Discover Eisenach: Wartburg, Culture and Nature

The Wartburg, Luther and the History of Music

Guided tours of the medieval Palas palace take you through a thousand years of Wartburg history. If you would like to make this visit a fixed part of your day’s plans, check the latest tour dates and ticket information in advance. The Lutherhaus Eisenach presents Martin Luther as a schoolboy, reformer and Bible translator, complementing the picture of his time in the city.

Other cultural landmarks have their own distinct appeal: St George’s Church in Eisenach is Johann Sebastian Bach’s baptismal church. The Predigerkirche houses a permanent exhibition of medieval sacred wood carvings. The Reuter-Wagner Villa has been home since 1897 to the largest Wagner collection outside Bayreuth. The automobile welt eisenach exhibition adds the history of automobile manufacturing, from the Wartburg motor car to Opel.

The Landestheater Eisenach also offers a range of performances: classical dramas, symphonies and concerts, ballet, light entertainment and political wit. If you have a particular evening in mind, it is worth checking the current programme.

Eisenach’s Cityscape and Discoveries

The Schmale Haus stands on Johannisplatz. It is 2.05 metres wide and is probably Germany’s narrowest half-timbered house. Eisenach’s Südviertel offers a different architectural impression: a large villa district with Art Nouveau ornamentation, wrought-iron garden gates and a variety of bay windows. These two examples show different sides of the city’s architecture, from a striking individual house to a villa district.

A guided city tour passes through the historic old town to Frauenplan and the Bach House, St Nicholas’s Church and the Nikolaitor gate, the market square with St George’s Church, the Stadtschloss palace and the town hall, and the Lutherhaus. Several of the city’s landmarks can thus be seen as part of a guided tour.

Nature and Cycling

The Drachenschlucht gorge lies on the southern edge of Eisenach and is a protected geological natural monument. The cycling options differ considerably in scale: the 130-kilometre Herkules-Wartburg Cycle Route reaches the Wartburg town of Eisenach via Hörschel. The short “Around the Wartburg” mountain bike tour loops around the Wartburg, passing viewpoints before returning to the Mariental valley along a trail.

If climbing suits your plans, the Alte Brauerei indoor climbing park in Eisenach offers climbing for families. Cultural landmarks, a short mountain bike tour and a climbing experience specifically offered for families are therefore different ideas to consider when planning your stay.

In the wider Wartburgkreis destination

If you look beyond Eisenach to the wider Wartburgkreis destination, you will find other distinctive themes there. More than 830 years old, Creuzburg Castle is one of Germany’s larger Romanesque castle complexes, with a perimeter wall over 340 metres long enclosing an area of 7,400 square metres. The grounds of Altenstein Palace feature around 20 kilometres of park paths, including a 4.3-kilometre circular walking trail. The Point Alpha Memorial is also an authentic Cold War site; a permanent exhibition at the House on the Border explores the history of the division of Germany. These examples complement Eisenach’s Wartburg, urban history and museums with further regional highlights.

When looking for accommodation, it helps to decide on the scope of your trip first. If the Wartburg, churches, museums and city tour are your main focus, you can choose Eisenach as your destination. For a regional itinerary, include the wider Wartburgkreis destination. This way, your search can reflect which of the experiences described you want to shape your days.

Discover More Destinations

Stregda, Saale-Orla, Hildburghausen-Suhl, Nordhausen, Gotha, Sonneberg, Erfurt, Wartburg

To the regional travel overview: Thuringia.