THURINGIA IN FIVE DAYS

Day 1: Weimar

Start with the new Bauhaus Museum in the birthplace of this world-famous design movement. On student-led tours of the university, see where architect Walter Gropius, artist Paul Klee and others key members of the movement taught. Prefer literature? Then wander around the sumptuous Duchess Anna Amalia Library, the Goethe National Museum and the house where Johann Wolfgang von Goethe lived for 50 years. www.weimar.de/en/tourism/

Day 2: Erfurt

Walk through Domplatz square, dominated by St Mary’s Cathedral and St Severus Church; stroll across the 14th-century Merchants’ Bridge, still lined with houses and shops, to St Augustine’s Monastery, which looks much as it did in 1505, when Luther joined as a monk. Visit the thoughtprovoking Memorial and Education Centre Andreasstrasse in a prison once run by the Stasi, East Germany’s feared secret police. www.erfurt-tourismus.de/en/

Day 3: Crafts, rails & royals

Drive south through countryside to the Schwarzatal Valley, where railway enthusiasts can ride the historic mountain railroad and funicular. For special souvenirs, stop in Lauscha, where they still hand-blow glass Christmas ornaments, and Gräfenroda, for its garden gnomes. Circle north to Gotha, home to Friedenstein Palace and Lucas Cranach, the first Reformation painter. www.thueringen-entdecken.de

Day 4: Eisenach

Excellent museums commemorate Luther and Bach. In Bach’s House, historic keyboard instruments are played every hour. Catch free organ concerts at St George’s Church, where Luther preached and Bach was baptised (summer, daily, 11am). In Wartburg Castle, enter the cell where Luther translated the New Testament while on the run 500 years ago. The castle’s Hall of the Minstrels inspired Wagner to write the opera, Tannhäuser. www.eisenach.info/en/home

Day 5: Point Alpha, Geisa

Although the Iron Curtain lifted in 1989, you can still see watchtowers, fences and tanks. In the museum, learn why generals thought World War III might start right here. www.pointalpha.com/en/