Discover Gera: City History, Parks and Cycling Routes
Accommodation in Gera
Gera brings together clearly visible traces of its city history, green spaces along the White Elster and two long-distance cycling routes. If you are looking for a holiday apartment, you can start by considering whether culture, a riverside park or a cycling tour should be the focus of your trip. Gera’s attractions range from its Renaissance town hall and historic gardens to a museum housed in a building with a varied past.
City history in buildings and exhibitions
Gera’s historic town hall stands on the market square: a three-storey Renaissance building with a tower over 57 metres high and crooked windows. The Church of the Saviour stands on Nicolaiberg and is the only surviving church within the historic old town. The theatre’s history is also reflected in its changing names: the former Princely Court Theatre was called the Reuß State Theatre from 1918 to 1945, the Municipal Theatres of Gera until 1995, and today bears the name Theatre Altenburg-Gera.
The Gera City Museum opens another window onto the past. It is housed in a former correctional and orphanage building, constructed just outside the city wall from 1724 to 1738 and home to the museum since 1914. The permanent exhibition and the themed exhibition “Romantic Gera” cover the city’s history, from its first settlement to the 21st century. Together, they span around 1,000 square metres across four floors; the specific exhibition presentation may change over time. At the Orangery, an exhibition is complemented by interactive media stations and a multimedia room. This exhibition setup may also change.
Green spaces and historic gardens
Hofwiesenpark covers 300,000 square metres, lies directly on the banks of the White Elster and is just a few minutes’ walk from the city centre. As a large riverside green space, it offers a different focus from the historic buildings and exhibitions. The Kitchen Garden, in turn, connects garden and city history: first mentioned in 1631, it served as a kitchen garden for the court and as a formal Baroque pleasure garden for the Reuß family. From 1946 to 1991, it successively bore the names “Stalin Park,” “Theatre Park” and “Park of the Victims of Fascism”; since 1991, it has once again been called the Kitchen Garden.
Osterstein Castle rises above the White Elster on Hainberg, where it has stood for around 800 years. Gera Zoo also has a long history: it was founded in 1962 as a small local animal enclosure and expanded into Gera Zoo in 1972.
Cycling connections and choosing the right holiday apartment
For longer rides, two different long-distance routes offer useful options. Gera has a direct connection to the 250-kilometre Elster Cycle Route, which runs from Aš in the Czech Republic to Halle (Saale). The Thuringian Cities Chain runs directly through Gera, connecting Eisenach and Altenburg. Their different endpoints offer a concrete basis for comparing routes when planning your trip.
At Gera Central Station, the stop for tram line 1 is directly adjacent; the line takes passengers straight to the city centre. If this connection is important to your plans, check the current timetable before travelling. When choosing a holiday apartment, you can also use your preferred daily rhythm as a guide: should your stay focus mainly on city history, time in green spaces by the river or cycling stages? The right location depends on which of these sides of Gera matters most to you.
Discover more destinations
Discover more destinations: Moschwitz, Steinsdorf, Hain, Bad Köstritz, Zeulenroda-Triebes, Ronneburg, Großebersdorf, Kraftsdorf.
To the higher-level travel overview: Greiz.
