And so to the Bundesland which edges ever closer to the top spot in my affections. (Bavaria has competition!) Went for the first time on a whim – it was time to visit Goethe – in 2013. Ended up making 4 trips in 3 years.
The jewel in Thuringia’s crown is Weimar, and I’ve written plenty about it previously. From an A-Z of my first impressions, to a tour of the place using Bernd Köstering’s crime novels, Goetheruh and Goethesturm, as guides. I said at the beginning of GLM X that I want to live in Munich, but I can’t see it happening. I’d have to work part-time to supplement my pension if I were to go back to Germany (Brexit-related obstacles notwithstanding), and my dream job awaits in Weimar. I can see me as an English-language tour guide, spending my days talking about Goethe, Schiller, Karl-Augustus, Anna Amalia, Herder, Liszt et al. Not forgetting the Bauhaus, the Weimar Republic and the darker days that followed. Perhaps I should try it one summer (before I get too old .) If anyone from the Thuringian tourist board is reading, my contact details are on the right. 😉
Thuringia’s not just Weimar. The Egapark, one of Germany’s largest botanical gardens, can be found in the Thuringian capital of Erfurt. It’s currently closed but when I was there in the autumn of 2016 the sporty pumpkins were having great fun! It was unforgettable, as quirky as Weimar’s onion market .
Who says Germans don’t have a sense of humour?
Should all this madness get too much, one can always wander off into the Thuringian forest …
Returning to Thuringia’s literary heritage, let’s play a game.
Answers: Martin Luther in Eisenach, Goethe in Weimar, Schiller in Jena
Schiller’s desk stands in his summerhouse where he wrote Wallenstein. At that desk? I’m not sure. But it does stand in Jena, the centre of Early German Romanticism. More on that tomorrow.
Favourite reads from Thuringia
It appears that while I’ve read many works written in Thuringia, I’ve only read a couple by authors born there. Both women from Jena, what a coincidence.
Anne Richter’s Distant Signs provides a glimpse into the everyday life of an East German family. I reviewed it during last year’s #germanlitmonth.
Melanie Raabe’s debut thriller, The Trap, is as far from German Romanticism as you can get. And that’s all I’m telling you!
Lizzy's Literary Life (Volume One) 
Not a Bundesland I’ve been to, but of course I’d love to visit Weimar one day 🙂
Lovely pictures! Added to the places to eventually visit should travel ever be allowed again…
Think positively. It has to be – you should see the itinerary of the Grand Tour of Germany I’ve come up with while writing these posts!
I’m thinking of retiring to Weimar as well and setting up a reading/writing retreat there – shall we collaborate?