On the Thuringia tourist trail - Inverness Courier
Tuesday, August 20, 2019There is also the Duchess Anna Amalia library with more than a million books. Each October they hold an onion fair, elect an onion queen, and eat loads of dishes all full of onions! Eisenach Towering over the town is Wartburg Castle (the most German of castles, it is said) where Martin Luther translated the Bible into German. In the town there is the ancient Martin Luther house, and Bach’s house and museum.JS Bach’s house in the centre of Eisenach.It is a great town for inspiring musicians – Richard Wagner composed Tanhauser here. It has also produced cars for over 100 years, (Wartburg cars came from here amongst many others) and there is a museum of car manufacture. There is lots to see and many events held here throughout the year.A well cared for Wartburg car in Muhlhausen.Meiningen When you leave the railway station you immediately walk into the formal “Englisher Garten” with old ruins, trees, lawns, a lake with fountain and peace. This little town is a gem. It has a castle, which is a sprawl of a building, ornamental, not military at all. There is an important theatre with concerts, plays, opera, and performances throughout the year.Just one of the many lovely old buildings in Meiningen.The town is also famous for the railway workshop here. German railways kept steam locomotives going longer than us, and so the workshop kept the skills to serve them. Today it has an order book as long as your arm, repairing and building steam locomotives for the world. It can be visited too.Meiningen also claims to be the place where the Thuringian dumpling originated. These dumplings, in endless varieties, can be found on the menu everywhere.Jena This is “science city”. It is home to Germany’s optics industry, has the Abbe centre for Photonics, the Schiller University (dating from 1558), and the Karl Zeiss planetarium, the world’s oldest.The first planetarium, in science city Jena.It also boasts the world’s second-oldest botanical garden. With such a concentration of skilled industry, Jena suffered pretty badly in World War II, but has rebuilt. Today it is a bustling city, with m...https://www.inverness-courier.co.uk/lifestyle/culture-castles-and-kilometres-of-trails-in-german-state-181187/
Germany's Thuringia Seeks to Awaken Its “Sleeping Beauty” - Travel Agent
Sunday, March 3, 2019Sleeping Beauty castle in Neuschwanstein, Gronegres noted that King Ludwig II was inspired to construct his 19th century palace after first visiting Thuringias 12th-century Wartburg castle in Eisenach. People love Neuschwanstein, but that is not the original, said the smiling Thuringia managing director. Wartburg is the original.
Thuringia is the home of Bach, Luther, the Protestant Reformation, the bratwurst sausage, and arguably the most authentic collection of medieval villages in Europe. Yet it is a region unknown to Americans despite its geographic position midway between the cities of Frankfurt and Berlin, and immediately north of Bavaria, the most popular tourism state in Germany. While it may sound unsurprising to learn that Thuringia received only 24,161 overnight stays by Americans in 2014 out of the record 5.2 million American overnights in all of Germany, the low numbers are stunning to anyone who has recently visited the region and seen its tourism gold mine. The numbers say that less than half of one percent of Americans who have visited Germany have seen Thuringia.
Today English is understood – although not fluently spoken – among Thuringian tourism hosts, including some hotel desks, primarily because the region has previously seen few English-speaking guests. But expert, fluent city guides, available through Thuringias state and city tourist offices, can be arranged in every town to make the visiting experience a series of stunningly enjoyable revelations for groups or individuals. These are Thuringian natives proud to reveal their hidden treasures.
Merchant Bridge in Erfurt // Photo by Maureen Stone
What Americans Are Missing
Travel Agent visited 11 of Thuringias cities and towns during the week of May Day, a national holiday in Germany. Here is a brief sketch of some of the regions highlights for travel planners to consider.
Erfurt
The Thuringian capital citys cathedral of St. Mary has 12th-century walls, 14th-century wood carved choir stalls and stone carved door portals, and 15th-century Gothic columns. Martin Luther was ordained a catholic priest and said his first mass here in 1506. The cathedral has the largest free-swinging medieval bell in the world at over 500 years old.
Erfurts Augustinian Monastery is where Martin Luther lived and studied as a monk before experiencing religious visions, mounting his protests against the Catholic Church in 1517, launching the Protestant Reformation and converting most Thuringians from Catholic to Protestant. The monastery has about 100 guestrooms and visitors can stay ...https://www.travelagentcentral.com/destinations/germany-s-thuringia-seeks-to-awaken-its-sleeping-beauty
A brief history of German neo-Nazi group NSU
Thursday, August 2, 2018April 2007 Police officer Michele Kiesewetter is killed in Heilbronn. Her colleague is seriously injured. Their firearms are stolen.
November 2011 After robbing a bank in the central city of Eisenach, Mundlos and Boehnhardt are found dead in a camper van in an apparent murder-suicide. Zschaepe sets fire to their hideout in the nearby town of Zwickau and mails videos featuring a Pink Panther cartoon character to the media in which the NSU claims responsibility for the killings.
July 2012 The head of Germany's domestic intelligence agency, Heinz Fromm, resigns following a public outcry over his agency's shredding of documents related to the NSU case.
May 2013 The trial of Beate Zschaepe and four men accused of providing support to the NSU begins in Munich.
December 2015 Zschaepe's lawyers read a statement on her behalf, in which she acknowledges knowing of the bank robberies and to setting fire to the hideout in Zwickau. She says she only ever learned of the killings and bombings after they had happened.
July 2018 The trial, involving 73 lawyers and hundreds of witnesses, concludes after almost 440 days of hearings. Zschaepe is sentenced to life in prison. The group's four supporters receive lesser prison sentences of between 2½ and 10 years.
http://www.tampabay.com/a-brief-history-of-german-neo-nazi-group-nsu-ap_world3d1631f7210641a8829f88373565d674
Weimar and Thuringia proclaim Bach's greatness - Turkey Telegraph
Friday, April 13, 2018KurtágNo trap, no cardboardIn Thuringia, March 21 is also synonymous, at least according to Julian calendar n still in force, of day when Johann Sebastian Bach was born in nearby locality of Eisenach. In radius of a few kilometres you can visit several of places where he lived: Ohrdruf, where he went to live with his older bror after his parents died; Arnstadt, his first professional destination as organist, and where Neue Kirche (new Church) has been renamed Bach, almost as if it were a saint; Mühlhausen, where he composed his first cantatas. And, of course, Weimar, for whose dukes he worked as a court musician, organist and finally Concertino for a few months from 1703 and between 1708 and 1717, a few crucial years for his personal and professional life. He contracted his first marriage very close to here, in small church of Dornheim, and in Weimar his first sons were born, among m Wilhelm Friedemann and Carl Philipp Emanuel.All se places, and capital of state, Erfurt, where was born Maria Elisabeth Lämmerhirt, mor of Johann Sebastian, and place of residence of an important family branch of Bach, are seat of hundred and half of concerts that offer since this start-up ( orist) of spring Thüringer Bachwochen, Bach weeks of Thuringia. More than one hundred, all free, will be held in afternoon-Friday night distributed by 39 localities of region, in private homes, what y call here "Long night of music in houses". Most of rest have historical buildings, such as Castle of Wartburg, Patmos that served as a refuge for Lur and where he translated into German New Testament, or wonderful Georgenkirche, also in Eisenach, in which Bach was baptized.Nothing would be possible without complicity of musicians who capitalize on ir share of responsibility and who ended up literally exhaustedThe inaugural concert at Weimarhalle was reserved for passion according to San Mateo, first sung and directed by Mark Padmore. From second participle re was no visible news, although, as baritone Roderick Williams finished work, it is British tenor who burdens with all weight of work (and story that counts) on his shoulders.Padmore is located in center of stage as a member of quartet soloist of first chorus, facing public, and it is he who radiates and spreads from re his vision of work without a single movement of his hands or a single gesture of his head. Conceiving Passion as a great tapestry chamber in which his constant interventions as an evangelist operate as a warp, are each of instrumentalists and singers who are weaving each par...http://www.turkeytelegraph.com/life-style/weimar-and-thuringia-proclaim-bach-s-greatness-h16596.html
Germany's second-highest traffic bridge opens - DW (English)
Sunday, January 26, 2020German Taxpayers Federation keeps tabs on areas where they believe taxpayer money was wasted and sums up the most egregious cases in its annual "black book." The 2019 report called out Thuringia's Environment Ministry for a flower-shaped mini-solar panel sculpture that was installed in the shade. The ministry defended the flower, saying it was never supposed to power the building.
Germany's biggest wastes of taxpayer money in 2019 A bridge for mice After realizing that a new bypass road near the southern German city of Passau cuts through the natural habitat of the dormouse, officials got creative and built a bridge for the mice to safely travel over the road. The German Taxpayer's Federation (BdSt) had a bone to pick with the resulting structure ...
Germany's biggest wastes of taxpayer money in 2019 Perilous path to safety (instructions not included) ... The bridge requires mice to climb wooden rungs up 7 meters high (23 feet) and run down a passage 20 meters long in order to travel safely over the road. The project ended up costing taxpayers €93,000; the BdSt said it wasn't clear if any dormice actually use the bridge. The city of Passau said colonies of mice were found near the road. Explaining the bridge's purpose to them may prove tricky.
Germany's biggest wastes of taxpayer money in 2019 Stolen but golden This golden bird's nest was the prized possession of an elementary school in Berlin — until it was stolen. The sculpture, comprised of 74 branches made out of pure gold, was placed in a display case with supposedly shatter-proof glass. According to the BdSt, the artwork cost €92,500. Thieves tried to break in several times and managed to make off with the nest on their third attempt.
Germany's biggest wast...https://www.dw.com/en/germanys-second-highest-traffic-bridge-opens/a-51355455
In Berlin and Erfurt, two murals belong to the people - People's World
Sunday, January 26, 2020The other mural symbolizes basically the same ideals but in a very different way. Erfurt, 200 miles to the south, the capital of Thuringia, is an ancient city, first mentioned in 742 AD. It has a handsome “old town”, with 25 churches and a grand cathedral crowning a unique, wonderful stairway. But post-war GDR needed millions of modern homes and it needed them quickly. Using its newly-developed system of prefabricated panels, it built whole neighborhoods of comfortable, extremely low-priced apartments, well connected by cheap city transportation, provided with new schools, child care and sport facilities, clinics and cultural centers, soon improved with trees, shrubbery, playgrounds, but with one weakness – their sameness.
A number of sculptors and painters worked to overcome this; a leading light among them was Josep Renau (1907-1982).
Born in Valencia, where he studied at the art academy, Renau became an active leftist, joined the Communist Party and, when the fascist putsch began in 1936, he joined in making the famous posters supporting the Republic. Put in charge of the Spanish Pavilion at the World Exhibition in Paris in 1937, he was able to encourage and then exhibit Pablo Picasso’s passionate, startling “Guernica” mural.
After the defeat of the republic Renau escaped to Mexico, where he worked with the great Mexican painter David Alfaro Siqueiros.
Invited to the GDR in 1958, he soon began work on his remarkable murals, almost as colorful as those of Moia but with bold, modern, partially abstracted forms which did not always conform to some administrators’ clichéd ideas of the officially-approved “socialist realism”. In spite of such attitudes, he became most noticeably successful with a series of murals, some vertical, some horizontal, always big and eye-catching, for a new city, Halle-Neustadt. It is still a goal of art-lovers’ pilgrimages.
Old Erfurt also wanted such a bright attraction for its new high-rise housing areas, and commissioned a mural by Renau for a big new cultural center. Called “The Relationship of Humans to Nature and Technology,” it shows two large hands, one with an apple, the other a many-sided geometric object, surrounded by symbols and urging a symbiosis of both elements in building a better world. It was composed of 70,000 colored glass mosaic tiles, each about one inch square, and together full 7 meters tall and 30 meters in length ((23 ft. x 98 ft.) – truly an impressive sight! Sadly, Renau did not live to see its completion.
Monimbó mosaic in Berlin, Gabriele Senft
Many GDR works were discarded or destroyed after 1990, but the Erfurt mosaic (and the Halle-Neustadt murals) survived. But in 2012 the cultural center – like nearly all of its kind – received a death sentence. It was replaced by a shopping center, which saved the city costs and brought money into the pockets of persuasive new owners. As for the Renau work, due for demolition, it was again a small group of devotees who managed to rescue it – but only after it was sawed into many sections, put away in a storage building, and almost forgotten.
But those who loved it did not forget it. It took them years...https://www.peoplesworld.org/article/in-berlin-and-erfurt-two-murals-belong-to-the-people/
The perfect destination foHere is why Germany is the perfect destination for your next holidayr your holiday! Discover nature in Germany - Emirates Woman
Sunday, January 26, 2020Alps are characterised by green trees and extensive forests.Rhön UNESCO Biosphere Reserve: at the corner of the three German states, Bavaria, Hesse and ThuringiaThe Rhôn hills are located in the heart of Germany and offer a wide range of beautiful views! And if you are a fan of athletic activities, you can try gliding, water sports, and indulge in a spot of star gazing.Jasmund National Park Mecklenburg-Western Pomeraniait takes you right along the cliffs and features enough natural treasures for several holidays. White chalk cliffs, lush beech forests and the shimmering blue of the sea. You’ll catch sight of a rare white-tailed eagle circling in the skies, while far below a thousand different species of beetle scuttle through the undergrowth in this landscape of contrasts.Black Forest National Park, Baden-Württemberg, South GermanyPerfect for cleansing your lungs. The remarkable feature of this national park is that some areas have been able to develop for more than 100 years without human intervention. This means that all the animals and plants that are found here live in authentic, natural surroundings.You can use Deutsche Bahn trains all over Germany, where it uses 100% green energy. In addition, you can take the InterCity Express for a unique experience, as it is a high-speed train that connects all major cities in Germany with speeds of up to 300 km / hour, and this is one of the fastest ways to reach between Berlin, Hamburg and Cologne!Check out their Instagram: GermanyTourismAr, and Facebook: Germany Tourism Arabia– For more about Dubai’s lifestyle, news and fashion scene straight to your newsfeed, follow us on Facebook Media: Supplied...https://emirateswoman.com/germany/
Discovering Thuringia, Home to Germany’s Enchanting Christmas Markets - Vogue
Tuesday, August 20, 2019First-time travelers to Germany may flock to the livelier hubs that are Berlin, Frankfurt, or Munich—but hidden from the crowds in the middle of the country is Thuringia, one of Germany’s smaller states. What it lacks in size, it makes up for in a high number of historical landmarks and figures: it is where the composer Johann Sebastian Bach was born, where poets Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Friedrich Schiller lived and developed their craft, and where the Bauhaus art and design movement was first ignited. It is also home to over 400 different castles and palaces, all of which are anchored by the scenic Thuringian Forest that holds a variety of different hiking trails.Visit Thuringia in December, though, and it really comes alive: it happens to hold some of the best Christmas markets in the world. (We’re talking next-level, capital-F festive, seriously postcard-worthy Christmas markets.) Every holiday season, communities across the state set up enchanting booths filled with plenty of local crafts, food, and wine. They are usually erected in the cities’ main marktplatz, though some of them spread their markets out across town, or even host t...https://www.vogue.com/article/touring-germanys-christmas-markets