The best traffic-free bike rides in Volkenrodaer Forst

Mühlhausen is known as „Muhlhusia turrita“, the tower-adorned Mühlhausen with once 59 towers of churches and city walls. 11 medieval churches and a preserved inner city wall ring with numerous defensive towers allow visitors to experience the tower-adorned Mühlhausen of modern times. They will encounter not only sacred spaces, but also the unique secular use of church buildings, for example as a city library, museum, or theatre stage. The old town is the second-largest monument in Thuringia, which attentive visitors can recognise by the red street signs. In addition to the multitude of churches and museum institutions, guests can discover lovingly restored half-timbered and bourgeois houses, special architectural monuments, and former mills. Source: https://www.muehlhausen.de/tourismus/sehenswuerdigkeiten/

The Inner Frauen Gate (Innere Frauentor) in Mühlhausen is an important relic of the medieval city fortifications and one of the city's most significant historical structures. It is located in the northwest of the old town and formerly served as one of the central entrances to the city. Merchants, travelers, and visitors entered the city through this gate, thus playing an important role both economically and militarily. The Frauen Gate owes its name to the street that led directly to St. Mary's Church, the so-called Frauenkirche (Church of Our Lady). Architecturally, it is a so-called double gate system, consisting of a high gate tower and a gatehouse situated in front of it. Between these two parts was a narrow, specially secured area known as the zwinger. This construction method served defensive purposes, as attackers could be trapped between the gates in an emergency and repelled more easily. The original gate was built in the Middle Ages, presumably in the 13th century. After a city fire, it was rebuilt in 1655 in the form in which it can still be seen today. Over time, the city structure changed, and parts of the fortifications were demolished or added to. For example, another Frauen Gate disappeared in 1830, the outline of which is still indicated in the street paving today. Today, the Inner Frauen Gate is the only preserved gate of Mühlhausen's inner city wall and thus a particularly valuable testimony to the city's history. It is part of one of the best-preserved medieval city fortifications in Germany and attracts many visitors. Together with the remaining sections of the wall, it provides a vivid impression of how strongly fortified and organized medieval cities once were.

In the 14th century, an outer city wall was built to protect Mühlhausen's suburbs. Of the three original gate towers, only the 15th-century tower of the outer Frauentor remains today. Anyone entering the gate from the west has an impressive view of the city. The gate features late Gothic details, such as a barrel vault with decorated keystones. In addition, remnants such as a painted niche, arched windows, brackets for the gate, and traces of the portcullis are still visible on the outside.

Here, the promenade is a lovely place to stroll, and on weekdays, there's also a wide selection of good snacks. At the end, the highlight, St. Mary's Church, awaits.

The green trees and the Gothic facade of the church provide a wonderful contrast in summer.

The very well-preserved Frauentor (Women's Gate) in the city wall is also worth seeing.

The Unstrut Cycle Path, which you can also hike, leads from Mühlhausen through the Sachsensiedlung to the "Unstruttal," the beautiful Ammern district, past OBI, the Im Sande nature reserve, under the new 247b bypass, to Reiser district. Along the Unstrut, through the railway viaduct into the wonderful Reiser Valley with the former imperial palace of Tutensode, a rest area, then through the second railway viaduct past the interesting sculptures to Dachrieden district, or before that, turn left into Reiser Hagen. I highly recommend it for cyclists 🚴🏻‍♂️ and hikers 🚶🏻‍♂️🚶🏻‍♂️

Unfortunately, there was a padlock on it when I passed through.