Herbstmarkt Erlichthof Rietschen

Autumn Market in the Timber-Frame Houses

The Erlichthof in Rietschen is one of the most unusual venues in Upper Lusatia: a timber-frame house settlement that brings together historic Sorbian and Lusatian wooden houses from the 18th and 19th centuries in one place — saved, restored, and made accessible to visitors. In autumn, when the trees around the Erlichthof stand in golden light and the first days become cooler, the settlement opens for its traditional Herbstmarkt (autumn market) — a classic in the annual event calendar of Lusatia.

What the Market Offers

Craft stalls with genuine Lusatian products are spread across the grounds: pottery, basket weaving, wood carving, leatherwork, felted wool, and pottery nativity figures. Direct marketers offer honey, jam, liqueurs, herbs, game from the Lusatian forests, and smoked goods. Seasonal specialties: pumpkins of all kinds, apples from the Lusatian orchard, plums, pears, nuts, and fresh mushrooms from the surrounding forests. For hunger pangs: Bratwurst, soups made from rutabaga and parsnip, apple cake from the local baker, accompanied by mulled cider and apple spritzer.

Entertainment and Atmosphere

A small stage features folk music, folk, and occasional Sorbian songs — the Sorbs are the Slavic minority of Upper Lusatia with their own language and culture. For children, there are craft stations (kite making, pumpkin carving, autumn wreath binding), a small pony riding area, and hands-on activities. The settlement itself is worth seeing even without the market — some houses are accessible, some have information boards, and they provide an impression of the life of Lusatian farmers and Sorbian families in the 18th/19th centuries.

Erlichthof — Lusatian Folk Culture Alive

The Erlichthof settlement was founded in the 1970s as an open-air museum: timber-frame houses from various Lusatian villages were relocated and restored here. The timber-frame house — built from horizontal logs, often plastered with clay and thatched with reeds — is a construction method that originated in the water-rich Lusatian Heath and Pond Landscape and is now rarely preserved. The Erlichthof is now part of the UNESCO Upper Lusatian Heath and Pond Landscape Biosphere Reserve.

Rietschen and the Lusatian Heath and Pond Landscape

The municipality of Rietschen, with around 3,100 inhabitants, is located in the Görlitz district in the Upper Lusatian Heath and Pond Landscape — a unique cultural landscape shaped by humans and nature with hundreds of ponds, heath areas, and forests. UNESCO Biosphere Reserve since 1996. Visitors to the autumn market can combine their stay with a hike through the Biosphere Reserve — the adventure trails around Rietschen are particularly beautiful in autumn.