Werra-Eltetal Cycle Path

The Werra-Eltetal Cycle Path connects the two Werratal communities Barchfeld and Lauchröden. With this cycle route and the Werratal Cycle Path, a great day circuit is created for sporty recreational, regional, and touring cyclists. From the Barchfeld commercial area Am Eisberg, you reach the Werra-Eltetal Cycle Path via Gumpelstadt and through Moorgrund to Martin Luther's ancestral home Möhra. Here, where Martin Luther's parents lived until 1483, the spirit of the Reformation can still be felt today. The Luther monument in front of the Luther church, the painting of Martin Luther's sermon on May 1, 1521, recreated by today's villagers, as well as the Luther ancestral house and the Luther room in the community center provide information that the reformer is regarded by the 'Möhrschen' as one of their own. Those who have pedaled up the Möhrsche Kuppe and the Pfaffenberg can refresh themselves at Altenberger See. There is also a paradise-like campsite with a restaurant here. Just a few hundred meters further, the baroque park and castle complex Wilhelmsthal adjoins. The former summer residence of the Weimar court impresses with its geometrically structured park. It bears the signature of Prince Hermann von Pückler-Muskau and is currently lovingly and professionally restored under the direction of the Thuringian Castles and Gardens Foundation. Through the cozy valley of the Elte, the traditional summer resort Wolfsburg-Unkeroda is soon reached, followed by Förtha and Oberellen. Here, a bit off the cycle path, there is a 'Napoleon Stone'. It marks the route taken by the French troops in 1813 after the lost Battle of Leipzig. From here it is not far to the Elte's confluence with the Werra in Lauchröden. The town lies at the foot of the impressive Brandenburg castle ruin, one of the largest double castle complexes in central Germany. In earlier times, the former lords of Brandenburg safely guided passing trade caravans on the Via Regia to Eisenach.