Auma-Weidatal: Rectory, Bridge and Town History

Stories along the Weida

The old rectory in Göhren-Döhlen dates from 1712 and stands on the banks of the Weida. The covered wooden bridge over the river was already there in 1799; flooding meant it had to be rebuilt several times. The two examples have different points of focus: the rectory is defined by its year of construction and riverside location, while the bridge’s history combines its existence since 1799 with repeated rebuilding after floods. If you enjoy taking a closer look at individual buildings, you’ll find two different stories here—one about the old rectory, the other about the bridge’s renovations.

The Weidatal Festival is also held in Göhren-Döhlen. A recurring local tradition, it is celebrated each year on the last weekend in June in the festival hall on the banks of the Weida. If you’d like to plan your trip around it, check the specific dates before making arrangements. The festival gives your stay a clear seasonal focus and adds a different dimension to the historic buildings.

Rebuilding and town history in Auma

In Auma, the story of the great town fire of 1790 can be traced through several buildings. The Old Town Hall and the civic houses opposite it, at Markt 2 and 12 on the long sides of the market square, were rebuilt after the fire. The Church of Our Lady in Auma was also rebuilt afterward and consecrated in 1794. Its organ came later: organ builder F. W. Trampeli from Adorf in the Vogtland built it in 1818. The dates mark different stages—rebuilding, consecration and organ construction. The town’s history is therefore reflected not just in a single event, but in buildings that bring different chapters of that history to life.

Culture in the wider Greiz destination

The wider Greiz destination offers other distinct cultural themes. Since 2010, the Upper Palace in Greiz has housed the permanent exhibition “From the Land of the Vogts to the Principality of Reuss, Elder Line.” It explores the history of the Vogts, lords, Imperial Counts and Imperial Princes of Reuss, as well as the associated culture of small-state residences. The museum in the Upper Palace also offers a multimedia historical experience featuring a computer-animated building history and an interactive journey through time. The focus there is on the development of rule and residential culture, while Auma’s architectural history tells of rebuilding and individual buildings.

The Lower Palace in Greiz houses a museum and a textile demonstration workshop. The workshop, established in 1998, presents the production and history of Greiz’s textile industry; children and adults can take part in the manual production process. This offers a different way to explore history: alongside exhibitions and historic buildings, visitors can get hands-on with textile production. The Summer Palace in Greiz adds its own architectural highlight. Built as a summer residence for the Princes of Reuss, Elder Line, it is one of the earliest Neoclassical buildings in Central Germany.

The Summer Palace is located in Prince Reuss’s Greiz Park on the banks of the White Elster. Greiz Park lies at the foot of the wooded castle hill and is a 19th-century landscape park; the overall complex is designated a national cultural monument. Beyond its individual cultural sites, the district of Greiz offers a landscape perspective on the Thuringian Vogtland. The region’s character is shaped by low mountain areas, narrow valleys with castles and palaces, plateaus, rock formations cut through by rivers, floodplains, rolling hills, forests and cultivated landscapes. In the wider Greiz destination, historic buildings and varied landscapes therefore stand alongside one another as distinct themes.

When looking for a holiday apartment, it helps to decide first what you’d like to focus on: should the architectural and festival history of Auma and Göhren-Döhlen shape your stay, or would you also like to include the distinct cultural offerings in the wider Greiz destination? This will help you base your choice on the themes that matter for your trip.

Discover more destinations

Discover more destinations: Steinsdorf, Schwarzbach, Langenwolschendorf, Zadelsdorf, Weida, Hain, Großebersdorf, Bad Köstritz

Back to the wider travel guide: Greiz.