Happy TravellerWelcome to Eisenach, a charming town located in the western part of Thuringia, Germany. With its rich history, cultural heritage, and picturesque landscapes, Eisenach is a must-visit destination for every traveler. The town is situated near the former Inner German border and offers a unique blend of ancient and modern history. Eisenach is home to over 42,000 inhabitants and is the main urban center of western Thuringia and bordering northeastern Hessian regions.
One of the major attractions of Eisenach is the UNESCO World Heritage Site Wartburg Castle, which is a symbol of German history and culture. The castle was the main residence of the Ludowingians in the late 12th century and is where St. Elizabeth lived at the court of the Ludowingians between 1211 and 1228. Later, Martin Luther came to Eisenach and translated the Bible into German. In 1685, Johann Sebastian Bach was born in Eisenach.
Aside from the Wartburg Castle, Eisenach has a rich cultural heritage and is home to numerous landmarks and monuments. The town was an early capital of Thuringia in the 12th and 13th centuries and was visited by numerous representatives of Weimar classicism like Johann Wolfgang Goethe. The town has a planned grid of streets and alleys dating back to the late 12th century, and the Nikolaitor is an important relict of the town’s walls. The coterie around the poet Julie von Bechtolsheim met up with famous personalities like Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Christoph Martin Wieland in Eisenach. The Burschenschaftsdenkmal (fraternity monument) was erected in 1902, and the J. S. Bach museum opened in 1907.
During the early modern period, Eisenach was a residence of the Ernestine Wettins and was a leading place in today’s western Thuringia and northern Hesse. The town was connected by the Thuringian Railway to Erfurt and Halle/Leipzig in the east and to Kassel and Frankfurt in the west. The Fahrzeugfabrik Eisenach (FFE), later Automobilwerk Eisenach, the basis of car production in Eisenach, was founded in 1896, and the first trams ran in 1897. The town was also the birthplace of the SDAP, one of the two precursors of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) in 1869. During Nazi Germany, the Institute for the Study and Elimination of Jewish Influence on German Church Life, an antisemitic propaganda institute, was set up in Eisenach by eleven German Protestant churches, founded at the instigation of the German Christian movement. Before the Second World War, Bayerische Motoren Werke AG had produced motorcycles in the town, and in preparation for World War II, new barracks were established in Eisenach, and the car industry started the production of military equipment.
Today, Eisenach is a thriving industrial town, and car production is still an important industry in Eisenach. The Automobilwerk Eisenach was acquired by Opel in 1990, and tourism is also a significant contributor to the town’s economy. The Wartburg Castle is a UNESCO World Heritage site and a popular tourist destination, attracting visitors from all over the world. The town’s picturesque landscapes and rich cultural heritage make it an ideal destination for anyone looking to experience the best of Germany. We invite you to visit Eisenach and discover for yourself why it’s one of the most charming towns in Germany.
