Eisenach, the old capital of the Landgraves of Thuringia, lies on the northwestern edge of the Thuringian Forest, at the foot of the Wartberg with its legendary stronghold of the same name. Many great names are associated with the town and the castle, including the medieval poets Walther von der Vogelweide and Wolfram von Eschenbach, Martin Luther, Johann Sebastian Bach, Richard Wagner, Franz Liszt and the 19th C Low German writer Fritz Reuter.
At the Eisenach Congress of 1869, August Bebel and Wilhelm Liebknecht founded the German Social Democratic Workers' Party.
At Frauenplan 21 in Eisenach is the modest Bach House, with an interesting collection of material on the life and work of the Bach family, particularly Johann Sebastian, and a collection of historic musical instruments.
In the square can be seen a statue of Bach (by Donndorf).
At Lutherplatz 8 in Eisenach is the Luther House (formerly belonging to the Cotta family), restored after suffering bomb damage in 1944. The house is now a memorial museum, with the historic Luther Room and rare Bibles and religious works of Luther's time.
On the Göpelskuppe in Eisenach can be seen the Burschenschaft Monument (by W. Kreis), erected in 1902 to commemorate the Wartburgfest of 1817, a meeting of some 500 representatives of student fraternities (burschenschaften) in German universities to protest against the restoration of the old regime and the fragmentation of Germany into petty princely states.
Below the Wartburg in Eisenach lies the 200 m/220yd long Drachenschlucht, with bizarrely shaped rock walls up to 10 m/33ft high. From the Hohe Sonne guest-house on the Rennsteig there is a good view of the Wartburg.
At Reuterweg 2, outside Eisenach's old town, is the Fritz Reuter and Richard Wagner Museum, in which the Low German writer Fritz Reuter (1810-74) lived and died. In addition to memorial and exhibition rooms there is a Wagner Library, the largest and finest after the one in Bayreuth.
Address: Fritz Reuter and Richard Wagner Museum, Reuterweg 2, D-99817 Eisenach, Germany
At the corner of Georgenstrasse and Schiffsplatz is the Hellgrevenhof, thought to be the oldest building in Eisenach. According to legend, the sorcerer Klingsor and Heinrich von Ofterdingen lodged here after flying from Hungary to Eisenach on Klingsor's cloak.
In Georgenstrasse in Eisenach stands the Hospital Church of St Anne, with an inscription recording its foundation by St Elizabeth (St. Erzsébet) of Hungary in 1226.
To the east of Eisenach rise the white limestone crags of the Hörselberge (rare flora). The Grosser Hörselberg (484 m/1,588ft) was, according to legend, the home of Wotan, Tannhäuser and Frau Venus. From the Hörselberg plateau there are extensive views. Nearby are the Venus and Tannhäuser Cave and the Jesusbrünnlein (fountain).
15km/9mi southwest of Eisenach on B 84 is Marksuhl, which has a Renaissance Schloss with a richly decorated gateway. The parish church is an aisleless Baroque building.
13km/8mi north of Eisenach is Mihla. Its main features of interest are the Rotes Schloss (Red Castle; Renaissance), with a massive stone ground floor and two half-timbered upper floors, a richly decorated doorway, three oriels and a Knights' Hall (1631) with stucco decoration; the Graues Schloss (Gray Castle), a two-story Renaissance building with three gables and a tower on each side; and the village church, an aisleless Baroque building of 1711, with an aumbry and a winged altar of the 15th C.
In Predigerplatz in Eisenach is the Predigerkirche (Dominican), with a collection of religious sculpture (works of the Thuringian school of woodcarvers, 12th-16th C.).
To the south of Eisenach, in an attractive setting of woodland and meadows, stands Schloss Wilhelmsthal (1712-19; altered by G. H. Krohne in 1741). The gardens, originally laid out in Baroque style, were converted into a landscaped park around 1800.
Hours:
March 1 to October 31: 10am-4pm; Closed: Mon
November 1 to February 28: 10am-3pm; Closed: Mon, Mon
Northeast of the Town Hall in Eisenach stands the Nikolaikirche, a fine example of Romanesque architecture (basilica type, with a flat roof; 12th C., extensively restored 1867-69).
On the south side of the Nikolaikirche in Eisenach is a stretch of the old town walls, with the Nikolaitor (c. 1200), the oldest surviving town gate in Germany.
The Eisenach Town Hall, carefully restored after the Second World War, is basically a Late Gothic building with Renaissance features and a leaning tower. On the lower floor can be seen reliefs and ornament by the Renaissance sculptor H. Leonhardt.
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Wartburg Castle
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Wartburg Castle, Eisenach
