Tourist Attractions in Gera

The Gera Orangery, a semicircular Baroque building (1729-32) northwest of the city center, now houses the Gera Art Gallery and a permanent exhibition of works by the Gera-born painter Otto Dix (1891-1969).

Among the finest burghers' houses in Gera is the Ferbersches Haus at Greizer Strasse 37-39, now occupied by the Museum of Applied Art (Museum für Kunsthandwerk). Another fine house is the Haus J. Buttermann (18th C.), with sculptural decoration on the doorway. A Baroque house at Steinweg 15 is also notable.

Two notable Gothic buildings in Gera are the Trinity Church (Trinitatiskirche), an aisleless, basically Gothic church with a three-story closed choir (flat painted ceiling), and the parish church of St Mary, also aisleless (Late Gothic, c. 1400).

A few paces from the Town Hall in Gera can be seen the old Regierungsgebäude, a three-story Baroque building originally erected in 1720-22 and rebuilt after a fire in 1780, incorporating some 16th C work (north wing). The central range is four-storied, articulated by pilasters and a triangular pediment.

Near the old Regierungsgebäude in Gera is a three-story Baroque building of 1732-38 (much restored), originally a prison and orphanage, which is now occupied by the History Museum.

Adjoining the Salvatorkirche in Gera is the Schreibersches Haus, a three-story Baroque building (1687-88) with a richly decorated Baroque hall. It now houses the Natural History Museum, with collections on the life and work of five Thuringian ornithologists: (Brehm (father and son) Liebe, Hennicke and Engelmann.

Near the Town Hall in Gera stands the Salvatorkirche (Baroque, 1717-20), with a flat painted ceiling. In the aisles are double galleries, with interesting decoration and furnishings (c. 1900).

Schloss Osterburg (basically Romanesque), 13km/8mi south of Gera in Weida, has a massive keep, a guard-room and a Heimatmuseum.

Other features of interest in the town are the Renaissance Town Hall, the "plague pulpit" (1608) in the old churchyard (1564), a Renaissance doorway (1580) and a number of 17th and 18th century tombs.

Ten km/6mi south of Gera is Wünschendorf, with the Veitskirche (St Vitus's Church), which is basically Early Romanesque, and a covered wooden bridge of 1786. In the Mildenfurth district is a former monastic church (1193) which was converted into a hunting lodge after 1617. There are still some remains of the original basilica.