germany, located between the city of Dessau and the town of Wörlitz in Central Germany. The Temple of Venus was built between 1794 and 1797. It was built to emulate the classic Doric Monopteros style. The central feature is a more than life-sized statue of Venus that emulates Venus de' Medici or Medici Venus, the goddess in a shy pose. An original marble of this style is in the Uffizi Gallery, Florence, Italy. It is said that this beautiful temple can be seen from the perspective of many visual points of view in the park. Friedrich Franz von Anhalt-Dessau (1740-1817) is credited with creating this masterpiece park, bringing in the influence of British parks of the time. It was under the regency of Duke Leopold III of Anhalt-Dessau.

A Report from this Sacred Site

"A path that turns right leads us to the Temple of Venus in the light of pure understanding. The path pointing to the left leads us on the path of inner change. A long, dark corridor leads us into a lovely valley below the Temple of Venus. From there we enter the caves below the Temple of Venus. These grottos are dedicated to the 4 elements of fire, water, earth and air. In these grottos the harmonization of all 4 elements takes place in us. Our inner change is completed. So changed we step back into the daylight, ready to step before the face of the goddess Venus."

- Annette, Venus Tempel:Hiking Highlight, Komoot.com

Sources

Weyer, Julian. 2011. "D_Schloss_Wörlitz_Dessau_12." Flickr. July 24, 2011. https://www.flickr.com/photos/47333265@N00/6405681529/in/photostream/.

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"[the Temple of Venus, Park of Worlitz, Anhalt, Germany]." n.d. Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. 20540 USA. Accessed August 23, 2022. https://www.loc.gov/resource/ppmsca.00020/.

"Venustempel Routes for Walking and Hiking." n.d. Komoot. Accessed August 23, 2022. https://www.komoot.com/highlight/148457.

"Medici Venus | Artworks | Uffizi Galleries." n.d. Www.uffizi.it. https://www.uffizi.it/en/artworks/medici-venus.

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Temple of Venus

The Goddess Shines Her Love on Visitors from the Temple of Venus in Worlitzer Park, Germany

Photo Credit: Aldo91/Shutterstock.com

The Goddess and Public History

Discovering Ancient Goddesses and Divine Females in Public Places in New York and Beyond. She is all around you!

Temple of Venus

Meet the Goddesses

Discovering the Goddess

Goddess Historical Sites

Goddess Statues Around the World

Famous Goddesses in NY Museums

Goddess Expeditions to Museums

Goddesses in the Wild in NY

Goddesses in the News

Spiritually Connect to the Goddess

Bibliography

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