Lauenstein Castle – Cook's Grave loop from Probstzella

Hiking trails & Routes

Germany

Thuringia

Landkreis Saalfeld-Rudolstadt

Probstzella

Lauenstein Castle – Cook's Grave loop from Probstzella

Moderate

4.6

(26)

hikers

Lauenstein Castle – Cook's Grave loop from Probstzella

04:32

15.2km

480m

Hiking

Moderate hike. Good fitness required. Easily-accessible paths. Suitable for all skill levels. The starting point of the route is accessible with public transport.

Last updated: August 26, 2026

Tips

Your route passes through protected areas

Please check local regulations for:

Naturpark Thüringer Schiefergebirge/Obere Saale

Naturpark Frankenwald

Waypoints

Start point

Train Station

Get Directions

213 m

Haus des Volkes Bauhaus Ensemble

Highlight • Monument

The Thuringian industrial pioneer Franz Itting, who had already built a power plant in Probstzella in 1909, commissioned the "Haus des Volkes" (People's House) in 1925. The socially minded entrepreneur …

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2.73 km

Former Border Tower

Highlight • Monument

The three-story, authentic GDR border tower houses the exhibition "Perpetrators, Victims, Accomplices." Created by journalist and author Roman Grafe ("The Border Through Germany") at this historically authentic location, it is …

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5.06 km

Fischbachsmühle - Confiserie Lauenstein

Highlight • Cafe

Anyone who takes a hiking break here and stops for refreshments can enjoy delicious cake and coffee. In addition, the Fischbachsmühle houses the longest praline counter in Upper Franconia and the Glass Manufactory of Confiserie Burg Lauenstein.

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8.08 km

Lauenstein Castle

Highlight • Castle

This hilltop castle, originally part of the Orlagau region, was built over a thousand years ago in the midst of a clearing on the upper reaches of the Saale River …

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9.86 km

Cook's Grave

Highlight • Historical Site

One of the 13 stations on the 5.7-kilometer-long Fairytale Trail features the cook's grave as its theme—albeit not particularly child-friendly. The alleged gravestones are presumably fragments of former boundary stones …

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10.6 km

Thuringian Warte Observation Tower

Highlight • Viewpoint

The 26.5-meter-high observation tower on the Ratzenberg (678 meters) is only about 200 meters from the state border between Bavaria and Thuringia. The inner-German border strip, now protected as the …

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10.7 km

View of the valley in Naturpark Frankenwald

Highlight • Viewpoint

If you come from the tower, you will pass by here quickly, otherwise a very nice foretaste

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13.4 km

View of the Bauhaus and Probstzella

Highlight • Viewpoint

This beautiful view results over the beautiful meadow

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15.2 km

End point

Train Station

Way Types & Surfaces

Way Types

8.43 km

2.70 km

2.55 km

1.08 km

290 m

< 100 m

Surfaces

4.25 km

2.89 km

2.60 km

2.19 km

521 m

Elevation

Nothing selected – click and drag below to see the stats for a specific part of the route.

Highest point (670 m)

Lowest point (340 m)

Weather

Thursday 8 October

11°C

4°C

91 %

Additional weather tips

Max wind speed: 33.0 km/h

to get more detailed weather forecasts along your route

Comments

December 1, 2024,Grenzgang

Today I tried the new trend sport "walking" - it was quite interesting and definitely something different.
I also carefully approached the "Franconian" dialect - and yes, it is definitely related to "Thuringian". I even greeted people in a village with "Grüß Gott" and got an extremely surprised look - first steps in intercultural communication ticked off!
The forest looks …

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March 4, 2024,Wanderung im Thüringer Schiefergebirge und Oberfranken

From Probstzella we went along the slate path to the "Friedrichshoffnung" slate dump and the former border tower under a bright blue sky and warming rays of sunshine. I instinctively had to stop here and let my thoughts flow.

Continue to Falkenstein and Fischbachmühle. Here I set out on the Werzsteinmacher trail, which belongs to the Steigla Franconian Forest.
An …

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October 23, 2022,Grenzturm, Burg Lauenstein, Thüringer Warte und Pralinen

We did almost the same tour almost exactly two years ago. We really liked it back then and today it was again a nice and varied tour.

Compared to the previous tour, we clearly noticed that large areas of forest are affected by the bark beetle. One has the impression that there will soon not be a single spruce left.

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