Teilnehmende Orte

Köthen invites you to the German Language World Experience in the castle and to numerous events to cultivate the German language.

Eike von Repgow is the creator of the most important legal book of the Middle Ages, the "Sachsenspiegel", the oldest major language monument in German prose. Reppichau with its "Art Project Sachsenspiegel" is an open-air museum for medieval legal history - unique in Germany.

A large collection of historical originals is kept in the Dessau Scientific Library, including the world document heritage “Luther's Lecture to the Romans”, valuable Cranach Bibles, Basedow's “Elementary Work” and texts by the Dessau-born poet Wilhelm Müller. Contemporary highlights, from the Reformation to the Enlightenment to the Modern Age, can be viewed in the Museum of City History (Johannbau).

The city is the beginning of the Reformation. Here stands the castle church with the world-famous theses door and the graves of Martin Luther and Philipp Melanchthon. Wittenberg is also the place of work of Lucas Cranach. The house where Luther lived today houses the world's largest museum of the Reformation.

Gräfenhainichen is the birthplace of the Protestant hymn writer Paul Gerhardt (1607 - 1676). Worth seeing is the Paul-Gerhardt chapel (classical building) with the Paul-Gerhardt permanent exhibition.

Mühlbeck-Friedersdorf is Germany's first book village. Its goal is the collection, maintenance and distribution of German-language written material. There are ten antiquarian bookshops at seven locations, and author readings and other cultural events take place regularly.

The Mulde city of Grimma is closely associated with German literature. Here Paul Gerhardt went to school, Göschen created his own idyll and Seume began his "A Stroll to Syracuse".

The roots of today's High German language lie in the so-called Meissen official language, which Luther already used when he translated the Holy Scriptures into German. The poets Gotthold Ephraim Lessing and Christian Fürchtegott Gellert visited the princely school in Meissen. Today, the cultivation of the German language takes place through various events, including the annual literature festival.

Gotthold Ephraim Lessing was born in Kamenz in 1729 and also spent his childhood here. Since 2011, a new permanent exhibition at the Lessing Museum opened in 1931 commemorated him. In the city you can explore authentic places of his early years.

Friederike Caroline Neuber, born on March 8, 1697 in Reichenbach, Vogtland, was an actress, a theater principal and an author. From 1727 to 1756 she led her own theater group intermittently, which played in numerous German cities. She became one of the main characters in the early development of German theater as "Neuberin" . On November 29, 1760, the Neuberin died in Laubegast near Dresden.

The Rutheneum - the birthplace of the DUDEN. Here, Dr. Konrad Duden developed his first spelling rules. The museum in the house shows the work of Konrad Duden and the history of the book he created, the Complete Orthographic Dictionary of the German Language.

Two word acrobats from Schwarzenbach an der Saale still shape our vocabulary today: The poet Jean Paul with his aphorisms and the comic translator Erika Fuchs with onomatopoeia, speech bubbles and inflective (in her honor also "Erikativ").

Where in 1667 the still valid form of the "ß" was created, J. E. v. Seidel printed the first 'ecumenical' translation of the Bible starting 1810. Prof. Höllerer created the journal "Language in the Technical Era" in 1961 and the literature archive in 1977. His ‘Brother’ since 2011 is the culture hall “Historical Print Shop Seidel”.

Friedrich Rückert, a poet and an orientalist, lived with his parents in Ebern from 1809-1810 and 1812-1815. Here he wrote, among other things, his Amaryllis sonnets "Five fairy tales to put my little sister to sleep". Many of his poems have been made into music.

Schweinfurt is the birthplace of the poet, orientalist and scholar Friedrich Rückert (1788-1866). In the middle of the town square an imposing monument rises for the perhaps most famous son of the city. Rückert himself looks at the historic town hall from the Renaissance period and the hustle and bustle in the city. At the southeast corner of the town square you can see the birthplace of Friedrich Rückert.

In the city of "Gotha", which had a decisive influence on education, publishing and the history of the theater, Luther, Voltaire and Goethe were welcome guests. Museums and library at Friedenstein Castle are a literary Mecca.

Weimar ist für sein kulturelles Erbe bekannt. Neben der Bauhaus-Universität beherbergt die Stadt u. a. die Hochschule für Musik Franz Liszt und die Herzogin Anna Amalia Bibliothek.

Löbitz, a district of the municipality of Mertendorf, is the birthplace of the publisher Eugen Diederichs. He spent his childhood in both Löbitz and Naumburg and worked as a bookseller in Halle and as a publisher in Leipzig. Due to the proximity to the residences of Naumburg, Zeitz and Weißenfels, the visitor is offered numerous cultural activities.

Meineweh, a member municipality of the Wethautal Collective Municipality, was a multiple residence of the moral philosopher Christian Fürchtegott Gellert. He was one of the most widely read writers in Germany at his time. Due to the proximity to the residences of Naumburg, Zeitz and Weißenfels, the visitor is offered numerous cultural activities.

In "Heinrich of Ofterdingen" Novalis created the symbol of early romanticism, the blue flower. The poet lived in Weißenfels from the age of 13 until his death at 28. An exhibition in the Novalis Monument commemorates his life and work.

The cathedral and university city is one of the oldest cities in Central Germany. The city on the Saale has become famous worldwide for its "Merseburg Magic Spells", the oldest Old High German language testimony to Germanic paganism.

The spa thater built in 1802 in Lauchstädt with its original stage machinery is one of the most important places to remember Goethe's work. Guided tours and a stroll through the spa gardens round off a visit to Bad Lauchstädt.

The imperial palace and reformation place Allstedt is place of activity of the Reformator Thomas Müntzer. For the first time he held a service cmpletely in German. With his writings and song texts he made an important contribution to the German language.

Eisleben is not only the birthplace and place of death of Martin Luther, but also the place where he received important impulses for his linguistic and creative achievements, which also led to the development of the New High German written language. Luther gave his last sermons in the church St. Andreas.

Martin Luther spent his childhood and first youth in Mansfeld. The childhood home refers to the living environment in which he grew up and was shaped. The citizen museum is dedicated to the Münchhausen poet Gottfried August Bürger, who was born and grew up in Molmerswende.