'Thumbs Up' In Thuringia

There’s this cultural diversity that hits you smack in the face.

As a European cultural and intellectual hub, the region is closely associated with the work of great thinkers and doers. Luther; Wieland; Herder; Cranach; Dix; Feininger; Van de Velde; Gropius…! The names trip off rather easily.

Then there are the myths and legends, exemplified in elaborate facades; impregnable fortresses; and romantic castles to be found on almost every hill. The fact is that there is a fortress in every village, and romantic castles and medieval fortresses – over 400 in all - proliferate all over the state. The most famous, and the landmark of the town of Eisenach is Wartburg Castle, a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Erfurt; Weimar; Eisenach; Jena; Gotha; Altenburg; Meiningen…the Thuringian towns are bursting at the seams with history, tradition, heritage, culture, and leisure diversions. Along with fascinating museums, historic festivals and medieval markets bring life back to the old walls.

Add to this good climate and beautiful natural countryside that beckons people to step outdoors for ‘active’ holidays. There is Nordic Walking; hiking with GPS systems – there are some 1 000 kilometres of hiking trails; and cycling tours that centre around 1, 700 kilometres of cycling trails running through forests, along mountains, in towns, and along river valleys. Natural preservation areas such as the Thuringian Forest and Hainich National Park are a special delight.

And for good measure, there are some 19 romantic spa towns and health resorts, natural remedies such as brine, bog, minerals; seclusion; peace and quiet; and a distinct, local cuisine.

No, you aren’t in paradise yet! Just in Thuringia, that wonderful state wedged smack in the heart of Germany, that’s wedged smack in the heart of Europe.

All this munificence awaited me as I made a quiet, unceremonious entry into the state, which until now had just been a ‘name’ for me. A four-day sojourn, and I was ‘sold’, ‘hooked’, and ‘charmed’ to the point of no-return.

I’d bedded down in Erfurt, Thuringia’s medieval capital, that straddles around the imposing ensemble of St. Mary’s Cathedral and St. Severus Church at Cathedral Square, outside which the traditional ‘Cathedral Steps Festival’ is held every summer. It’s a city that wants to hasten along but with its burden of heritage and history intact.  I believe it’s managed that. I did my tourist bit and set out exploring. Every visitor makes a beeline fo Cathedral Square and so did it. Huge, imposing and busy, the square is the centre of the city. Ten minutes of brisk walking along downtown streets with trendy boutiques brought me to a famous local landmark. The 12 metre-long ‘Merchants’ Bridge, Europe’s longest ‘street and buildings’ bridge, is an institution in itself. Spanning the river Gera, the bridge is supported by seven mightly wooden arches, and is completely covered with 32 houses, to the point that you can’t see the river. Today, the bridge is home to chic boutiques and bistros.

Continuing my walk, I saw the Town Houses on the Fish Market – different sizes and styles, but all with their own distinct look and character – the houses reveal something of the town’s wealth during the last four centuries. Also worth seeing are the tradition-rich ega garden show, and Petersberg Citadel!

Evening found me on a coach gliding along the autobahn headed for privileged destination. By any account, Eisenach is a rather special place. Situated at the foot of Wartburg Castle, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, where Martin Luther translated the New Testament into German in just ten weeks, the town has a story to tell.

Wartburg Castle is everything German castles are meant to be.   

Straddling a hill, it features turrets, towers, chambers, rampart walls, and commanding views in every direction. One of Europe’s most famous centres of the muses and home to Saint Elisabeth, the Hungarian princess who spent most of her short life here, the castle exudes history and heritage in every nook and cranny. I can vouch for this. It was here that the painter Moritz von Schwind commemorated both the competition between minnesingers, known as the ‘Battle of the Bards’, and the history of Saint Elisabeth in beautiful frescoes. And it was here that Martin Luther translated the New Testament from Greek into German.

Two visits in two days can be a bit much, but not in this case. Not with this town! The Classicism citadel of Weimar is a ‘one-off’ in more ways than one, with hardly a street or lane that doesn’t reflect the city’s chequered history. The city’s ‘cultural mile’ in the city centre with the famous bronze monument to Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Friedrich Schiller outside the German National Theatre Weimar, along with a total of 27 museums attract the world. An incredible sixteen unique items are UNESCO World Heritage sites.

Weimar owes its fame to both the literary classics and the revolutionary Bauhaus movement. Poets, painters, musicians and architects, such as Goethe, Schiller, Cranach, Liszt, Gropius, and Nietzsche, chose to live here and made it what it is today – namely a centre of German intellectual life. The centre of things is the ‘Classic Weimar’ complex which comprises homes, castles, parks, a library, church, and cemetery.

Seated by the fountain in the city square, I saw life flowing by, Weimar style. Fronting me was the famous ‘Hotel Elephant’ whose history is as rich as it’s guest list is famous. Just alongside, an equally important spot – a Thuringian Bratwurst stall – was thronged by hungry tourists and locals.

At the heart of the city is the German National Theatre, long directed by Goethe, and founding site of the Weimar Republic. It’s worthwhile stopping by at The Bauhaus, founded by Walter Gropius, with a museum and a model home, ‘Am Horn’. Outside the city gates stands Buchenwald Memorial Site, the former concentration camp.

Contemporarily designed authentic venues commemorate the reformer  Luther and the composer and organist Bach, but there is also a fascinating museum dedicated to the city’s over hundred-year old tradition of automobile construction.

Regional cooking and robust hospitality are the driving force of ‘Culinary Thuringia’. The state has a powerful guild of beer-brewers and is the proud possessor of the oldest certificate for brewing to German purity standards. Home - made style sausage; potato dumpling; tasty cheese; game from woodland reserves; strong beers and flavoured herb schnapps, quality wines, chocolate creations; cakes based on grandma’s recipes…it’s enough to tempt the devil.

If they have a museum dedicated to them – there is one in the village of Holzhausen -  they must be something rather special. And they are! The Thuringian grilled sausages that sizzle of charcoal barbecues until they are brown all over and served in a bun, are an institution in themselves. Local butchers have been jealously guarding their secret recipes right from the time these sausages have been made, six hundred years to be precise. Not surprisingly, these inimitable Thuringian sausages are legally protected throughout Europe.

Keen to have me brushed up with local specialties, the Thuringian Tourist Board had me whisked off into the country. The first stop on my daylong outing was at ‘Thuringian Dumpling World’ in Heichelheim, a cookery school, museum and shop rolled into one, that offers both history and tasting. Under the watchful eye of Elke Schuler, head of the institution, we set about making potato dumplings. The preparation needs two-thirds raw grated potatoes over which is poured one-third mashed potatoes. This mixture is then stirred and the dumplings shaped by hand. After being simmered in hot salted water for 20 minutes, they literally melt in the mouth.

You can see potato gathering machines, shredders, and dumpling presses in the museum section, learn the secret of making perfect Thuringian dumplings, and even step into a giant dumpling. And you get to taste one.

Thirty minutes later we were at ‘Thuringer Weingut Bad Sulza’, a vineyard that combines traditional and modern production methods with some success. The biggest vineyard in Thuringia, producing some two hundred and fifty thousand bottles annually, Bad Sulza is the northernmost wine producing area in the world. An inspection tour of the winery with Andreas Clauss, the establishment’s Managing Director, was fine, but infinitely finer was the ‘tasting’ of select wines, accompanied by ‘wild garlic soup’ and snacks.

Winding up our culinary jaunt was a stop at ‘Romantik Hotel Dorotheenhof Weimar’, where Claus Alboth, Managing Director and Head Chef, conducted a ‘tray- baked cake’ workshop, whose rewards were onion cake; sausage bun; apple cake, and coffee.

Armed with authentic recipes of potato dumplings and tray-baked cakes, I came away from Thuringia richer in mind, but poorer in heart.

The fact is that I miss the place. ‘Food for thought’, perhaps!