Wartburg Castle

Wartburg Castle is one of the oldest German castles, located in the northeast of the Thuringian Forest, near the ancient town of Eisenach. The castle has played a huge role in the history and culture of the German people. Here for the first time the idea of uniting the disparate lands into a single state was voiced, so since the XIX century Wartburg Castle has been considered a national monument of Germany. Since 1999 it has been included in the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

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Video: Wartburg Castle

Contents

Highlights

At the turn of the 12th and 13th centuries, when Landgrave Hermann I ruled Thuringia, Wartburg Castle was one of the centers of poetic creativity in Germany. The events that took place here became legends and folk tales of medieval poets’ competitions and the famous Tannhäuser.

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In 1521-1522, the famous theologian Martin Luther fled persecution behind the walls of the fortifications. He lived in the castle under the assumed name “Junker Georg” and was engaged in translating biblical texts into German. This book was later called “Luther’s Bible”. The poet Goethe visited the Wartburg, and liberal-minded students held their meetings.

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The town of Eisenach, located at the foot of the hill, came into being thanks to the castle and is known as the birthplace of composer Johann Sebastian Bach. Today, the town is home to more than 43,700 people.

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Wartburg Castle and the area around it can be visited on any day: from April to October from 8.30 to 20.00, and from November to March from 9.00 to 17.00. The entrance fee includes a climb to the South Tower, which offers excellent views of the surrounding valleys, the green hills of the Thuringian Forest and the castle itself. Please note that the guided tours are in German.

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History of Wartburg Castle

The first owners of Wartburg Castle were the Ludovingian rulers of Thuringia. In 1080, the ancient fortifications were mentioned in a chronicle account of how the military garrison of the castle attacked a detachment of the Germanic King Henry IV. During this period, all the buildings were wooden and nothing has survived of them.

In the 12th century, under Landgrave Ludwig II, a stone palace appeared in Wartburg Castle. Until the middle of the XIII century, it served as the main residence of the Ludovings. Then the castle was owned by the Wettin family, and after them by the Margraves of Meissen. At the beginning of the XIV century during a thunderstorm lightning struck the castle, and the wooden buildings burned to the ground. When the Wartburg was rebuilt, the new buildings were already made of stone.

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Architecture and interiors

Stone buildings and walls stand 441 meters above sea level. The oldest of them are stone. By the 15th century, Wartburg Castle had lost its military role, so it began to be built using half-timbered technology. The walls were laid with sloping wooden beams and the space was filled with bricks and earthen material. This was much cheaper than stone construction.

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A yellowish-colored building survives from the 12th century. It is a palace with rooms and halls inside, beautifully decorated with wood carvings, tapestries and mosaics. The interiors received their final decoration in the XIX century, when restorers tried to make the Wartburg look like a real knight’s castle. In the Singers’ Hall and the Elizabethan Gallery you can see frescoes painted by the 19th century Austrian artist Moritz Ludwig von Schwind. Martin Luther’s room has been preserved in one of the half-timbered buildings.

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There is a respectable hotel in the castle. And a souvenir store is open for tourists in the Wartburg.

How to get there

Wartburg Castle is located 220 meters above Eisenach, on the southern outskirts of the city. The easiest way to get here is to buy a sightseeing tour. Travelers coming to Eisenach on their own can approach the castle by buses that run on schedule from the railway station. The road to the Wartburg is laid along a beautiful serpentine road, similar to a picturesque park. From the parking lot to the castle gates, tourists walk 10 minutes.

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