On my list of states in Germany that I haven’t visited so far there are a few left, one of them was Thuringia. This state in the middle of Germany didn’t see me so far since it is pretty far away from Berlin. Almost summerlike weather was announced for thursday so I took my chance to go there. Thuringia has a lot of interesting sights, the practical thing about them is that if you take the Autobahn 4 many of those are just right at it with just a few miles distance in between them. I started at the furthest point away and stopped at the closer cities afterwards.

Eisenach – Wartburg: In the hitlist of old castles in Germany, the Wartburg surely will take its place in the Top 3. Not only because this building is situated in a nice landscape but also because of its historical meaning. Martin Luther translated the new testament into German here, students demonstrated for a united german country at the Wartburgfest in the 19th century etc. etc.

Before arriving at the castle the visitor has some obstacles to overcome. When I came to the parking lot I first thought I am paying the entrance fee to the castle already since they demanded 4 euros just for my car to be parked here. What followed was a long and steep walk upstairs to the Wartburg. I would have thought, that, once we drove up on a narrow street including some serpentines the castle was in reach but that was wrong. The view of the building and the magnificent overview of the Thuringia landscape around it was worth all the climbing though.

Baumkronenpfad: Nationalpark Hainlich

My wife saw a documentary about this place a while ago. In a natural preserve, meaning a big forest not man made, a few hundred meter long walkway was created high up at the level of the treetops finishing at an observation deck in a tower. Again, we had to climb a lot of stairs. Continue reading →