The main spring, “Stinking Newt,” is now located in Bad Tennstedt’s spa park and provides a clearly named starting point. The medieval town fortifications and other park attractions offer different aspects of a stay. This lets you choose between springs and park, architectural history and seasonal events, rather than planning everything as a single visit.
Springs and Paths in the Spa Park
The spring funnels at Gläserlöcher and Bruchteich offer a different spring-related attraction: minerals washed out there create a play of colors. The spa park also has two barefoot paths. The Goethehäuschen is here, too. It was the town’s first bathhouse and is now a small café. If you would like to stop there, check the opening hours in advance.
The “From Park to Park – Hiking Trail in the ‘Haun’ to Ballhausen” begins at the Haus des Gastes in the spa park. The Bad Tennstedt Tourist Information Office is also located there: Haus des Gastes, Kurstraße 10, 99955 Bad Tennstedt. The Tourist Information Office lends out two bicycles during its opening hours. The hiking trail’s starting point, the Goethehäuschen and the Tourist Information Office thus offer different ways to explore the spa park.
Town History at the Church, Wall and Gate
The north tower of the Evangelical Trinity Church, also known as Wigbertikirche, contains remains of a Romanesque predecessor building. Bad Tennstedt’s limestone town wall was built between 1443 and 1489, with four gates replacing an older fortification with a rampart and moat. At the Osthöfer Gate, the passageway has a groin vault; its octagonal upper section with a Welsh hood and lantern dates from 1579. Together, these details provide a timeline from the Romanesque predecessor building, through the late medieval fortifications, to a dated element of the Osthöfer Gate.
Town Tours and an Annual Event
Bad Tennstedt offers two children’s town tours for different grade levels. The tour for grades 1 to 4 is called “In Search of the Fir Tree and the Unicorn.” Students in grade 5 and above can request the tour “A Journey Through Time into the Past.” Both town tours require an advance inquiry or registration. The Heimat- und Brunnenfest is held every year on the last weekend in June in honor of the spring. If you are planning your trip around the festival, check the date for the relevant year in advance.
In the Wider Destination of Unstrut-Hainich
The Unstrut-Hainich district is part of the Wartburg Hainich World Heritage Region. At the treetop walk, visitors who are comfortable with heights can climb the tree tower to a platform 40 meters above the ground; from there, the view stretches across the Hainich to the Thuringian Basin. The National Park Center at Thiemsburg presents its exhibition through films, large-format picture walls, interactive experience stations and other interactive elements. It also offers a fully accessible media guide; tablets and headphones are available to borrow. In Bad Langensalza, the rose garden features almost 450 rose species and varieties on a former factory site covering 18,000 square meters.
Discover more destinations: Oppershausen, Vogtei, Flarchheim, Bad Langensalza, Großengottern, Körner, Schlotheim, Menteroda
Go to the wider travel overview: Unstrut-Hainich.
