Germany (Lonely Planet, 6th Edition) - Andrea Schulte-Peevers [234]
OTHER SIGHTS
The Markt is dominated by the galleried Georgenkirche ( 732 662; Pfarrberg 2; 10am-noon & 2-4pm). St Elizabeth and Johann Sebastian Bach were both baptised in this church, where Luther preached while under papal ban. From June to September, free half-hour organ concerts take place at 11am Monday to Saturday.
As a school boy, Luther lived in the half-timbered Lutherhaus ( 298 30; www.lutherhaus-eisenach.de; Lutherplatz 8; adult/concession €3.50/2; 10am-5pm), where a partly interactive exhibit reveals how the eager pupil became one of the world’s most influential religious reformers.
Fans of Richard Wagner should flock to the exhibits on the composer’s life, times and oeuvre at the Reuter-Wagner Museum ( 743 293; Reuterweg 2; adult/concession €3/2; 11am-5pm Tue-Sun). It’s in a villa once owned by writer Fritz Reuter located at the foot of the Wartburg, which inspired Wagner’s Tannhäuser.
Those with a political mind might find it interesting to know that the first nationwide proletarian movement, the Social Democratic Workers’ Party of Germany, was founded in Eisenach by August Bebel and Wilhelm Liebknecht in 1869. The Gedenkstätte Goldener Löwe (Golden Lion Memorial; 882 723; Marienstrasse 57; admission free; 9am-4pm Mon-Fri) has an interesting exhibit covering the 19th-century workers’ movement in Germany.
Arty types, meanwhile, should head to the crypt of the Predigerkirche ( 784 678; Predigerplatz 2; adult/concession/family €2.60/1.50/5.10; 11am-5pm Tue-Sun), a fine setting for an exquisite collection of medieval sculpture, paintings and liturgical objects.
And then there’s cars, cars, cars! Produc-tion revved up in Eisenach in 1896 with the Wartburg, a model based on the French Decauville. The Automobile Welt Eisenach ( 772 12; Friedrich-Naumann-Strasse 10; adult/concession/family €3/2/7; 11am-5pm Tue-Sun) celebrates this history by displaying pretty much the entire product range, including an 1899 Wartburg Dixi, a 1936 BMW 328 sports car and other rare vintage vehicles and assorted memorabilia, many from the GDR era.
Return to beginning of chapter
Activities
Eisenach is a handy gateway to the Thuringian Forest. Bus 11 drops you at the Hohe Sonne trail head, right on the Rennsteig hiking trail, although you could also hike there (or back) via the craggily romantic Drachenschlucht gorge. From April to October, buses leave twice in the morning on weekdays and hourly from 8.30am to 4.30pm on Saturday and Sunday.
Return to beginning of chapter
Sleeping
Gasthof Am Storchenturm ( 733 263; www.gasthof-am-storchenturm.de, in German; Georgenstrasse 43a; dm €15.50-18, s/d €23/36, breakfast €5; ) Lots of long-socked hikers pad down the trails for simple but comfortable rooms here in a hostel-type guest house in a spiffed-up barn. Refuel on rustic regional fare in the on-site restaurant (mains €6.50 to €13).
Residenzhaus ( 214 133; www.residenzhaus-eisenach.de, in German; Auf der Esplanade; s/d without bathroom €25/50, d with bathroom €60; ) If you’re into hip decor, fancy linen and chocolate on your pillow, go elsewhere. But if you want modern comforts in a historic, central setting without shelling out big money, lug your luggage up the spiral stone staircase. Some rooms share bathrooms.
Hotel Haus Hainstein ( 2420; www.hainstein.de; Am Hainstein 16; s €45-54, d €72-82; ) A stately art-nouveau villa in the leafy, hilly area south of town provides the charismatic setting of this small hotel, which has bright, stylish rooms, its own chapel, a restaurant and views of the Wartburg.
Hotel Villa Anna ( 239 50; www.hotel-villa-anna.de, in German; Fritz-Koch-Strasse 12; s €75, d €95-115; ) This boutique