Old Town of Eisenach

The old town of Eisenach is not particularly pretty, but there are a few interesting sights well worth seeing. Continuing restoration works are improving the attractiveness of the old town. Most attractions are within easy walking distance from the main train station, with the exception of the Wartburg, which is at least half an hour’s walk, including steep hills.

Close to the main train station is the Nikolaitor (Nicholas Gate). This huge Romanesque town gate is the only one of the original five that survived. Next to the gate is the Nikolaikirche, Karlsplatz, the last Romanesque church built in Thuringia (around 1180), but altered at the end of the 19th century. On the small Karlsplatz is an oversized statue (1895) of Martin Luther with three reliefs illustrating scenes from his sojourns in Eisenach.

The recently pedestrianized and major shopping street Karlstraße leads to Markt (Market Square), where a fountain with a golden statue of St George slaying the dragon forms the focal point. The main building at the square is the huge Georgenkirche (George Church). It dates back to 1180, but most of the current church, with three levels of galleries, and the tower are Baroque. Johan Sebastian Bach was baptized here on March 23, 1685 and several of his family members were the organists here, a position the great composer never held in his hometown.

Two other important buildings on Markt are the Late Renaissance Rathaus and the Baroque Stadtschloss (Town Palace), erected around 1750 by the Dukes of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach. It houses the Thuringian Museum, which is indefinitely closed due to restoration work. The adjacent Marstall at Markt 24 houses temporary exhibitions.

Nearby, in a neat, 14th-century half-timber building is the Lutherhaus, at Lutherplatz 8. Martin Luther stayed here from 1498 to 1501 with the Cotta family, while studying Latin. The house has a museum with an exhibition on Luther’s life and the history of the Reformation.

Farther up the road is the Bachhaus, at Frauenplan 21. This museum is dedicated to Eisenach’s most famous son, the composer Johan Sebastian Bach (1685-1750). It was originally thought that this house was his place of birth, but arguments still rage over whether that was an honest mistake or the truth was hidden until the real birth house could be destroyed and the land used for other commercial purposes. Although the first museum in the world dedicated to Bach, it only opened in 1906 and has little that was used by Bach himself. Most of the exhibits are documents and prints on his life and work, with descriptions in German only. Furniture and musical instruments on display date from Bach’s time. Behind the lovely garden in the back of the house is a modern glass and steel hall used for temporary exhibitions. The Bach statue in front of the house dates from 1884 and was moved here from Markt in 1938. Admission includes a 20-minute program of Bach music, with some pieces played on period instruments. Concerts are sometimes held in the museum.

In the direction of the station, at Johannisplatz 9, is the Schmale Haus (Narrow House). This building, erected around 1750, is 8½ m (27 feet) high, but only 2.05 m (6½ feet) wide and is thus considered the narrowest half-timber house in Germany. Visits in the interior, not really worth it, can be arranged in advance through the tourism office.

Higher up the hill, close to the access road to the Wartburg, is the Reuter-Wagner-Museum, at Reuterweg 2. A popular German poet, Fritz Reuter, had the Neo-Renaissance villa built in 1866. In addition to rooms dedicated to Reuter, the villa houses the second-largest archive on Wagner works, which in contrast to the larger archive in Bayreuth, is actually open to the public.