Kyffhäuser Denkmal

Erfurt, Weimar & Thuringia

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The Kyffhäuser mountains were once home to one of Germany’s largest castles, the Reichsburg, built in the 12th century by Emperor Friedrich Barbarossa (who, according to legend, lies in eternal sleep in the belly of the mountain). In the 19th century, Emperor Wilhelm I was seen as Barbarossa’s spiritual successor, and in 1896, this statue, showing the emperor on horseback beneath a 60m-high tower on which Barbarossa sits enthroned, was erected atop the Reichsburg ruins.

At the foot of the monument, dining and accommodation options open in season. To get there, follow the B85 north from Bad Frankenhausen for about 9km, then turn east at the sign and continue for another 2km.

Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

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Nearby Erfurt, Weimar & Thuringia attractions

1. Panorama Museum

3.28 MILES

This museum of visual arts sits just above Bad Frankenhausen, on the site where thousands died during the 1525 Peasants’ War. One literally unmissable…

2. Barbarossahöhle

4.06 MILES

Accidentally uncovered by copper-shale miners in 1865, this anhydrite cave is one of the largest of its type in Europe. Fifty-minute tours through the 13…

3. KZ-Gedenkstätte Mittelbau Dora

17.6 MILES

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…

4. St Annenkirche

20.16 MILES

This church features a stunning Steinbilder-Bibel (stone-picture Bible; 1585), the only one of its kind in Europe, and a wittily decorated pulpit. While…

5. Luther's Sterbehaus

20.41 MILES

This museum, expanded and updated in 2013, focuses on three themes: how the culture of death has evolved over the centuries; Eisleben native son Martin…

6. St Andreaskirche

20.46 MILES

Martin Luther delivered his last sermons in the St Andreaskirche, a late-Gothic hall church on the hill behind the central Markt.

8. Luther's Geburtshaus

20.61 MILES

This house where the famous religious reformer Martin Luther was born has been a memorial site since 1693, though it has been updated since then. The…