Only the best are awarded it – the title of UNESCO World Heritage Site, which is the equivalent of an international quality seal. And Thuringia has already received it from the UNESCO four times. The Wartburg Castle World Cultural Heritage Site near Eisenach, the Classic Weimar World Cultural Heritage Site, the Bauhaus Venues World Cultural Heritage Site in Weimar and Dessau and the Hainich World Natural Heritage Site are among the most outstanding items of cultural and natural value in the world.

Bärbel Grönegres, Managing Director of Thuringian Tourist Board, is convinced that Thuringia’s World Heritage Sites can score with foreign visitors in particular. “After all, a survey by the German National Tourist Board of foreign tourists in 2013 has shown that 19 of the total of 37 World Heritage Sites in Germany are among the 100 most popular tourist destinations. Wartburg Castle near Eisenach holds place 44 here, the Bauhaus venues in Weimar und Dessau are on place 82 and Classic Weimar ranks on place 99.” according to Grönegres.

Wartburg Castle UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Site

Wartburg Castle with its almost thousand years of history is one of the most well-known and best-preserved castles in Germany. According to legend, it was founded in 1067 and its history goes back to the age of the Thuringian landgraves. On a guided tour of the castle, visitors will feel as if they are in a 900-year old history book – Wartburg Castle as the scene of courtly life in the Middle Ages and of the life and work of Saint Elisabeth, Wartburg Castle as the place where Martin Luther translated the New Testament and the venue of Wagner’s romantic opera “Tannhäuser”.

The Classic Weimar UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Site

Only about 50 autobahn kilometres away, in Weimar, exciting encounters with literary Classicism are also possible within a very small area. In Weimar, names like Goethe, Schiller, Wieland and Herder are met with at every corner. The World Heritage Site complex embraces 13 items here: Goethe’s and Schiller’s homes, Belvedere Castle, Ettersburg Castle and Tiefurt Palace with their wonderful parks, places where Herder worked, the Wittumspalais where the illustrious company met at table, the famous Duchess Anna Amalia Library and the historic cemetery with the royal tomb where Goethe’s and Schiller’s sarcophagi can be seen.

World Cultural Heritage Site comprising the Bauhaus venues in Weimar und Dessau

What is more, an epoch of modern architecture and design began about a century ago in Weimar and still exercises an influence today – the Bauhaus founded by Walter Gropius in 1919, where such great names as Paul Klee, Wassily Kandinsky and Lyonel Feininger taught. The former College of Arts and Crafts and the former Art School are still part of the Bauhaus University today. The Bauhaus Walk organised by the university provides a fascinating insight into the Bauhaus era. Students show visitors their university with its original staircases, wall pictures, the Gropius Room and also the “Haus am Horn” model home.

Hainich World Natural Heritage Site

It is only since mid-2011 that Hainich National Park has been - together with four other protected areas in Germany - part of the World Heritage Site entitled “Primeval Beech Woods of the Carpathians and Old Beech Woods of Germany”. Thuringia’s “Primeval Forest” in the city triangle of Eisenach – Bad Langensalza – Mühlhausen offers unforgettable and often amazing discoveries, whether on the Treetop Trail, in the Wild Cat Village or during a quiet walk through untouched Nature.

More information on the UNESCO World Heritage Sites is available at the Tourist Information Thuringia. Just call +49 (0)361-37420 or go to the website http://www.thuringia-tourism.com/travel-hotel-holidaytour/unesco-world-heritage-sites-127956.html.

Photo: Belvedere Palace in Weimar, © Joachim Negwer/Thüringer Tourismus GmbH