Weimar
Between 1937 and 1945, hidden from Weimarers and surrounding villagers, 250,000 men, women and children were incarcerated here, some 56,500 of whom were…
Must-see attractions in Central Germany
Thuringian Forest & the Saale Valley
When it comes to medieval castles and their importance in German history, Eisenach's Unesco-listed Wartburg dominates the landscape. This huge medieval…
Fairy-Tale Road
Erected between 1707 and 1717 by Landgrave Karl and declared a Unesco World Heritage site in 2013, the 8.25m-high copper Herkules statue stands atop a…
Erfurt, Weimar & Thuringia
This horseshoe-shaped palace, surviving in exemplary condition as the largest early baroque palace in Germany, is a lavish, creaky-floored delight. Much…
Fairy-Tale Road
One of the joys of Marburg is simply strolling around its steeply winding medieval core. Its focal point is the Marktplatz; on the southern side is the…
Wörlitz Park & Schloss Wörlitz
Central Germany
With peacocks feeding on the lawn before a neo-Gothic house, a tree-lined stream flowing towards a Grecian-style temple and a gap in a hedge framing a…
Central Germany
You’ll find the four surviving Meisterhäuser – Gropiushaus, Haus Feininger, Haus Muche/Schlemmer and Haus Kandinsky/Klee – on leafy Ebertallee, a 15…
Nationalpark Kellerwald-Edersee
Fairy-Tale Road
Hesse's first national park encompasses the Kellerwald, one of the largest extant red-beech forests in Central Europe and a rare survivor of the last Ice…
Thuringian Forest & the Saale Valley
Overlooking Schmalkalden, the late-Renaissance Schloss Wilhelmsburg was built between 1585 and 1590 by Landgrave Wilhelm IV of Hessen as a hunting lodge…
Herzogin Anna Amalia Bibliothek
Weimar
Assembled by Duchess Anna Amalia (1739–1807), the power (and purse) behind Weimar's classical florescence, this Unesco-listed library has been beautifully…
Harz Mountains
Originally built in the 12th century to protect German Kaisers on hunting expeditions, Schloss Wernigerode was enlarged over the years to reflect late…
Erfurt
Situated on the Petersberg hill northwest of Domplatz, this 36-hectare citadel ranks among Europe’s largest and best-preserved baroque fortresses. While…
KZ-Gedenkstätte Mittelbau Dora
Harz Mountains
A deeply sobering place: at least 20,000 people were worked to death here building the tunnels beneath Mittelbau Dora, and the rockets now decaying within…
Central Germany
Even those with no previous interest in the Reformation will likely be fascinated by the state-of-the-art exhibits in the Lutherhaus, the former monastery…
Fairy-Tale Road
A living kernel of Fulda's long history, this early-9th-century church was once the cemetery chapel for the Benedictine monastery around which the town…
Central Germany
This large medieval castle on the hill above town is one of Freyburg’s highlights. It houses an excellent museum that illuminates various aspects of…
Fairy-Tale Road
Situated 6.5km west of Kassel Hauptbahnhof, and 3km west of Kassel-Wilhelmshöhe station, in the enchanting Habichtswald nature park, this spectacular 560…
Fairy-Tale Road
Erstwhile home to Kaiser Wilhelm II, Wilhelmshöhe Palace (1786–98) at the foot of Bergpark Wilhelmshöhe, today houses one of Germany’s greatest art…
Central Germany
It’s almost impossible to overstate the significance of this building, erected in 1925–26, as a school of Bauhaus art, design and architecture. Today a…
Thuringian Forest & the Saale Valley
About 15km north of Jena, you'll find this hillside trilogy of magnificently restored palaces in medieval, Renaissance and rococo styles, with stunning…
Erfurt
Erfurt's cathedral, where Martin Luther was ordained a priest, grew over the centuries from a simple 8th-century chapel into the stately Gothic pile of…
Weimar
This is the world's leading museum on Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Germany's literary colossus. It incorporates his home of 50 years, gifted by Duke Carl…
Harz Mountains
The performance of American avant-garde composer and musical theorist John Cage's Organ²/ASLSP began in the shell of the former Kirche St Burchardi in…
Fairy-Tale Road
Occupying a prime position atop the Weinberg bunker in the scenic Weinbergpark, the fabulous Grimmwelt could be described as an architect-designed walk-in…
Rammelsberg Museum & Besucherbergwerk
Harz Mountains
The shafts and buildings of this 1000-year-old mine are now a museum and Unesco World Heritage Site. Admission to the mine includes a German-language tour…
Fairy-Tale Road
Fulda's spectacular Stadtschloss (town castle) was built from 1706 to 1721 as the prince-abbots' residence. Designed by famed baroque architect Johann…
Landesmuseum für Vorgeschichte
Central Germany
This phenomenal collection of major archaeological finds is one of the most significant in Europe. Priceless permanent exhibits shed light on the early to…
Fairy-Tale Road
Some 11km southwest of Hamelin, in pretty parkland near the Emmer River, sits this stunning palace, built in the Italianate Weser Renaissance style…
Fairy-Tale Road
Built by the knights of the Teutonic Order between 1235 and 1283 (its two high spires were added later), the Protestant Elisabethkirche is Germany’s…
Harz Mountains
Covering a total land mass of 24,700 hectares, Harz National Park is the first national park in Germany to occupy land in two states: Lower Saxony to the…
Fairy-Tale Road
This excellent contemporary art museum hosts temporary exhibitions and symposia exploring relevant, topical themes such as the re-emergence of fascism in…
Thuringian Forest & the Saale Valley
The religious reformer Martin Luther lived here as a schoolboy from 1498 to 1501, in one of Thuringia's oldest and most handsome half-timbered houses. Now…
Weimar
Built in 1765 and developed by the younger brother of Duke Carl August, this Unesco-listed country house flowered under the ownership of Duchess Anna…
Erfurt
It’s Luther lore galore at the monastery where the reformer lived from 1505 to 1511, where he was ordained as a monk and where he read his first Mass. You…
Erfurt
Flanked by photogenic half-timbered houses on both sides, this charming 1325 stone bridge is the only one north of the Alps that's still inhabited. To…
Fairy-Tale Road
Göttinger Wald is one of the best mixed forest stands of predominantly beech and oak in the region. It’s easily reached by following Herzberger…
Thuringian Forest & the Saale Valley
The world’s oldest public planetarium (1926) has a state-of-the-art dome projection system, making it a heavenly setting for cosmic laser shows paying…
Erfurt, Weimar & Thuringia
The handsome neo-Renaissance building to the south of the Schloss Friedenstein now houses many of the artistic and historical treasures amassed by the…
Thuringian Forest & the Saale Valley
Comprising two 15th-century houses knocked together in the early 17th century, this is Johann Sebastian Bach's actual birthplace, and an international…
Fairy-Tale Road
About 15km northwest of Kassel you'll find one of Germany's best-preserved and most beautiful rococo palaces, built by Landgrave Wilhelm VIII as a leisure…
