The highest elevation is a 110 m high former rubbish dump called Scherbelberg in the southwest of Dessau.

Dessau is surrounded by numerous parks and palaces that make it one of the greenest towns in Germany.

Many famous artists were lecturers in Dessau in the following years, among them Walter Gropius, Paul Klee and Wassily Kandinsky.

Afterwards, it was rebuilt with typical GDR concrete slab architecture (Plattenbau) and became a major industrial centre of East Germany.

Dessau was also the birthplace of the philosopher Moses Mendelssohn (in 1729), and Leopold I, Prince of Anhalt-Dessau (der alte Dessauer) (on 3 July 1676), a lauded field marshal for the Kingdom of Prussia.

In January 2005, Dessau gained notoriety for the mysterious death of a Sierra Leonean drug trafficker and asylum seeker, Oury Jalloh.

Dessau Hauptbahnhof (main station) has connections to Magdeburg, Berlin, Leipzig, Halle, Bitterfeld and Lutherstadt Wittenberg.

The Dessau-Wörlitzer-Eisenbahn (railway) connects Dessau to Wörlitz, a town situated 15 km to the east, and the Wörlitzer Park.

The airfield of Dessau (ICAO: EDAD) is situated northwest of the town between the districts Kleinkühnau, Alten, and Siedlung.

The runway has a length of 1000 m. The Hugo Junkers Technical Museum is situated in the neighbourhood directly east of the airfield, with the eastern end of the modern runway almost directly abutting the historical World War II Junkers factory airstrip's western end.

The "Wallwitzhafen" is used as a private pleasure boat harbour and the Elbehafen near the Grain House is used for cruisers.

The local bike paths have a length of about 146 km and connect all major parks and sights.

Next to the traditional sports, Dessau has active sport clubs in the following disciplines: aikido, badminton, basketball, canoeing, chess, climbing, cycling, dancing, fishing, horse riding, karate, judo, jiu-jitsu, motorboat, rowing, speedskating, sailing, skittles, skydiving, squash, swimming, table tennis, water polo, wrestling and others.

Peter Kuras (born 1958) was elected mayor of Dessau-Roßlau in June 2014 with 75.82% of the votes for a term of seven years.

This programme is based on the integrated approach that is used for tackling the environmental, economical and social problems, affecting the deprived urban areas.