Ruhla, Mining municipality in Wartburgkreis, Germany.
Ruhla is a municipality in Wartburgkreis that spreads across the forests of Thuringia at around 440 meters elevation and includes the districts of Thal and Kittelsthal. The Mini-a-thür park displays 120 miniature scale models of regional buildings and monuments, offering an overview of the area's architectural heritage.
Ruhla developed as a mining community and was divided during the German Empire between the Grand Duchy of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach and the Duchy of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. This political division shaped the town's development across generations.
St. Concordia Church from 1660 shapes the town with its distinctive design where two church wings meet at right angles, one of only eight such structures in Germany. This layout once allowed two different religious communities to share a single building.
Visitors should plan time for the Mini-a-thür outdoor park to walk through the miniaturized buildings and monuments at a leisurely pace. Spring through fall offers the most comfortable conditions for exploring the outdoor display.
In the 1960s, the town employed a municipal cowherd who gathered cattle at a designated meeting spot each day and then dispersed them back. This organized livestock tradition has completely vanished today and reveals how rural life once operated.
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