{"id":6234,"date":"2026-05-18T16:09:04","date_gmt":"2026-05-18T14:09:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/radishthegreat.com\/blog\/?p=6234"},"modified":"2026-05-18T16:51:58","modified_gmt":"2026-05-18T14:51:58","slug":"a-friday-in-thuringer-wald-suhl","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radishthegreat.com\/blog\/2026\/05\/18\/a-friday-in-thuringer-wald-suhl\/","title":{"rendered":"A Friday in Th\u00fcringer Wald\/Suhl"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Last weekend we drove up to Suhl for the Patchworktage<\/a> (Quilt Show, more or less) so we could see my Challenge Quilt. I’m not sure *that* was worth the time and money, but we made a nice weekend out of it. Suhl is in the Th\u00fcringer Wald, a mountainy forest region with a long history and lots of mythology. The region used to have a lot of mines, metalworking, and porcelain, there’s still some forestry and wood products, and there’s a lot of history. Today the big industries are vacations and winter sports; the East German teams trained there and the German teams still get a lot of athletes who grew up in the area, learning their craft.

My intention is to make multiple posts. (Why are you laughing? I haven’t written the jokes yet!)

We begin, as always, with lunch. Traditional local bratwurst at Gasthaus Waldfrieden<\/a> (forest peace) in Frauenwald. If you order it after 5 p.m. they grill it in front of you in a wood-fired stove in the dining room, but they were tasty cooked in the kitchen, and served with smashed potatoes and a mild sauerkraut. The Schwarzbier<\/em> was also very good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Did I mention the bratwurst is in the form of a snail?<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Then we went for a short, cold, rainy walk around the village of Frauenwald. Very short, due to the cold rain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Vacation towns have a lot of playgrounds and activities for kids. I did not ride this cow.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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The growing season up in the mountains is a bit shorter than down here; I estimate the flowers were about 2-3 weeks behind ours.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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We also saw a lot of wood carvings (makes sense in a forest, right?). Really enjoyed this squirrel.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Then we drove into Suhl and checked into the Goldener Hirsch<\/a> (golden deer), which has been a guesthouse since 1616 (we stayed in their 21st-century building across the street), and had a short walk around the neighborhood.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Goldener Hirsch. I should have taken more pictures of the front building.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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The modern hotel entrance is inside the courtyard, which somehow I have no pictures of. Sigh.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Out back behind the breakfast room (a 21st-century addition, but they did a nice job of blending it in) is one of the neatest playground constructions I have ever seen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Y’all know Biergarten, and Kneipe is usually translated as “tavern” but think of it as Wisconsin neighborhood\/small town bar, not a medieval\/D&D “sup and drink here, weary travelers” establishment.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

One of the things I noticed the first time I was in the Th\u00fcringer Wald (in 2021) was the houses covered with slate shingles in various shapes and patterns. Very quilty! Even houses with 20th-century siding or 21st-century concrete cladding have some slate elements. The slates are longer-lasting and more reusable than the “climate neutral” concrete, but “climate neutral” has absolutely nothing to do with “good for the environment” so…anyway. Photos.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Two windows.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Concrete and slate on a 1764 baroque church, which was locked and possibly abandoned; one of the back windows was broken out.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The other vintage style of exterior walls that caught my attention is Fachwerkbau<\/em>, translated as “half-timbered” in English. It’s similar to English Tudor construction, but often more elaborate. Hey, it’s a forest, there’s a lot of hardwood to work with.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The paintings on the shutters are nice, too.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The next house was established as poorhouse in 1517, then converted to an orphanage in 1792. It seems to house some businesses now. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The aggressive vertical stripes are called “Th\u00fcringer Ladder”<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Detail shot. This motif is called the “Wilder Mann” (wild man) and is specific to the region.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Fachwerk is so popular, people in later centuries re-created it with brick.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I like bricks, too.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

And here’s the house for the person who can’t choose between the methods:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Needs a little TLC, but that sort of work is crazy expensive all of a sudden so I understand.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Lots of properties fell into disrepair in the Communist era and\/or were abandoned afterwards, and they probably can’t all be saved. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Check the walls of the house next door and the shape of the barn.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

All those buildings were just a short walk from our hotel.

In the evening we ate in the restaurant at the Goldener Hirsch<\/em>. I had a plate of roast venison with Th\u00fcringer Kl\u00f6\u00dfe<\/em>, which are soft balls of shredded potatoes. Do not confuse them with Coburger Kl\u00f6\u00dfe<\/em>, which are softer, or Bavarian Kn\u00f6dl<\/em>, which are rubbery-er. You’ll just offend everybody, and you should never offend anyone who is preparing or serving your food. Of the three types of potato balls, I like these best, and the handmade ones were much tastier than the pre-made potato dough I purchased a few years ago.<\/a> I will eat these again!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Stuffies for scale; the things were huge!<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

And that concludes our Friday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Photo-intensive post.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6237,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,83],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6234","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-photographs","category-travel-vacation"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t