Eisenach Things to Do

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Almost a castle village, spread out on a high hill top overlooking Eisenach. Here's where Martin Luther translated the New Testament from Latin to German in a very short time.

I visited here in 2009 and made my Wartburg page here

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When visiting Eisenach it is inevitable that you visit the town house where the Bach museum is situated. The myth is carefully kept alive that 'it is said to have been the house where J.S. Bach was born'. However, it isn't. It's just one house that was like one that Bach could have been born in.

Having said that, it is an interesting museum. In the new annex you can learn about his (then) very innovative music through manuscripts, explanation (in English) and sound fragments.
In the old part (the original house from Bach era) you can see how the Bach's could have lived, more info on his personal life and a music room with historical instruments. When you buy your ticket, you can find the time (on the whole hour) when you are welcome into the music room where someone will tell you a bit about the instruments and will play on them.

The highlight there is the Silbermann cembalo which dates from the time that Bach lived.
I must say that the pieces played I could've played too, that was not so impressive. The explanation was in German but the lady spoke very clearly and it was easy to follow.

Of course every tourist wants to come here, and there can be buses full of them. Entrance fee (2010) is a hefty 7.50 euro per person. However, a family ticket (2 adults, any number of children of school age) is just 15 euro.

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First I like to mention that I didn't take a tour in/around the Wartburg Castle itself as I haven't felt attracted enough. I yet took the long HIKE UP to Wartburg Castle's, a most beautiful forested slope, I really enjoyed. To me this hike - very lonely path through fantastic woods - was the most worthy part of the visit at Wartburg Castle. Of course visitors don't need to hike up there (unless by choice) since shuttles are provided!

Wartburg Castle belonged to the landgraves of Thuringia, and once hosted the medieval Minnesinger poets, immortalized by Wagner's play of "Tannhaeuser". Wartburg Castle is most famous for sheltering Martin Luther while he translated the New Testament into German. He hid out as "Knight George" upon his return from the Diet of Worms in 1521. At Wartburg Castle he completed his translation of the Bible. During his stay there, he said he "fought the Devil with ink" and is said, he has experienced dark periods of depression.

http://www.sacred-destinations.com/germany/wartburg-castle

Whenever I visit a new place I always try to find the Tourist Information office to get some suggestions or at least some tourist brochures about the visited area. With the changeable weather during our short trip to Eisenach we were lucky to enter the Tourist Information just in time to find shelter from the downpour outside. Here I learnt about the narrowest half-timbered house in Germany so after the rain, equipped with a new city plan we set off to find it.
The Narrow House, located on the Johannisplatz, looks really charming with its colourful facade. It is just 2.01 m wide and 8.5 metres high (much lower than the adjacent houses). Since 1991 a small exhibition of pictures, sculptures and historical furniture is on display here.
Today the house is one of tourist attractions of Eisenach but in the past its existence was threatened. At the beginninig of the 20th century the city council wanted to pull the house down together with two adjoining buildings to make place for taller stately houses. Luckily, the owner of the Narrow House, Wilhelm Kohler, demanded the unrealistic sum of ten thousand Goldmark to deter the sale. He turned to court and demanded funds for the new facade. In the end he won and the house received the facade in the form that we can see today. All renovations were completed in 1903. In 2000 the professional restoration was done and hopefully the Narrow House which is now over 250 years old will remain a tourist attraction for a long time.

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J.S. was associated with many German towns, but Eisenach as his birthplace and the place where he spent his childhood years, takes a special position in his biography.

Born in 1685 as the son of John Ambrosius Bach - a town musician, John Sebastian was baptised in St George's church in the market square. His family lived in the house in Frauenplan wher today is his museum.
He attended school in Eisenach till 1695 when he moved away to live with his older brother because both his parents died.

Today in the Bach house (it is not the actual house, but they lived nearby) visitors can see the artifacts connected with the life and work of the composer. You walk through the living quarters furnished with objects and artwork from the epoch. In the instrument hall you can get acquainted with the musical instruments from the times of J.S. Bach. There is a short musical presentation (I don't know if on regular basis) when some of the instruments are played. In summer it is also possible to visit a charming Baroque garden at the back of the house.
Next to the house we can see the statue of J.S. Bach in his choir-master'sclothes and wig.

Entrance to the Bach house - 6.00 Euro

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The Nicholas Gate and adjacent Nicholas church make a very photogenic couple.
The church dating back to 1180 is said to be the last Romanesque church built in Thuringia. It used to be the parish church for the Benedictine convent which had existed here before the Reformation. It underwent alterations at the end of the 19th century.
The impressive Nicholas Gate is the only preserved one of the original five Romanesque gates leading to the town.

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I entered St. George's church just because it was on our way across the market square, only then did I realize its significance.

St. George's church is strictly connected with the history of Eisenach and its most outstanding personages.
It was here (strictly speaking in the predecessor of the present late-Gothic church) that Landgrave Ludwig IV and the Hungarian princess Elizabeth married.
Here Martin Luther was a choir boy.
Here John Sebastian Bach was baptised in 1685 (the baptismal font is still in use) and some members of the talented Bach family were the church organists.
On the church courtyard there is one more memento to a significant historical figure - the tombstone of Ludwig Springer - the legendary founder of the Wartburg castle.
No wonder that looking around the church gives you that special feeling of being in a very special place.

Althugh the Wartburg castle is undoubtedly the greatest tourist attraction of Eisenach, the city itself is also worth visiting. After all, it was a birthplace of J.S. Bach and the place where M. Luther spent his childhood, so we are sure to find the traces of their lives here.

We started our short walk through Eisenach from its market square surrounded by charming merchants' houses. In the centre there is a gilded fountain representing St. George (patron of Eisenach) fighting with a dragon. Opposite there's an entrance to St. George's church.