Germany (Lonely Planet, 6th Edition) - Andrea Schulte-Peevers [229]
Hotel Am Schlosspark ( 4420; www.hotel-am-schlosspark.de; Lindenauallee 20; s €75-90, d €105-115; ) Rooms in the only central top-end choice in Gotha are modern and fully equipped. Head to the spa for an extended relaxation session. Kids, meanwhile, can horse around on the adjacent playground.
Der Lindenhof ( 7720; www.lindenhof.bestwestern.de; Schöne Aussicht 5; s €83-93, d €99-129; ) Never mind that this property is in a former military barracks: its bright, well-kept rooms deliver on both space and country-style charisma. We also like the sunny terrace, the small library and the soul-restoring fitness area, with gym, sauna and steam room.
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Eating & Drinking
Berggarten Gotha ( 744 475; Berggartenweg 50; mains €5-9; 11am-11pm Mon-Sat, 11am-8pm Sun Apr-Sep & Dec, 11am-7pm Sun-Thu, 11am-11pm Fri & Sat Jan-Mar, Oct & Nov; ) If you’re outdoor bound, point your compass to this congenial inn and beer garden, with a playground and easy access to bike and hiking trails. The menu is all about German comfort food, with cabbage rolls, roast venison and fried plaice all making appearances.
Alte Sternwarte ( 723 90; Florschützstrasse 10; mains €7-13; 5-10pm Mon, 11.30am-10pm Tue-Sat, 11.30am-8pm Sun; ) You may have to put up with the occasional coach-tourist invasion, but otherwise the ‘Old Observatory’ is a fine place for a belly-filling meal. Much of the menu is modular: you pick a cut of meat or fish and pair it with your favourite sides and sauce. They also have a few rooms (single/double €64/82).
Carnaby ( 706 834; 18-März-Strasse 24) If the locals want to let their hair down, they head to this happening Irish pub to knock back a few pints of Murphy’s Irish stout and listen to a wild mix of live bands, from Krautrock to folk.
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Getting There & Away
Gotha is linked by regional train to Eisenach (€5.10, 25 minutes), Erfurt (€5.10, 25 minutes), Weimar (€8.40, 45 minutes) and Mühlhausen (€6.90, 20 minutes). IC trains stop en route to Berlin-Hauptbahnhof (€57, three hours), while the ICE serves Frankfurt am Main (€48, two hours). Gotha is just north of the A4 and is crossed by the B247 and B7.
For the Thüringerwaldbahn, see the boxed text, Click here.
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NORTHERN THURINGIA
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MÜHLHAUSEN
03601 / pop 36,500
Mühlhausen flaunts medieval charisma galore. Its historic centre is a warren of cobbled alleyways linking a proud churches and encircled by nearly intact fortifications. In the early 16th century, the town became a focal point of the Reformation and a launch pad for the Peasants’ War of 1525, led by local preacher Thomas Müntzer. The decisive battle took place on the Schlachtberg in nearby Bad Frankenhausen (see Kyffhaüser, opposite), where the rebellion was quickly crushed. Müntzer was decapitated outside the Mühlhausen town gates.
The GDR regime hailed the reformer as a great hero and an early social revolutionary who fought for the rights of the common man. There are still numerous sites in and around the town that uphold his memory. In 1975, Mühlhausen even got the prefix Thomas-Müntzer-Stadt (like Lutherstadt Wittenberg), but this was dropped after reunification. With reunification, though, Mühlhausen became united Germany’s most central town, located a mere 5km north of the country’s precise geographical centre in Niederdorla.
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Information
The tourist office ( 404 770; www.muehlhausen.de; Ratsstrasse 20; 9am-5pm Mon-Fri, 10am-4pm Sat & Sun Apr-Oct, 9am-5pm Mon-Fri, 10am-2pm Sat Nov-Mar) is about 1km west of the Hauptbahnhof, between Obermarkt and Untermarkt. Steinweg (near Obermarkt) is the main shopping street.
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Sights
Key sights cluster in the town centre and can easily be explored on foot. Heading west on Karl-Marx-Strasse from the Hauptbahnhof for about 1km gets you to the Untermarkt and the grand Gothic Divi-Blasii-Kirche ( 446 516; 10am-noon & 2-5pm Mon-Thu, to 4pm Sat, 1-5pm Sun Jun-Aug, 10am-noon & 2-4pm Mon-Thu, 2-4pm