We like to WWW.THURINGIAN-CITIES.COM CULTURAL welcome you TOWNSCULTURAL OF in our cities! TOWNSTHURINGIA OF THURINGIA Pocket Guide ‹ WWW.THURINGIAN-CITIES.COM Upper and Lower Palace Greiz 2 | | 3 a true gem. It is the longest bridge in Europe with inhabited buildings along its entire length and has many shops specialising in handicrafts and antiques. Welcome! Thuringia’s towns and cities offer a fantastic mix of culture and leisure activities in unspoilt scenery. The Thuringia is home to an unparalleled of inestimable value. Bach, Brahms, town of Suhl, for example, is set wealth of cultural treasures. The Liszt and Wagner are among those amid dense forests just a stone’s region was once made up of many who wrote some of their works in Imprint throw from the Rennsteig hiking different principalities, whose rulers the region and who remain ubiqui- Merchants’ Bridge Erfurt trail. The same is true of Ilmenau established royal seats with splendid tous figures to this day. Hearing Published by: and Arnstadt with their abundance their music at the locations where it VereinThuringia’s Städtetourismus towns in and cities boast of walking and cycling routes. palaces, mighty castles and magnif- Thüringen e. V. icent parks that remain as alluring was originally composed makes for c/o aweimar diverse GmbH and internationally Tucked away in the romantic valley today as they ever were. an unforgettable experience. Gesellschaftrenowned für Wirtschafts- art scene. Famous paint- of the White Elster river is Greiz, a förderung,ers, artists Kongress- and und sculptors have left former royal seat with two palaces Thuringia has one of the most Tourismusservicean inimitable legacy of work. Be it and a summer residence. Rudol- UNESCO-Platz 1 UNESCO World Heritage sites of 99423the Weimar influential Renaissance painter stadt, in the picturesque Saale valley, Germany. Wartburg Castle, the most Tel. Lucas+49 (0) Cranach,3643 / 745314 the acclaimed is overlooked by majestic Heidecks- famous landmark in Eisenach, has Fax Bauhaus+49 (0) 3643 master / 745333 Lyonel Feininger burg Palace. Only a few miles away been shaped by many historic events e-mail:or the incomparable painter and is Saalfeld, where a former mine and figures over the centuries. Clas- [email protected] Otto Dix, who was born has been transformed into enchant- www.thueringer-staedte.de sical Weimar boasts sites associated in Gera. The Lindenau Museum in ing fairy grottoes. Mining heritage with the life and legacy of Goethe, Design/Layout:Altenburg is home to one of the takes centre stage again at Sonders- Wieland, Herder and Schiller, while Gudmanworld Design, finest Weimar collections of 180 early hausen visitor mine, the world’s the Bauhaus sites bear witness to the PrintedItalian by: Renaissance paintings by oldest accessible potash mine. Druckhaus Gera dawn of Modernism. The world-fa- masters like Botticelli, Fra Angelico ‹ Photo credits: mous Bauhaus school of design was Babovic,or Masaccio. Nestler, Neumann, The Kunsthaus art founded in 1919 by Walter Gropius, Pietschmann,gallery in Röttig, Apolda Schuck, mounts exhi- and from its home in Weimar went Szyszka,bitions Digital of Vision,international acclaim. on to shape new developments in YuriPaintings Arcurs/Fotolia.com, by Picasso and Matisse, T. Sieland, TPT, A. Heinrich, Musical Heritage art, culture and architecture. J. Hauspurg,sculptures Zeiss-Planeta by Camille- Claudel and rium,works Archives by of Karl the mem-Lagerfeld and Helmut The poets Goethe and Schiller bersNewton of the association are just some of the rarities laid the foundation for a new era that have been on display here. 1st edition 2015 here, an era that saw many cities Mühlhausen is home to countless Heidecksburg Palace Rudolstadt in Thuringia become centres of cul- We churches,accept no responsibility many of which are used ture. Today, you can visit authentic for thetoday accuracy as cultural or com- venues, and the It is hard to imagine Thuringia sites associated with these seminal pletenessKunsthaus of the published Meyenburg in Nord- without its culinary specialities that figures of German Classicism and information.hausen has established itself as are today enjoyed far beyond the see their original manuscripts. But northern Thuringia’s premier art region itself. Authentic Thuringian Thuringia is not just famous for centre with exhibitions devoted to dumplings and 'bratwurst' sausages Cities of the thuringian its literary greats. Musicians and Barlach, Hundertwasser and Dalí. Airportare as popular with locals as Railwaythey are Thuringian border cities association composers have also left a legacy 'Haus am Horn' Weimar The Merchants’ Bridge in Erfurt is with visitors. Federal highway Motorway Cycle path A-Road 4 | | 5 Other firm favourites include Alten- burg goat’s cheese, Erfurt’s Born mustard, Nordhausen 'doppelkorn' Travel schnapps, Saale-Unstrut wines, Köstritzer dark beer and Viba nougat from Schmalkalden. In Thuringia’s towns and cities, you can while away ideas the hours in idyllic beer gardens or dine in style at gourmet restaurants. Whether in Weimar, Jena, Erfurt, Palaces and castles 8 Mühlhausen or Eisenach, you can enjoy culinary creations made by award-winning chefs. Friedenstein Palace Gotha 10 Parks and gardens really can see and do a lot in just a short space of time. Stroll around Friedenstein Palace in Gotha in the morning, enjoy panoramic views Bauhaus and Modernism 12 from Wartburg Castle in Eisenach in the afternoon, and spend the evening at Meiningen Theatre. 14 Famous musicians Everything is within easy reach in Thuringia. The region also lies at the heart of Germany and is easy to get to from any direction by road, The Jewish heritage 16 rail or air. This pocket guide published by Classicism – the Towns of Thuringia Tourism 18 Schiller and Goethe‹ Traditional 'Bratwurst' sausages Association presents 19 of the most beautiful towns and cities in Thurin- Because the region is relatively small gia. Discover a wealth of cultural and Luther and and offers such a wide variety of historical attractions at the heart of the Reformation 20 art, culture, nature and cuisine, you Germany. Hiking and biking 22 with culture Created by men and nature 24 26 Theatre and festivals 6 | | 7 Our 44 Ilmenau cities 46 Jena 48 Meiningen 28 Altenburg 50 Mühlhausen 30 Apolda 52 Nordhausen 32 Arnstadt 54 Rudolstadt 34 Eisenach ‹ 56 Saalfeld 36 Erfurt 58 Schmalkalden 38 Gera 60 Sondershausen 40 Gotha 62 Suhl 42 Greiz 64 Weimar 8 | | 9 11 | ALTENBURG 66 | SCHMALKALDEN Palaces Altenburg Castle and Playing Card Wilhelmsburg Palace – four- Museum – extensive castle gardens winged Renaissance residence with orangery and tea house Palace Church with Renaissance Lindenau Museum – with its exqui- wooden organ and site collection of early Italian panel paintings 77 | SONDERSHAUSEN Neo­classical Palace with an Eng- 22 | EISENACH lish-style landscaped park castles Wartburg Castle – UNESCO World Palace Museum with art collections Heritage site, Reformation land- mark and Eisenach’s most famous 88 | RUDOLSTADT Because it is home to more for­ into courtly life. Heidecksburg Palace attraction Heidecksburg Palace – three- mer royal seats than almost any­ in Rudolstadt is beautifully preserved winged baroque residence with where else in Europe, Thuringia and highly sought after as a back- 33 | GOTHA magnificent corps de logis, now boasts a wealth of splendid drop for TV and film productions, Friedenstein Palace, Ducal Muse- museum featuring the 'Rococo en palaces, medieval castles and while Gotha is home to one of the um, Palace Park with landscaped miniature' exhibition stately homes. A hotspot for art, region’s finest baroque ensembles, gardens, casemates culture and architecture. the 'Baroque Universe' with its four The baroque orangery 99 | WEIMAR museums, theatre and palace park. Belvedere Palace – Elegant summer Thuringia owes its extraordinary The Almanach de Gotha, the most 44 | GREIZ residence, today a popular visitor wealth of former royal seats to the famous directory of the European Upper and Lower Castle attraction and UNESCO World principalities of the early modern nobility, was also published here Summerpalais with landscaped Heritage era. The region’s lands were ruled for over 180 years and remains an park – state collection of books City Palace – with stunning by many different dynasties for more important means of proving aristo- and engravings with the Satiricum state rooms and a remakable than four centuries. The cultural cratic ancestry. (cartoons and caricatures) collection of European art treas ures that originate from that Tiefurt House – Summer residence time remain for everyone to admire ‹ 55 | MEININGEN of Duchess Anna Amalia today. As well as the great residences, Elisabethenburg Palace – exhibition Ettersburg Palace – comprising the there are many grand buildings of historical stage sets belonging Old Palace, church and New Palace located away from the main streets. to the Meiningen royal theatre at the front In Arnstadt, the ruins of Neideck More information: troupe (19th century) at the Theatre Castle and the New Palace with its www.thuringian­cities.com Museum museum provide fascinating insights www.schatzkammer­thueringen.de Summerpalais Golden Coach BildunterschriftBelvedere Palace Greiz Sondershausen Weimar 7 Erfurt 2 3 9 1 6 8 4 5 10 | | 11 11 | APOLDA 65 | JENA Parks 2017 Thuringia Horticultural Second­oldest botanical garden in Show – Schötener Promenade and Germany (1586) with 10,000 spe- Herressener Promenade cies of plants on 4.5 hectares. The ancient ginkgo tree is a reminder of and 22 | ERFURT Goethe’s time in Jena. 2021 Federal Horticultural Show, Egapark – founded over 50 years 77 | SCHMALKALDEN ago, this heritage-listed park and The 2015 Thuringia Horticultural gardens exhibition site is home to Citadelle Show themed on 'GartenZeitReise' Cyriaksburg, Germany’s only horti- (gardens through the ages): new cultural museum parks (Westendpark, Viba-Park and Thuringia’s towns and cities are many. Relatively modern equivalents Stadtpark) and a newly designed home to an abundance of royal have been created for various garden 33 | GERA terrace garden at Wilhelmsburg estates, botanical gardens and shows.