Kindelbrück: Gründelsloch, City Gates and the Stone Age Trail

Spring, city gates and a themed trail

Kindelbrück combines a striking natural feature with city gates and a trail whose name evokes the Stone Age. The Gründelsloch lies west of the town. It is a karst fissure spring and a supposedly bottomless water hole. Its almost circular basin measures approximately 22 metres in diameter and is 9 metres deep. The spring discharges around 15,600 litres of water per minute and is considered the strongest spring in Thuringia.

The Gründelsloch is particularly appealing because it combines a clearly identified karst fissure spring with the description “supposedly bottomless water hole”. The city gates offer a different focus among the sights in Kindelbrück. During your stay, you can therefore weigh natural features and urban landmarks as distinct factors when choosing where to visit.

The “Stone Age Trail” offers another perspective on Kindelbrück. The route branches off from the Unstrut Cycle Route at Griefstedt and leads to Kindelbrück alongside an extensive wildlife enclosure. It was completed in summer 2022. Unlike the sights in town, this route focuses on the journey from Griefstedt to Kindelbrück. So when looking for accommodation in Kindelbrück, you can consider whether the spring and city gates, or this trail as well, will shape your trip.

The club swimming pool and its access rules

The SSG Kindelbrück outdoor pool is not open to the public. Visitors who ring the bell and become day members can use it. The club pool has beach facilities, a football pitch, a large sunbathing lawn and slides. When planning your visit, the access arrangements are especially important alongside these facilities: if you would like to use the pool, check with the operator before your visit.

More historical topics in the wider Sömmerda destination

The wider Sömmerda destination offers further, distinct historical topics. In Sömmerda, the town park was laid out as a public garden and opened at Whitsun in 1903. According to chronicle records, the listed Erfurter Tor in Sömmerda was built in 1395 as an entrance to the existing town fortifications. It was one of the first of five city gates in the town wall, which was expanded from 1589 onwards. Thanks to continuous restoration and renovation, the wall is well preserved. The public garden, gate and wall illustrate different aspects of Sömmerda’s history.

The Historical and Technical Museum in Sömmerda focuses on the town’s 200-year industrial development: from the founding of the Dreysesche Gewehrfabrik (Dreyse Rifle Factory), through the Rheinmetall production sites, to the office machine factory in the former GDR. This sequence takes visitors through different periods of the town’s history and offers a distinctive perspective on the region’s past.

The Waidmühle mill in Rohrborn, a district of Sömmerda, also offers an insight into regional traditions. It has been restored to its original condition. At the annual Mill Day on Whit Monday and the Waidmühle Festival in August, woad is ground there as it was in the past, and visitors can learn about the old tradition. If you would like to plan your trip around one of these festivals, check the dates in advance. The mill and its events offer a different focus from the town wall or industrial history: here, the emphasis is on milling and sharing the tradition.

Trails in the wider Sömmerda destination

The wider Sömmerda destination offers more options for nature and outdoor activities. The 91.7-kilometre Finnewanderweg is a long-distance hiking trail in Central Germany; in the Rastenberg area, part of it can also be walked as a circular route. Circular trails, a geological nature trail and cycle routes also start in Rastenberg, at the town hall or the forest swimming pool. These trails are in the Finne protected landscape area. The wider destination therefore offers a long-distance hiking trail, circular trails, a nature trail and cycle routes as distinct planning options.

Discover more destinations: Henschleben, Beichlingen, Weißensee, Straußfurt, Kölleda, Guthmannshausen, Buttstädt, Gebesee

Go to the wider travel overview: Sömmerda.