Don’t miss...

Outdoors

Hainich National Park

Spend a day hiking, biking or horse-riding in one of Europe’s most ancient beech forests. Explore the 120km network of hiking and cycling trails that wind through what is still 90% wilderness. A canopy walk offers wide-ranging views; you can even do yoga at treetop level. Below, the forest floor is home to rare lynx, wild cats and wolves. www.nationalpark-hainich.de

Feininger Cycle Trail

Rent a bike from the Weimar tourist Information centre and pedal this 30km loop along country lanes, where Bauhaus professor Lyonel Feininger loved to ride his bike. The route links villages, an art gallery in Gelmeroda and churches with the distinctive spires that inspired the artist’s sketches and paintings. www.weimar.de

The Rennsteig Hiking Trail

Waymarked with a white ‘R’, Germany’s bestknown hiking trail runs for 170km through the

Thuringian Forest. This ridge path once marked the border between Thuringia and Franconia.

Pause to photograph vistas, stop at village inns, explore Lauscha’s glass museum and hail fellow hikers with the traditional greeting: “Gut runst!” www.thueringen-entdecken.de

Indoors

Haus Am Horn, Weimar

The first house built using Bauhaus design principles was the box-like Haus Am Horn.

With its small rooms and high windows, it feels cramped today; when it opened in 1923 as a show house, it was revolutionary. For workingclass families, this was a dream house, with its gas stove, washing machine, built-in cupboards, central heating and running hot water. www.klassik-stiftung.de

Weimar

Painter Lucas Cranach was great friends with

Martin Luther. The power of his art is exemplified by the triptych in the Church of St Peter and

St Paul. Considered by some to be ‘the first

Protestant religious painting’, it depicts the crucifixion, with Luther among the faithful, holding an open Bible. www.weimar.de

Old Synagogue, Erfurt

Now carefully-restored, the medieval Old

Synagogue and its treasures were unearthed during archaeological excavations in the 1980s.

In the museum are 13th- and 14th-century gold ornaments and coins galore, including an extremely rare and ornate ceremonial wedding ring. www.erfurt-tourismus.de

Sunset over St Severus Erfurt’s other iconic landmark, the five-naved early Gothic Church of St Severus, was a collegiate church for the regular canons of St Augustine during the 12th century; (below) the Haus am Horn in Weimar