Wartburg Castle near Eisenach was declared a “World Heritage Site” by UNESCO in 1999 due to its outstanding significance in cultural history and is therefore Germany’s first castle to be added to the UNESCO World Heritage list. Wartburg Castle is the ideal feudalism castle in Central Europe despite alterations and additions made in later centuries and impressively reflects thousands of years of German history.

The three-storey light sandstone main building preserved from the 12th century, the palas, is particularly worth seeing. It is considered to be the best preserved late Romanesque secular building north of the Alps. There is a stunning great hall on the second floor where concerts still resound today.

Wartburg Castle was not just a defensive fortress or grand residence but also a pre-eminent centre of artistic endeavour. It once echoed to the songs of Walther von der Vogelweide and inspired a number of poems by Wolfram von Eschenbach. However, it was also a home and place of work, e.g. for Saint Elisabeth and Martin Luther.