The best walks and hikes around Gräfenthal

Spechtsbrunn, a district of Sonneberg, was established around the year 1300. The place name can be traced back to a swampy and marshy spot. This had been made passable with bundles of reeds (a "Specke") and a log path. The first documented mention dates from the year 141. At that time, the place belonged to the dominion of the Counts of Orlamünde. However, as early as 1438, the imperial hereditary marshals of Pappenheim were enfeoffed with the noble dominion of Gräfenthal. The place is located on the old military and trade route. In the Middle Ages, the inhabitants had special rights, but also duties, to ensure "smooth traffic" on the road. They had the privilege of hanging robbers without a court judgment or granting them asylum. Military service only had to be performed to the extent that the men could return home in the evening. In return, they had to ensure order on the trade route and provide towing services. This explains the high number of oxen that were always kept in Spechtsbrunn. The connection to the military and trade route led to the rapid development of Spechtsbrunn.

This grave is located on the Thuringian-Bavarian border at the turnoff to Gräfenthal.

The Inner German border ran directly alongside or through the house.

View of the viaduct 👍

https://bauhaushotel.de/

The villa, originally built as a restaurant for the Karl Schreider Export Brewery in Falkenstein (founded in 1709 and closed in 1968), which was once located here but has since been demolished, is now a privately owned residential building. It stands directly on the inner-German border.

The Thuringian industrial pioneer Franz Itting, who had already built a power plant in Probstzella in 1909, commissioned the "Haus des Volkes" (People's House) in 1925. The socially minded entrepreneur wanted to create a cultural center for the region and enable "ordinary people" to enjoy high-quality cultural offerings. The building was constructed by the architects Alfred Arndt and Ernst Gebhardt as a hotel and multi-purpose hall by 1927. The interior was designed entirely by artists from the Bauhaus Dessau. After the Second World War, the building was used by the GDR as a customs office, and the event hall hosted various performances and celebrations. In 1970/1971, the building was expanded to include a restaurant, which reopened after renovation in 2005. In addition to the hotel, the building houses a theater and concert hall, as well as the central exhibition on the origins of the German Green Belt. A Franz Itting Museum has also been located here since 2014.

This hilltop castle, originally part of the Orlagau region, was built over a thousand years ago in the midst of a clearing on the upper reaches of the Saale River and its tributary, the Loquitz. It was first mentioned in a document from 1222. Via the Counts of Orlamünde (1250) and the Knights of Ghüna (1506), the castle finally passed to the Margraves of Brandenburg-Kulmbach and Bayreuth in 1622, falling to Prussia in 1791 and Bavaria in 1803. In 1896, the castle romanticist Dr. Erhard Messmer from Halle an der Saale acquired the completely neglected castle complex, had it renovated, and refurbished. Katharina von Orlamünde was born at Lauenstein Castle in the 14th century. She is said to haunt the castle to this day as the restless ghost known as the "White Lady."