Easy hikes and walks around Kloster Veßra

The Henneberg Museum Kloster Veßra is a 6-hectare open-air museum showcasing the history of the monastery, half-timbered architecture, the everyday history of the people of the Henneberg region, and agricultural technology. The museum grounds and the monastery buildings of the Premonstratensian Order are owned by the Thuringian Palaces and Gardens Foundation. There are the Veßra monastery ruins, the half-timbered houses with buildings from the Henneberg region, the largest collection of East German LPG agricultural machinery in Thuringia, a historic hydroelectric power plant with a mill race, exhibitions on the hard daily lives of the people, and a well-tended garden with herb gardens, flower meadows, and old fruit trees.

A visit that is worth it. It is definitely worth seeing. I am impressed. Respect for how much effort goes into keeping everything in order 👍

There is a slightly elevated rest area on the Werra Valley cycle path with a good view of the rock fall from 1595. In that year the entire mountainside broke off and slid into the valley. Incidentally, it is assumed that a collapse occurred as early as 1137.

There is no place to rest at the edge of the forest, but the beautiful view over the Werra valley to Themar and back to the Enchanted Mountain forces you to stop.

The Henneberg Museum is an open-air museum on the grounds of the Veßra Monastery. You should plan at least 4 hours for a visit, including a coffee break, but you can easily spend more time here. There is not much to say about the monastery itself. It was founded as a noble monastery for the Henneberg region. Originally, monks and nuns were housed separately here. After a fire, the women's monastery was moved to Trostadt. The monks stayed here. After the monastery was abandoned, it was used as a weapons factory and porcelain factory. In 1939, the monastery church burned down and only a ruin remained. The Veßra Monastery Museum therefore now houses the following exhibitions: - a Henneberg village with houses that can be visited, including furnishings from different periods - history of transport - monastery history - south chapel with the presumed veneration of the Virgin Mary - history of the Henneberg House and the country - agricultural museum with equipment, work steps and large tractors from the GDR and Eastern Europe - a hydroelectric power station that can be visited The café with delicious cakes is particularly recommended. The two cinemas in the south chapel and in the agricultural exhibition were also very interesting. If you like, you can also take an audio tour on your smartphone, but the stations are arranged a bit confusingly.

Trostadt Monastery and the present-day town of Trostadt are located on the upper reaches of the Werra, about seven kilometers west of the district town of Hildburghausen. The town is located on the western edge of the valley, already in a flood-prone location, barely two meters above the Werra floodplain. Some of the buildings in the town date back to the time of the former monastery, but only a few remains of the sacred buildings remain. Source:https://de.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kloster_Trostadt

The Counts of Henneberg became supporters of the Premonstratensian Order in Thuringia in 1130 and in 1131, thanks to generous donations, enabled the founding of a double monastery in the town of Veßra. In return, Veßra Monastery was designated as the counts' private monastery and from 1182 onwards was also used as their burial place. Veßra Monastery was consecrated in 1138 by the Bamberg bishop Otto II. Source:https://de.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kloster_Trostadt

The former Trostadt monastery - also called Neuzelle - was a choir nunnery of the Premonstratensian Order, the structural remains of which can be found in Trostadt, a district of the municipality of Reurieth in the Hildburghausen district in Thuringia. Source:https://de.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kloster_Trostadt