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elevation profile for the Castle Trail: G EOINFOCENTRES

elevation (m) Pfennigsberg Wachsenburg Mühlburg RiesenlöffelZiegenberg Burg Gleichen 400 7 23 350 3 300 1 14 1 START 0 5 10 15 20 25 28,1 GeoInfoCentre GeoInfoCentre Kulturscheune easy moderate difficult Kulturscheune distance (km) Mühlberg Mühlberg

! www.rbarnstadt.de, www.iov-ilmenau.de Bus schedule:www.vmt-thueringen.de, Freudenthal Mühlberg, Röhrensee,Holzhausen,Bittstädtund Bus lines870,871,354andbusstopsin Getting therebybus: Train schedule:www.bahn.de Railway stationWandersleben orHaarhausen, Getting therebytrain: Difficulty: easy-moderate Start: GeoInfoCentreKulturscheuneMühlberg 12 km) Middle sectionapprox.7km,eastern Length: approx.31km(westernsection12km, GeoRoute: vegetation. supports thedevelopmentofagrasslandorsteppe marl. The verylownutrientcontentofthesoil only vegetation-free, areas are made of mudstones and hills, theseredandgreenish-grey, almostcompletely ny. Locatedonthesouth-facingslopesofcastle led Badlands,averyraretypeoflandscapeinGerma- reveals placesofharshbeauty. These aretheso-cal- gentle and romantic landscape and occasionally The Castle Trail (“Burgenroute”)takesyouthrougha back over200millionyears. “guard” anexcitinggeologicaltreasurethatdates But thereismoretothecastlesthanthat:theyalso knights, kidnappedprincessesormedievalbigamy. legends about devastating fires, cruel robber- The DreiGleichen-castlesareassociatedwithmany Badlands intheThuringianCastleCountry continental SouthEuropeansteppes. There wherethefirstdinosaursonce roamed throughThuringia,livesa Book here:Kulturscheune Mühlberg unique floraandfaunaofthe are availabletoenhanceyour Our expertGeoparkGuides experience on thistrail. All informationsubjecttotypesettingand typographicalerrors. E-Mail: [email protected] Stephan Brauner,KerstinFohlert, AnkeSchindler Thüringer Burgenland–DreiGleichene.V. We lookforwardtoseeingyou! Tel.: 0361-4229000,Fax.:0361-4229005 Stephan Brauner,Tel.:03623-332014 e.t.a. SachverständigenbüroReyer April -Oct.:WedSun10am–5pm Nov. -Mar:WedSun10am–4pm Tourist informationandGeoInfoCentre 99869 DreiGleichen,OTMühlberg 99869 DreiGleichen,OTMühlberg Eva Kochlett,WolfgangSchröter, Haarbergstraße 37,99097Erfurt [email protected] Map: ©mr-kartographieGotha Graphic design:AntjeRaßloff Inge Fischer,NancySchröter Tel. &Fax:036256-22846 Regionaler Förderverein E-Mail: [email protected] Chairperson: JensLeffler GeoPark-Management: 1st editionDecember2018 Thomas-Müntzer-Str. 4 Thomas-Müntzer-Str. 4 Kulturscheune Mühlberg GeoPark-Geologist: Opening hours: Authors: Contact: Imprint: Photos: D rei G leichen Attractions along the Castle Trail 7. Castle Wachsenburg 15. Gypsum quarries at the Kalkberg 21. Freudenthal Communities along the Castle Trail: Timetable of the geological development of the Geopark

- built as an abbey in 936 for Abbot Meingoth - part of the northern Wachsenburg graben structure with - according to legend, when Count Ernst von Gleichen escaped age Mühlberg in Mio. years - used as a prison until the end of the 19th century, then steeply inclined strata (see 16 ) from Muslim captivity together with the sultans daughter, 1 25 today (Holocene) 1. GeoInfoCentre Kulturscheune Mühlberg - First mentioned in the deed of donation made by the converted to a tourist attraction - early extraction of gypsum for construction purposes whom he had married whilst on the run and who had helped Quaternary 2 - Tourist information of the Thuringian Castle Country- Thuringian duke Hedan II. on May 1, 704; it is the oldest town 10 Ice age (Pleistocene) - today used as a restaurant, hotel and museum - you can find out more about gypsum and gypsum karst on him escape, he was greeted here by his first wife Alpine Orogeny Drei Gleichen in together with Arnstadt and Grossmonra - Opening hours: daily from 11 am (Mon / Tue closed) the Panorama Route (Guide for GeoRoute 2) - Information about the Geopark, permanent display of life in - typical cluster village, town wall until mid 19th century 22. Saurian fossil site at the Hasenwinkel the Middle Triassic ocean around 240 million years ago and - more attractions are linked by the local hiking trail 190 about Prof. Herrmann Müller (companion of Charles Darwin) 8. Otto-Knöpfer-House Holzhausen 16. Gravel pit Haarhausen - Fossil saurians (bones, teeth) were found in the Upper Lias “Mühlberger Runde“ Jurassic - temporary cultural and art exhibitions - Otto Knöpfer (1911 - 1993) was a famous Thuringian painter - abandoned quarry, today a conservation area Triassic shale-marl sequence of the Kallenberg incl. from (of motifs from the Drei Gleichen region) - a section of the northern edge of the Wachsenburg graben Plateosaurus engelhardti Holzhausen 200 2. Rät Sandstone quarry below Mühlburg Castle - Opening hours: May - Oct: Sun 13 pm - 4 pm structure is exposed in the quarry (geol. fault zone: - you can see a reconstruction of this saurian on the - first recorded in 786 - the village has several historic half-timbered houses - the Rät Sandstone was used for construction Eichenberg--Saalfeld-Fault Zone) Saurian Discovery Trail (Guide for GeoRoute 6) 210 - first official record of commercial use in 1832 9. Overview panel for the Geo and - steeply inclined and folded strata can be seen here in Bittstädt - more information on the Seeberg Trail (GeoRoute 5) close proximity 23. Castle Gleichen 2 Pleasure Trail “From Beer to Bratwurst“ - first recorded in 786 220 - provides an insight into the environmental setting for the - largest of the Drei Gleichen castles - the romanesque St. Ägidien Church is worth a visit Keuper 22 6 3. Mühlburg Castle with Radegunde Chapel development of our cultural landscape and regional 17. Experimental Archaeology Site Haarhausen - first officially recorded in 1034 and inhabited until the 18a 5 Heldburg-Gypsum 230 - oldest of the Drei Gleichen castles (first recorded 704) culinary jewels - on show is a reconstruction of a 3rd century Roman pottery 16th century Haarhausen Triassic 16 with a baking and potter`s furnace as well as stilt houses - notorious for the legend about the double-wedded Count - first recorded in 786 Upper - fell into disrepair from the 17th century onwards - discovery stations with sculptures and audioguide Mid 15 Lower - the originals were found in local excavations von Gleichen (see 21 ) - settlements in the parish date back to the 4th and 5th century 240 Muschelkalk - today a popular destination with a 22 m tall lookout, Upper 56 m deep 13th century well, and a small museum with 10. Gravel pits near Bittstädt - Opening hours: grounds are open all year - today tourists can visit the ruins with walls from the 11th H. Arnstadt Mid V. century, a lookout with a permanent exhibition “Barren 250 Lower temporary exhibitions - the river Ohra flowed here during the ice age, depositing - Bach and residential town with historic town centre Buntsandstein - the remains of a chapel dedicated to the last Thuringian gravel 18. Viewpoint “Am Stein” Beauty – Steppes in Thuringia” - worth seeing: the New Palace (Neuer Palais) with castle - info-station explaining the history and geology of the - Opening hours: April - October: daily 10 am – 6 pm Zechstein Copper shale princess, Radegunde (518 - 587), are located on the - today the so-called Urstrom-Kies (ancient river gravel) is museum and baroque doll town Mon plaisir, Bach and 260 Neuenhof-Fm. (boundary conglomerate) outer bailey extracted near the village; historical quarry in “Heidenholz“ Roter Berg (‘‘Red Hill‘‘) Liebfrauen Church, Neideck Castle ruins - Opening hours: April - Oct.: Mon - Fri 10 am – 5 pm, 24. Oil and pearl barley mill - The Thuringian Bratwurst is first recorded in 1404 on an 270 Eisenach-Formation Sat – Sun/holidays 10 am – 6 pm 11. Kupferstrasse ("Copper Road") 18a. Geotope Blumenberg - one of the 7 mills of Mühlberg, first recorded 1528 invoice for the Maidens Convent of Arnstadt Permian until the 18th century an important pilgrimage and trade road - initially thought to be a sinkhole due to its form - driven by water from the Springquelle Tambach-Formation 4. Trinius view on the Gustav-Freytag Trail - also used to transport copper ore from the 14th century - however it is an old gypsum quarry - mill has a 18th century pounding and press mechanisms Places to eat along the Castle Trail 280 Rotliegend Rotterode-Formation - the viewpoint was built in honour of the author August Trinius onward, which was processed here e.g. in the Tobiashammer - only functioning mill of its kind in Thuringia Oberhof-Formation Bittstädt: Inn “Zur Heide" Goldlauter-Formation at the end of the 19th century Ohrdruf (hammer mill, today technology museum) 19. Gräfenbrunnen in the Gleichental 290 Haarhausen: “Gemeindegaststätte“ Manebach-Formation - high yield well that was already mentioned in the 16th century 25. Travertine in Weidbach Ilmenau-Formation ? Georgenthal- u. Möhrenbach-Fm. 5. Alabaster quarry below Castle Wachsenburg 12. Clay pit Bittstädt on Kirchberg hill - according to legend this well is said to have supplied water - formed between 3500 - 7000 years ago by precipitation of Holzhausen: Western Inn “Lasso" , Carboniferous 300 to Castle Gleichen carbonates from the water of the Mühlberg Spring G - Alabaster is colloquially also known as false marble - the clay was used for the local brickworks Hotel “Frankenberger", Café “Holtzhaus‘‘, Variscan Orogeny - however, in reality the rock is gypsum (Heldburg-Gypsum) break-up supercontinent Pangaea of formation THG 20. Exposure at the Hainbiel Restaurant “Veste Wachsenburg“ ±1000 m 13. Eulenberg 26. Mühlberg Spring 400

- cut during the construction of the Autobahn in the 1930s - crystal clear karst spring – formed around 7000 years ago Mühlberg: “Ratskeller Mühlberg“, “Weisses Ross", Devonian 6.Badlands - Bunker system of Jonastal 420 - shows fold formation just like those on the gravel pit in a sinkhole - very rare type of landscape in “Schützenhof“, Ice-cream parlour “Am Spring" Liebenstein- Group 440

Silurian ±2000 m - greyish-green and red very nutrient-poor mudrocks with thin 14. Giant spoon at the Kesselbrunn Arnstadt (see 16 ) - yielded enough water to power 7 mills in the past centuries >3000 m? Visit the other Wandersleben: Inn “Burgenlandung“ 460 soil cover - a 16th century, 2 m tall field monument sculpted from - Kneipp-walking pool 4 GeoRoutes in the Group

More information about opening hours can be obtained at the Ordovician 480 - Flora and Fauna similar to South European Steppes Group Seeberg Sandstone ±1000 m Ruhla- Drei Gleichen Area! GeoInfoCentre Kulturscheune Mühlberg. 500 - named by the poet Ludwig Bechstein Trusetal- 520 1 5 6 26 14 Cambrian

540 Brotterode-Group

560 Precambrian

G - post-orogenic granites (e.g. Ruhla and Trusetal Granites) THG - Thuringian Main Granite