Bad Langensalza Attractions

18km/11mi north of Gotha is Bad Langensalza, chief town of a district and a spa (sulfurous water) since 1812. It has a picturesque old town with restored burghers' houses (decorated facades, carved doorways). In Schlostrasse is the Klopstock House, in which the 18th century poet Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock, author of the "Messiah", stayed in 1748-50. In the Markt are the Baroque Town Hall (1742-52) and the Market Fountain (1582). There are two Late Gothic churches, St Boniface's (14th-15th C.) and St Stephen's (founded 1398; rich interior). In Thälmannplatz is a Heimatmuseum. A little Baroque palace, Friederikenschlösschen (1749-50), is now occupied by a club. Of the old fortifications (12th-14th C.) there survive seventeen towers and one town gate, the Klagetor ("Wailing Gate").