Gotha is another town on the edge of the beautiful Thuringian Forest. One of the German caminos is from Leipzig to Eisenach and the information office had a map. Great that it was perfect until the street I was on fell off the map. I searched for a long time with no luck so when things aren’t working I look for a river. There wasn’t one, which is rare so I found a creek. About a VW wide and half a tyre deep, it was just there behind unkempt bushes, on a track no-one used and mostly hidden from view. I thought what a waste as I pondered how you could turn a creek into a river..
Not many towns exist without a river, and this one does because it has built itself a canal. I’m unsure how that works but I imagine it is a way of transporting what is a basic necessity into the town.
Nor do many towns let their historic buildings fall into disrepair as Gotha does. As I walked along the creek it was obvious many buildings had become the target of bad graffiti artists and window breakers. I also saw, beside my creek, about 140 garages without the usual accompanying house,
The buildings in the city itself are superb and if I understood more about architecture I’m sure I would be even more impressed. This has been similar in other German towns we have visited. There’s a row of gardens and fountains becoming larger as they go up the long hill, offering a beautiful invitation to the majestic buildings above. I will investigate a superb stand alone building lit up in one platz that we saw after dinner. I love the unusual shape of this platz, surrounded by cobbled streets and intermittent bell ringing.
Luise Dorothea was music to the ears of the thirsty people of Gotha. In the platz stands Luise, a book in her hand and a determination on her face. She admired the buildings but above all she admired the ‘cultural’, informed by her collection of 3500 books. Luise deserves more than these few words but I am late in posting so I will continue after I have learnt more about her today in Gotha after our walk
