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CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE

Old Synagogue and Luther's birthplace

Plan this ride

Recorded distance
272 km
Riding-time estimate
4 h 48
Journey
Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis

Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.

Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.

Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.

Open this ride in CurveScout

Why this ride

A 272 km round trip from Erfurt - roughly 4 h 48 in the saddle. On the way it passes The former School of Applied Art, Naumburg Cathedral, Luther's birthplace and back through Naumburg Cathedral. It was put together for the scenery rather than the shortest line.

Scenic road chapters

The former School of Applied Art → Naumburg Cathedral

52 km through ground somebody thought worth listing. The road passes it rather than bypassing it — speed drops and stays down. Park rather than crawl through.

Chapter facts
Length
48 km

Naumburg Cathedral → Luther's birthplace

The ride follows Naumburg Cathedral → Luther's birthplace for 58 km.

Chapter facts
Length
58 km

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

  1. 1. Old Synagogue

    For a long time nobody in Erfurt knew that they were living above one of the oldest synagogues in Europe. The Old Synagogue stands in the narrow streets of the medieval centre, and its oldest walls date from the late eleventh century, with later enlargements in the Gothic style. After the pogrom of 1349, when the Jewish community was destroyed, the building passed into other hands and was used as a warehouse, a restaurant and a ballroom. Its original function was largely forgotten, until a restoration in the 1990s revealed the medieval walls under the later alterations.

    Read the complete Old Synagogue write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

    May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

    Planning note

    Old Synagogue is where the day begins. Next is The former School of Applied Art.

  2. 2. The former School of Applied Art

    Weimar is a small city with a very large place in German culture. Goethe and Schiller lived and worked here, Liszt composed and taught, Nietzsche spent his last years here, and in 1919 the national assembly that created Germany's first democratic constitution met in the theatre, giving the Weimar Republic its name. That same year, the architect Walter Gropius founded a new art school in the city, merging the academy of fine arts with the school of applied arts, and called it the Bauhaus. The school building designed earlier by the Belgian architect Henry van de Velde, along with the main building of the art academy, became its home. These buildings, together with the Haus am Horn, are part of the UNESCO serial site of the Bauhaus and its sites, inscribed in 1996.

    Read the complete The former School of Applied Art write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

    May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

    Planning note

    The former School of Applied Art comes up about 27 km into the recorded legs. Next is Naumburg Cathedral.

  3. 3. Naumburg Cathedral

    The twelve figures in the west choir of Naumburg Cathedral are among the most famous sculptures of the Middle Ages, and once you have seen them, you understand why. Carved around the middle of the thirteenth century by an unknown artist known as the Naumburg Master, they represent the founders and benefactors of the cathedral, noblemen and noblewomen who had died two centuries earlier, but they look like real people, with individual faces, expressions and gestures. The most famous is Uta, the wife of Margrave Ekkehard, standing with her cloak drawn up to her face, cool and enigmatic, who has become an icon of German art. The cathedral, with its Romanesque and Gothic architecture and its rich sculpture, was listed by UNESCO in 2018.

    Read the complete Naumburg Cathedral write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

    May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

    Planning note

    about 75 km into the recorded legs you reach Naumburg Cathedral. Next is Luther's birthplace.

  4. 4. Luther's birthplace

    Martin Luther was born in Eisleben on 10 November 1483, and by an odd twist of fate he died here too, in 1546, while on a visit to settle a dispute between the counts of Mansfeld. The house where he was born was rebuilt after a fire in the seventeenth century and became one of the first museums in Germany dedicated to a single person. Together with the house where he died and the sites in Wittenberg where he lived and taught, it forms the UNESCO site of the Luther Memorials in Eisleben and Wittenberg, listed in 1996. The museum tells the story of Luther's family, his childhood and the beginning of the Reformation, and it has been extended with modern exhibitions.

    Read the complete Luther's birthplace write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

    May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

    Planning note

    Luther's birthplace, about halfway. Next is back through Naumburg Cathedral.

  5. 5. back through Naumburg Cathedral

    Return visit. Read the place description above.

    Read the complete Naumburg Cathedral write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

    May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

    Planning note

    back through Naumburg Cathedral sits at 189 km, about halfway. Next is back through The former School of Applied Art.

  6. 6. back through The former School of Applied Art

    Return visit. Read the place description above.

    Read the complete The former School of Applied Art write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

    May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

    Planning note

    back through The former School of Applied Art comes up about 244 km into the recorded legs. Next is Old Synagogue.

  7. 7. Old Synagogue

    Return visit. Read the place description above.

    Read the complete Old Synagogue write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

    May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

    Planning note

    Old Synagogue closes the day.

Leg by leg

Old Synagogue to The former School of Applied Art

Old Synagogue → The former School of Applied Art is 27 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

The former School of Applied Art to Naumburg Cathedral

The former School of Applied Art → Naumburg Cathedral is 48 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

Naumburg Cathedral to Luther's birthplace

Naumburg Cathedral → Luther's birthplace is 58 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

Luther's birthplace to back through Naumburg Cathedral

Luther's birthplace → back through Naumburg Cathedral is 62 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

back through Naumburg Cathedral to back through The former School of Applied Art

back through Naumburg Cathedral → back through The former School of Applied Art is 49 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

back through The former School of Applied Art to Old Synagogue

back through The former School of Applied Art → Old Synagogue is 28 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

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