Thuringia

Thuringia: Fortresses – castles – barbecued bratwurst – golf

Southern Saxony-Anhalt connects to the state of Thuringia. Where nature and culture are the most valuable treasures and the memories of Luther, Bach, Schiller and Goethe are still alive, the travel destination of Thuringia entices with its varied landscape. Thuringia, with its state capital city of Erfurt, likes in the geographic centre of Germany.

Resting in nature, travelling to impressive fortresses and castles, recovering and relaxing at a spa and wellness centre as well as the experience of historical cities with their diverse cultural offerings – that is what the guests associate with Thuringia. Their expectations are met both in the Thuringian Forest as well as in Eisenach with the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Site of the Wartburg or Erfurt or in one of the many spas in the state. That also especially applies for golf tourists.

A mountain range – a fortress – a monument – a name stands for fascinating uniqueness. The Kyffhäuser Mountains, south of the Harz, are impressive not only owing to their geological and botanical variety, but rather also owing to its importance in cultural history. In the second half of the 19th Century, the Kyffhäuser was the most well-known mountain in Germany because, according to the saga, the German Emperor Barbarossa still sleeps here in his underground castle. Whoever would still like to see the Emperor can find him most easily upon the Kyffhäuser Mountain. The figure of the Emperor sits at the foot of the Emperor Wilhelm’s monument in a rocky area. Annually, thousands of tourists visit the grottos and halls.

Splendid nature – tasty sausage – healthy baths – good golf

Thuringia is the state characterised by wonderful nature which lies in the middle of Germany. With ca. 16,000 kilometres of well-developed hiking paths with signs, Thuringia is among the top German destinations for the hiking enthusiast. The running course, the most well-known high-altitude hiking path in Germany as well as the running course through the Hainich National Park, are part of the Barbarossa Road along the Kyffhäuser or the Thuringian Road from Schmölln to Creuzburg. In the northern part of Thuringia, along the southern edge of the Harz, lies the Kyffhäuser Nature Park. The 81-metre-high Kyffhäuser Monument, with the horseman’s image of Emperor Wilhelm I and the stone-carved figure of Emperor Barbarossa, is well-known. The view from the 247-step-high tower cupola above the Golden Meadow to the Brocken in the Harz entices the hearts of hikers.

Health

Already during the Middle Ages, salt was mined in Bad Salzungen in eleven boiling pans. Only then in 1840/41, deep drilling brought forth such a rich salt brine that the entire spa industry was introduced in 1848. With a graduation works, in which salt-containing brine is filtered and sprayed via a blackthorn brushwood wickerwork, ailments from nasal mucous membranes to the smallest pulmonary alveolus are alleviated and healed.

In 1560, medicinal water was discovered in Liebenstein. The construction of the oldest spa in Thuringia, Bad Liebenstein, began. With Duke Casimir von Saxony-Coburg, it became a spa of the aristocrats. At the beginning of the 17th Century, it became a truly fashionable spa.

Great nature, culture, history, tasty sausage and healthy springs – that is the basis upon which there was already a golf course in Suhl in Thuringia in the 1930s of the previous century which however disappeared during the historical-political depression, but the golf scene has developed again from the 1990s to the present. And it almost goes without saying that golfing opportunities can be combined with all of the great cultural sites of the state. There are the 18 holes of the Thuringian Golf Club “Drei Gleichen” [The Three Equals] in Mühlberg near Gotha. Golf can also be played upon the nine holes of the Eisenach Golf Club in the Wartburg district. Nine holes are also offered by the Weimar/Jena Golf Club in Jena-Münchenroda where Goethe’s spirits of the sorcerer’s apprentice can be called forth.