Thingplatz and Maltese Cross of Spaal

First a village that was abandoned. Then starting point for numerous hunts in the High Road area. Something lonely today.

The Thingplatz is an old courtroom in front of the Spaal desert. You can reach this mystical place via Hohe Straße with a lime tree avenue, stone crosses show you the way. The shell limestone in the shape of a Maltese cross is unique in Thuringia due to its seven symbols. One story goes that an innocent man should put his hand through the hole in the cross to be chopped off. The sword missed the arm, hit the stone, ricocheted off, and killed whoever pronounced the wrong judgment.

The stone cross in the shape of a Maltese cross, probably from the 16th century, is unique in Thuringia due to its seven (meanwhile weathered) symbols - sword, dagger, crossbow, Mainz wheel, ploughters and crosses.