Have you ever heard the advice about not believing everything you read? Wait, this isn’t a good way to start off considering I’m asking you to read this. Hold on though, I got a point…
The thing is; there’s a rumor that Faust was born here in the Thuringian town of Stadtroda. True, or not, I wouldn’t like it if no one believed what else Stadtroda has to offer because of this whole Faust thing.
Right — so off to investigate…
And right to heart of it, I didn’t find anything to support the fact that Faust was born here. What I did find was a bunch of villages and hamlets with some wonderful architecture.
I’ll save the best for last, which are the ruins of the Kloster Roda, so we’ll start off in the village of Hainbücht (not that it isn’t a nice place, but you got to start somewhere) that has an old mill from the early 1600s, and the World War I Memorial.
From here it’s on to see the Holy Cross Church, a building that’s seen a lot of construction from its beginnings in 1040, to Gothic and Baroque renovations.
The City Museum is just as good a place to learn more of Stadtroda’s history, if you’re interested in learning more about how this little town grew. It didn’t grow too much; it’s only as big as like 16 square kilometers.
It’s still big enough to have its own castle, and it’s big enough to have its own medieval “gate” from its medieval origins. Get a good look at the Rotes Tor (Red Gate), it’s the only one left of its original five — and so called because it’s actually red (duh).
With all that done and out of the way, it’s time to visit Kloster Roda. Well, what once used to be a Cistercian monastery for nuns in the Middle Ages. It was built in 1228, and its church was a lovely Gothic design — only to be totally destroyed during the Thirty Years’ War. Nonetheless, the old monastery ruins are a portal to Germany’s medieval past.
You know, it’s okay that Faust didn’t make his appearance in Stadtroda — this place is grand enough to stand without him.
