The former School of Applied Art and Hainich

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. 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 is where the day begins. Next is Mikveh.

2. 2. Mikveh

   In 2007, during construction work near the Krämerbrücke in Erfurt, archaeologists uncovered a medieval ritual bath, a mikveh, beside the river Gera, which had been forgotten for centuries. It dates from the thirteenth century and was used by the city's Jewish community until the pogrom of 1349, when the community was destroyed during the panic of the Black Death. It is now protected and can be visited on guided tours. Together with the Old Synagogue and the Stone House, a medieval residence, the mikveh forms the Jewish-Medieval Heritage of Erfurt, listed by UNESCO in 2023.

   Read the complete Mikveh write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Mikveh comes up about 28 km into the recorded legs. Next is Hainich.

3. 3. Hainich

   Hainich is a long, low ridge of beech forest in the middle of Germany, and it has the distinction of being one of the few places in Europe where beech trees have been left to grow old. The national park, established in 1997, covers a large part of the ridge, and its oldest stands are part of the Ancient and Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians and other Regions of Europe, a UNESCO listing. You notice the difference at once: tall, straight silver trunks, massive fallen logs covered in fungi, and a forest floor that smells of mould and mushrooms.

   Read the complete Hainich write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   about 95 km into the recorded legs you reach Hainich. Next is back through Mikveh.

4. 4. back through Mikveh

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Mikveh write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   back through Mikveh, late in the day. Next is The former School of Applied Art.

5. 5. 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 at The former School of Applied Art. That is the ride.