크로나흐 주변 최고의 버스 정류장 출발 하이킹 & 워킹 코스

This grave is located on the Thuringian-Bavarian border at the turnoff to Gräfenthal.

Great views of Lauenstein Castle, the town and half of the Franconian Forest

Great panoramic views in good weather.

Very nice trails

The Erich Kästner poem "The Forests Are Silent" is the theme of this stop on the 5.7-kilometer-long Fairytale Trail. Here, you can sit on one of the wooden chairs and enjoy the tranquility of nature. Kästner wrote for all those who long to escape "from the noise of the city": "The forests are silent. But they are not mute. And whoever may come, they comfort everyone."

The border between Bavaria and Thuringia has developed gradually since the Middle Ages. It was not always clearly defined. Boundary stones like these marked its course. In the 19th century, the border was consolidated with the founding of the Kingdom of Bavaria and the Grand Duchy of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach. Until 1945, the border, although a political and administrative dividing line, was relatively permeable for the population. After the Second World War, the border between Bavaria and Thuringia became part of the inner-German border and was sealed off almost impassably by the GDR. Since the fall of the Wall, people have been able to move freely here again. The Bavarian-Thuringian border is 381 kilometers long.

One of the 13 stations on the 5.7-kilometer-long Fairytale Trail features the cook's grave as its theme—albeit not particularly child-friendly. The alleged gravestones are presumably fragments of former boundary stones here on the historic border between Bavaria and Thuringia. The legend, however, is based on a true story: At the end of the 16th century, under the rule of the Knights of Thüna, a cook from Lauenstein Castle was buried alive and then impaled for infanticide. The harsh punishment corresponded to the then-current legal code, the "Sachsenspiegel" (Saxon Mirror) of 1235.

The 26.5-meter-high observation tower on the Ratzenberg (678 meters) is only about 200 meters from the state border between Bavaria and Thuringia. The inner-German border strip, now protected as the "Green Belt," is still clearly visible here. The 34-ton square steel structure was intended to stimulate tourism. The tower was inaugurated on June 17, 1963, the Day of German Unity, which commemorated the popular uprising in the GDR on June 17, 1953. The keynote speaker was Rainer Barzel (CDU), then Federal Minister for All-German Affairs. The Thuringian Lookout became a magnet for visitors who wanted to see Thuringia, including Federal President Heinrich Lübke in October 1964. The tower, partially renovated in 1993 and 2012, houses a permanent exhibition about the inner-German border.