Greußen: City History Between the Hainleite and the Helbe

Greußen lies at the foot of the southern slope of the Hainleite in the Thuringian Basin, in an agricultural area. The town hall, markets and historical traces give the town a character of its own. If you are looking for a hotel in Greußen, you can get your bearings by considering its location and these clearly distinct themes.

Finding your way around the town hall and markets

The elongated market square lies on one side of the town hall, with the Töpfermarkt on the other. The town hall thus serves as a landmark for the layout of the two markets. Right next to it stands the “Greußener Schweinchen” (“Greußen piglet”): an enlarged replica of a Germanic cult figure found near Greußen and dated to 200–300 AD.

The surviving sections of the town wall also tell the story of the town’s former appearance. They are connected to a double zwinger wall, but are now considerably lower than they once were. The filled-in town moat is bordered by a green belt and, in places, by small gardens. The wall remains, green spaces and gardens show different aspects of the town’s history and its present-day appearance.

Museum, church and remembrance

Since September 2008, the Greußen local history museum has been housed in the town hall. It was modernized and expanded using Paul Lürmann’s extensive collection. This makes the town hall both a point of reference and another historical landmark in the town.

The Protestant St. Martini Church largely took on its present form after the great town fire of 1687; remains of the previous building were incorporated into it. The organ also has its own date: Tobias Gottfried and Heinrich Gottfried Trost built it between 1701 and 1704. The church’s construction history and the organ’s date of creation are two separate historical reference points.

A monument erected in 1990 in the grounds in front of the State Secondary School, formerly the Bürgerschule, commemorates the first victims of Stalinism in Greußen in 1945/1946. It names 38 affected “Greußener Jungs” (“boys from Greußen”); 24 of them died at the Sachsenhausen Special Camp. The monument thus records a specific chapter in Greußen’s history.

The Helbe system and outdoor pool

The listed Helbe system consists of the Helbe River in the middle, as well as the artificial river branches Schwarzburger Helbe to the north and Sächsische Helbe to the south. The system dates back to the 13th century. Its three components and their respective locations give this historic water engineering a clear spatial structure.

Greußen’s outdoor pool has a separate non-swimmers’ pool and a swimming pool, a 3-metre diving tower, two 1-metre springboards and starting blocks. There is also a water slide and a volleyball court. If you are planning a visit, check the seasonal opening hours in advance.

More topics in the wider destination of Kyffhäuserkreis

The wider destination of Kyffhäuserkreis has other distinct attractions. The Barbarossa Cave is an anhydrite cave between the districts of Rottleben and Steinthaleben in the municipality of Kyffhäuserland. Five miners discovered it in 1865 in connection with the resumption of copper shale mining. The cave was named after the legend of Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa’s return.

The Sondershausen Adventure Mine offers guided tours year-round at a depth of 670 metres, including an approximately two-hour truck tour through the underground labyrinth. It is also home to the world’s deepest concert hall, where concerts and cabaret performances are regularly held. Another way to explore the region is the Kyffhäuserweg, a 37-kilometre circular route starting and ending in Bad Frankenhausen. Its three stages lead from Bad Frankenhausen to the Barbarossa Cave, then on to the Kyffhäuser Monument, and from there back to Bad Frankenhausen.

When choosing what to search for, you can weigh up different priorities: Greußen’s city history, the Helbe system and the town’s local points of reference on the one hand, and distinct destinations in the wider Kyffhäuserkreis on the other.

Discover more destinations: Westgreußen, Heldrungen, Sondershausen, Artern/Unstrut, Steinthaleben, Oldisleben, Bendeleben, Nausitz.

Back to the wider travel overview: Kyffhäuserkreis.