Sightseeing Tour
Welcome to the little residential town located on the knee of the river Saale called Rudolstadt.
The tour will start at the bus station.
At the Anger Square a shooting match, known in German as "Vogelschiessen" has taken place every year from 1722. Arround the year 1960 the contest was moved to a larger location across the Saale.
After a few steps we arrive at the main building (socalled Big House) of the theatre and pass the former Pörzbierhalle (now a little stage).
At the corner, we cross the Street which is also Bundesstrasse 85 (Federal Route 85, B85). B85 and B88 curve their ways together through Rudolstadt. The same way took the very old trade road between Nürnberg and Leipzig.
The hotel "Zum Ritter" (The Knight) was located on the left in olden days.
The German philosopher, Arthur Schopenhauer, wrote his dissertation there.
New houses are here now - the new shopping mall "Galeria Rudolstadt".
The road to the right, going behind the Post Office, leads to the Rudolstadt Observatory.
However, our tour will now lead us down Schiller Street. In the lifetime of Friedrich Schiller this road was called "Neue Gasse" (New Lane). This lane just was built in that time at the outskirts. At that time it was on the outskirts of town. The present homes were built at a later date.
1787 and in the following year Friedrich Schiller lived for some times in the hotel "Zur Güldenen Gabel", from where he could see the hous with the present number 25. In this house Charlotte von Lengefeld lived in together with her mother and sister.
Now that house, in which 1788 Goethe and Schiller met first time, is now a Schillermuseum.
In that street a lot of musicians, working in the castle Heidecksburg or the the theatre, had their flats, for instance Eberwein and Scheinpflug.
On the crossing to the Weinbergstreet the romantic view to the castel Heidecksburg is inviting to stay and to take a foto for remembering.
We go, passing one of the ways to the castle, to the Old Street, which was built at the former town moat, so her present form is still revealing. Here Richard Wagner lived for some weeks in 1834.
Our way is bending now to the left to the New Marked, the former pottermarked. On the right we see the court-houses.
We are going now from the Mangelgasse into the craftsmen-court, which is a jewel, developed from the former Bernhardinenfoundation and the Little Foundation in 1992. It was tryed to settle down here typical craftsmen of Thuringia.
Now we are at the Stiftsgasse and walking on the first mainstreet of Rudolstadt - the futural touristic street.
By the way of the Toepfergasse (Potters' Lane) we arrive at the Market Square with its' octagonal water-well. A relative of Friedrich Schiller, Junot, dug the well.
Most of the houses around the market are very old half-timbered construction - which we can't see from the outside. The 200-300 year old fire laws of Rudolstadt required half-timbered houses to be plastered.
The old residential office became the present City Hall in 1911.
Now we pass the City Hall and go to the old church in front of which stands the old Castle Ludwigsburg which now serves as the Financial Office of Thueringen.
At the other end of Burgstrasse (Fort Street) is a house with a bell from Schiller's area. The ancient Bauernhaeuser (Farm Museum) are located in the Cumbach area. These and other areas of interest are outside the scope of our two hour tour.
That´s why we now cross the Schulplatz (School Plaza), the Boulevard and Bahnhofsgasse (Railroad Lane) and finish where we started.
As usual, the time is short to learn about Rudolstadt. However, you may feel free to wander about and look around on your own.
Of course you should visit Heidecksburg Castle. A guided tour is available through the very nice and splended ballrooms and you may have a look into much more museems.
The beautiful landscape and many interesting places that can be reached from Rudolstadt invite you to have a happy and comfortable stay in Rudolstadt.
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