Molsdorf Palace and Park

The home of happy, smiling faces

Erfurt is the city of flowers. In fact, the state capital is the birthplace of German horticulture thanks to the entrepreneurial spirit of local lawyer Christian Reichart. Ever since his time, Erfurt has been closely associated with plant cultivation, horticulture and the trade in plant and vegetable seeds.

Numerous parks and gardens wind their way through the city like a green thread. There’s plenty to enjoy outside Erfurt too, for example in Molsdorf, a charming village just a 30-minute bus journey from the city centre.

Here you can explore Molsdorf Palace, a 16th century moated castle transformed by Count Adolph von Gotter into a grand summer residence full of paintings, creaking floorboards and labyrinthine rooms.

©Constantin Beyer, Stiftung Thüringer Schlösser und Gärten

The count had the park designed in the baroque style, and sculptures from that period can still be seen in the grounds today, as well as a baroque wall more than a kilometre long.

The garden itself was converted into a landscape park in the English style. A small, mobile café is parked in front of the palace where visitors can buy a coffee and a slice of cake before sitting down on the lawn in the park. Grand old trees reach for the sky at the edge of the park, reeds envelop the pond and everything feels relaxed and enchanting. A little further along there’s a puppet theatre surrounded by families on picnic blankets, the little ones absorbed by the action on stage. Happiness can be that simple. Happiness in the garden.

Tip: the Gera Cycle Route

Cycle at a leisurely pace from Erfurt to Molsdorf, following the Gera river and enjoying the glorious countryside all around. From Erfurt’s cathedral square it’s just under 14 kilometres to beautiful Molsdorf. Along the route there are two cosy beer gardens and the Bachstelze restaurant, a popular destination run by TV chef Maria Groß.

Former road racing cyclist Marcel Kittel has followed the route for you: