Discover Urnshausen

When looking for a hotel in Urnshausen, it helps to consider the local sights and the wider travel destination of Dermbach separately. The Elisabeth Church defines the village; Schönsee and the routes described offer other points of interest. Dermbach adds its own cultural and natural themes to the regional picture.

Village character and landscape around Urnshausen

The listed Evangelical Lutheran Elisabeth Church is a defining feature of Urnshausen. Its church tower is clearly visible from every direction and forms a distinctive part of the village’s appearance. The basalt quarries and block fields in the area around the Urnshausen district offer a different connection to the landscape. They are the result of earlier volcanic activity in the Rhön. Thus, the local picture brings together the architectural landmark and the geological character of the surroundings as distinct themes.

Within the municipality of Dermbach, the village of Bernshausen lies at the foot of the 620-meter-high Stoffelskuppe. Schönsee is another landmark in the municipality’s landscape: about two kilometers from the village center, the 25-meter-deep lake lies in a wooded side valley. A campsite with a kiosk and an adventure playground are located on its shore. The information about its location, depth and surroundings paints a different picture from the village center, with its church visible from far away.

Distinguishing routes by length and course

The Kuttentour, Rhön Circular Route Urnshausen 3, is 8.2 kilometers long. It runs from the Bernshäuser Kutte past the 620-meter-high Stoffelskuppe to the Roßdorfer Tor. This route therefore has both a stated length and named points along its course. In the wider region, the 22-kilometer-long Rosatal Cycle Path connects the Werra Valley Cycle Path with the Feldatal Cycle Path. The two routes can be described using different features: for the Kuttentour, the starting point, course and destination are given; for the Rosatal Cycle Path, its length and the two cycle paths it connects are specified.

Culture and architectural history in the wider travel destination of Dermbach

In the wider travel destination of Dermbach, the Museum of the Thuringian Rhön focuses on traditional crafts such as weaving and carving. It also displays historic tools, traditional costumes, furniture, agricultural equipment and handicrafts. Its subject areas include the history of the Dermbach administrative district, the Peasants’ War in the Vorder Rhön and cork processing in Dermbach. Also covered are small industrial businesses along the Feldabahn railway line and the narrow-gauge railway itself, built in 1880. The legend of Rhönpaulus and the 1866 clashes between Prussia and Bavaria in the Dermbach area are also among the exhibition topics. Crafts, everyday history and regional events are thus presented within the same museum context.

Dermbach also has other examples of architectural history: the Evangelical church on Kirchberg is dedicated to the Holy Trinity. It was built in 1714 on the foundations of an earlier church in the Peasant Baroque style. Dermbach Castle was built in 1707 by Adalbert von Schleifras, Prince-Abbot of Fulda. Three simple Baroque-style buildings enclose a spacious rectangular courtyard. The smallest half-timbered church in southern Thuringia is also in Dermbach and dates from 1677. The Old Cemetery is now a small park-like area.

Landscape and nature in Dermbach

Above the Dermbach district of Glattbach lies the Ibengarten, a yew forest. The Rhönpaulus Forest Ibengarten Experience Trail is seven kilometers long from Dermbach and two kilometers from Glattbach, each distance being one way. The return route follows the same path down Neuberg. The two distances therefore refer to different starting points and to the outward journey only.

Neidhartshausen is also part of the wider travel destination of Dermbach. For decades, the attic of its church has been home to a maternity roost of the greater mouse-eared bat. The protected roost was included in the European Natura 2000 network as a Special Area of Conservation in 2008. The Bat Trail leads from Neidhartshausen to the Dermbach district of Zella. The regional picture thus brings together a protected bat roost and a named route without equating either with the local sights in Urnshausen.

Discover more destinations: Bernshausen, Bad Liebenstein, Eisenach, Hörselberg-Hainich, Nazza, Kaltennordheim, Neidhartshausen, Berka Vor Dem Hainich.

Go to the wider travel overview: Wartburg.