Eisenach, Castle Wartburg and the Thuringian Sausage!

Categories: Family and Kids, Sightseeing, Cultural and History, Dining

Wartburg Castle

[ source: Flickr]

The Wartburg Castle, dating back to the 11th Century, had at least 3 settlements in the valley below, which merged in the second half of the12th century to one town, later called Eisenach (Eisenach vacation rentals | Eisenach travel guide), in the Free State of Thuringia. Today’s visitors will walk through a town full of history with amazing historical buildings. Start at the market place with the late Gothic Town Hall, the Baroque City Castle and the St. Georgen Church. It was here, where the composer Johann Sebastian Bach was baptized 2 days after his birth on the 21st of March 1685. More historical buildings are definitely worth a visit. So the Nicolai-Church, dating back to the 12th Century, the Dominican Abbey, 13th Century, the Cross-Church, 17th Century and the Martin Luther House from the 15th Century.

When you visit the Wartburg Castle, located on a high and narrow Rock Cliff, 220 meter above Eisenach and part of the UNESCO World Heritage, you will be reminded of Martin Luther, who translated the New Testament from Greek into German in only eleven weeks, during his not quite voluntary stay from 1521 – 1522. He was taken into a protective custody for about 2 years. Like no other castle in Germany, Wartburg is connected with the history of Germany. Not only Luther and Bach contributed to this, but also the later canonized Elisabeth from Thuringia, who lived here from 1211 – 1227 and Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, who visited Wartburg a couple of times. In the 19th Century huge restorations began and new buildings were added and the Castle became the shape you can still see today. Many activities and exhibitions are featured throughout the year on the Wartburg and it’s always worth a visit.

Another highlight of a very different kind is the visit to the Lutherstuben Erlebnisrestaurant.You will enter a Restaurant that sends you back to the days when Martin Luther was still around. Authentic ambience, costumes and even the speech from the Middle Ages are cultivated here and will make your stay a great experience. The food and drinks and the service are also authentic and of high quality. Where else would you get a meter of very delicious Thuringian Sausage and drink your wine from a clay jug, while watching the chefs cooking more culinary delights? No better place to end your day in Eisenach and Wartburg Castle.

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About this Article

This travel guide has been written by Monika Petra.

In her own words: When children are born they receive certain gifts to put them to good use or not. In my cradle there must have been at least music and the curiosity for the world we live in. Luckily I could combine those gifts eventually. My live as a jazz vocalist guided me to see and experience many places in Germany and far beyond. As in my music I like to dive in the historical background of given facts, simply to understand the present. During my travel, my circles got wider and wider and since many years I am now living in Thailand, very interesting to say the least. I grew up in Paderborn, lived and studied Jazz in Cologne's Musikhochschule and worked a while in Bayreuth and Kulmbach. My travels throughout Germany took me to all major cities and small towns. It was the people and local differences, be it language, food, traditions and customs, which made it a lot of fun. When finally the wall came down, I was one of those in Berlin posing on the rests of it for the camera. Off course I took the first opportunity to rediscover the new but old states of Germany and finally understood the impact the wall had on all Germans and in regards to the worst part in German history. Being a German living abroad, I discovered in years what I value most about Germany. Rest assured it is a country of rich cultural background still alive today. I visit my home country regularly and stay in touch with my friends, even those back from school. Another thing I always felt passionate about is writing and sharing my experience and thoughts. The internet provides us all with a great opportunity to connect, tell stories, read and learn from others and grow as a global community.

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