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Buchfart Rock Caves

Caves

Buchfart Rock Caves

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Buchfart Rock Caves

Recommended by 205 cyclists out of 212

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Location: Buchfart, Weimarer Land, Thuringia, Germany

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Top cycling routes to Buchfart Rock Caves

4.7

(172)

750

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1. Covered Wooden Bridge Buchfart – Ilmtal Cycle Path loop from Ilmenau Pörlitzer Höhe

108km

06:21

570m

Hard bike ride. Very good fitness required. Mostly paved surfaces. Suitable for all skill levels.

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Hard

4.8

(163)

502

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2. Covered Wooden Bridge Buchfart – Ilmtal Cycle Path loop from Klettbach

73.8km

04:37

570m

Hard bike ride. Very good fitness required. You may need to push your bike for some segments of this route.

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Hard

4.7

(86)

331

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3. Covered Wooden Bridge Buchfart – Ilmtal Cycle Path loop from Oberweimar

54.8km

03:16

360m

Moderate bike ride. Good fitness required. Mostly paved surfaces. Suitable for all skill levels.

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Moderate

Tips

Silke on Tour 🏞️

September 6, 2025

The Buchfarter Felsenburg, located on the steep shell limestone slope of the Illm River, is the only structure of its type in Central Germany and of particular cultural and historical significance.
It was originally a castle complex belonging to the Counts of Orlamünde. Around the 12th century, 12 chambers of varying sizes were carved into the steep rock face in a row extending approximately 110 meters in length and at a height of 40 meters above the Illm River. The chambers were connected by a Romanesque hillside wall. Some wall remains and a round-arched doorway are still visible today.
The rock castle had no military significance in the late Middle Ages. However, it served as a fully developed, impregnable refuge for a long line of counts, dukes, and electors.

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Günni

April 21, 2024

The Buchfarth Rock Castle is the only one of its type in Central Germany and thus of particular cultural and historical value. The complex consisted of 20 chambers carved into the wall. Twelve chambers of varying sizes still exist today.

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Andreas Bikefan

May 4, 2023

A unique cultural monument near Weimar
"Do you know the castle, carved into the mountainous rock, which rises high from the valley to the sky? Waves that wash over its base - the shepherd chooses the pinnacle as pasture for his sheep."

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe wrote in the family book of his friend, the cantor and organist Friedrich Heinrich Schütz, in Bad Berka. Goethe recognized the uniqueness of this historic rock castle – the only one of its kind in Thuringia – and repeatedly emphasized it during his visits to Buchfart. The path Goethe used when he hiked or rode from Weimar via Buchfart, Saalborn, and Neckeroda to Großkochberg to visit Frau von Stein at her country estate runs past the caves.

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Details

Informations

Elevation 310 m

Weather

Sunday 4 January

-1°C

-7°C

0 %

Additional weather tips

Max wind speed: 12.0 km/h

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See rides here

Take Me There

Location: Buchfart, Weimarer Land, Thuringia, Germany

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Buchfart Rock Caves

1. Covered Wooden Bridge Buchfart – Ilmtal Cycle Path loop from Ilmenau Pörlitzer Höhe

2. Covered Wooden Bridge Buchfart – Ilmtal Cycle Path loop from Klettbach

3. Covered Wooden Bridge Buchfart – Ilmtal Cycle Path loop from Oberweimar

Other Popular Places to Check Out

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