Visiting Meiningen in the former DDR, Day 1

This past weekend we managed a little get-away from our weekend in Schweinfurt where we visited my siblings once again. We usually don’t get any further than Schweinfurt as there are so many people to see and things to do with my relatives in town.

This time we left our children with one of my sisters and drove to Meiningen, a quaint town in the southern part of Thuringia and former Deutsche Demokratische Republik (DDR). We had been there once in 1996, but besides its greyness, odd smell, and triste atmosphere, there was not much to remember.

Our drive on A71 to Meiningen was done with very little traffic and in plain surroundings (no ads, no fast food chains– just trees and plains). The road seemed to stretch forever. It was reminiscent of driving in Montana, but without the hills.

wide open spaces on the Autobahn

wide open spaces on the Autobahn

With its wonderfully painted houses around the Marktplatz, this city has gone through a major transformation. Of course, the means for that had to come from our beloved Solidaritätszuschlag, which seems here to stay. This money was invested wisely.

Marktplatz in Meiningen

Marktplatz in Meiningen

But the two most significant points I observed were the inhabitants’ distinct friendliness (not just from service personnel in hotels and restaurants) and their lack of discernible dialect. The spoken German sounded very clear, with no trace of any regional expressions, and it was a pleasure to listen to. We Franconians – living less than an hour’s drive south in Schweinfurt, for example – must sound like Barbarians compared to these well-spoken Germans.

We had booked a night at Meininger Hotels mit Flair in the Hotel Schlundhaus, where we spent the night in a separate guesthouse called Rautenkranz. The room was good, with a bit of a rustique flair to it, and the price at €49.00 per person seemed reasonable.

Schlundhaus Hotel

Schlundhaus Hotel

We toured a bit of the city, but most shops closed at 4:00 on Saturday.

While walking around we got to see the infamous traffic light, which had been disputed over once when East and West Germany reunited. The Ampelmännchen was born in the former East-Berlin in 1961 and is becoming more and more popular also in the western part of Germany.

the little lamp man of the old East German crossing signal

the little lamp man of the old East German crossing signal

the little green figure - with hat - symbolisizing it is safe to cross

the little green figure - with hat - symbolizing it is safe to cross

Museum in Meiningen

Museum in Meiningen

We then had dinner at the Schlundhaus Restaurant, and I tried their local specialty called Hütes, a special kind of potato dumpling, with my meal. After dinner we visited a  French Culture Café called Le Monsigny, which allowed smoking after 21:00. A lot of French was heard in our part of the café and the atmosphere was great! Well, a glass or two of local red wine helped, too. This place is great – if you don’t mind the smoke – and well worth a visit. The prices I found quite low:  €1.50 for a cup of coffee, € 4.00 for a Caipirinha, etc.

We left the café before midnight and only had to walk three blocks to get back to our room near the Marktplatz.

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