The town cemetery, laid out in 1802 at the Äußeren Neupfortentor, gradually replaced the older church cemeteries spread throughout the town. Situated outside the city in between gardens and fields the burial ground was gradually enlarged over the following decades. In 1927, the cemetery had run out of space and was closed. Although the stipulated rest periods of some graves had not yet expired, parts of the cemetery were made available for urban development during the 1970s. Today, several grave monuments, tombstones, the warden’s house, the funeral chapel and parts of the Jewish cemetery are still preserved.  

The facade artist Marco Brzozowski has designed a 500-square-metre house gable as a total work of art on which 21 episodes from Mühlhausen's town history are depicted.

The large picture fascinates by a distinctive plasticity. The entire wall shows a castle, light and shadow make towers, corridors, balconies and arches stand out or recede. The persons depicted are all larger than life. Their height ranges from two and a half to four metres. Where historical personalities are concerned, of whom old depictions are known, Marco Brzozowski has kept to the originals. Among others, Thomas Müntzer and Johann Sebastian Bach, who worked in Mühlhausen, or Johann August Röbling, who was born in Mühlhausen in 1806, can be seen. Also depicted are various kings and princes who played a role in the town's development. The pictures range from the first documentary mention in 967 to the Thirty Years' War, the plague epidemic in 1682 and the liberation by American troops in 1945 to the fall of the Wall in 1989. A few metres away from the work of art, a board has been set up for the viewers to explain the partial pictures.

Another work by the artist is located on a house gable on the Unstrut and shows various sights of the city.

An interactive experience station in front of St. Mary's Church invites visitors to listen to original Bach works. By stepping on the "organ pedal," visitors generate electricity themselves, which causes music to sound. The module is accessible free of charge and promises a special experience through the visitors' own interaction. A lot of fun is guaranteed for big and small guests.

The imposing Divi Blasii hall church in the medieval imperial city of Mühlhausen is considered an important place of work for Johann Sebastian Bach and impresses visitors with its unmistakable authenticity. In the extraordinary choir room of Divi Blasii, visitors will now find a modern and multimedia presentation of important information, integrated into a historic choir stall. The media station offers numerous tips and visual suggestions for exploring Bach's places of activity. Using a sound shower, visitors can also enjoy several Bach works played on the historic organ in a surprisingly impressive way.

• Key available at the Haus der Kirche

• no access during the specified opening times for church services and events

• Closed to visitors from November to the end of March

Situated in the northwest, the Frauentor(“women’s gate”) was one of the four main gates of the inner city wall leading into the Imperial City of Mühlhausen.

As all main gates, the Frauentor consisted of a double gate and a bailey. It was originally constructed as a multilevel tower, fronted by a low gatehouse. A parapet wall flanked the alley between the gates. The “middle” Frauentor, which was called so to distinguish it from the gate of the outer city wall, was torn down in 1830. Its outline is marked on the street surface. The Innere Frauentor got its current appearance after the city fire of 1655. The municipal coat embedded in the wall is from the original gate. In the 19th and 20th century three portals were added next to the main gate in order to deal with the increasing traffic volume.

The Castle and the Imperial Palace were first mentioned in documents issued by King Otto I in 967 and 974. From these times on well into the 13th century many rulers have found accommodation in the Imperial Palace and Castle. The most significant historical event took place on 8th March 1198 when Frederick Barbarossaʼs son Philipp of Swabia was chosen king. The citizenry of Mühlhausen, striving for more autonomy, razed the castle completely in 1256. Some of the stones of a round tower were used to expand the choir of S. Mary’s Church, and some of the last remains of the Castle in the ground were removed and reused when a local brewery built beer cellars in 1851. Reminders of the former fortification can be found in nearby streetnames, and also in the shopping centre Burggalerie, which opened 1998. It took a while for the king to forgive the citizenry their violent destruction of the Castle in 1256.

Eventually, Heinrich VII gave the premises to the nearby Cistercian monastery Volkenroda in 1310, which had to cede it to the City of Mühlhausen eight years later. Close to the former Castle used to be the Jewish cemetery, documented as early as 1417, possibly even in existence before 1349. The cemetery was closed in 1871 and its tombstones transferred to the new Jewish cemetery, to make way for road widenings linking the old town to the newly opened train station.

In order to protect Mühlhausen’s suburbs an outer city wall was erected in the 14th century. Originally it had three massive gateway towers, of which only the outer Frauentor from the 15th century remains preserved today. Entering the city from the west through the outer Frauentor one is presented with an impressive view of the former Imperial City. The barrel vault features late Gothic tracery and several keystones with ornaments depicting leaves. On the outside you can spot the remains of a once-painted niche, arched windows with tracery, mountings for the gate wings, and the grooves of the former portcullis.

Raccoon and fox skins hang dry in the woodwork. On one table there are piles of deer skins, on another fluffy sheep skins. We are in the workshop of Jürgen Stölcker, probably the last tanner in all of Thuringia. The senior is a man who knows how to work his raw materials and is proud of his ancient profession, of his guild, even today, when he knows that it will die out. After him, probably no craftsman like him will be tanning hides anymore. For his profession "is not for the faint-hearted," as he says. Wherever a tanner works, it smells of dead animal and cloying chemicals.

Anyone entering the workshop on Zöllnersgasse somehow also crosses the threshold into a bygone century. The functioning machines have long had historical value and enjoy the status of historical monuments. The tools also largely originate from the ancestors of the old family business, which Jürgen Stölcker took over in the fourth generation. His great-grandfather opened this tannery in 1895 in what was then the tanners' quarter, through which the Schwemmnotte river flows - at that time one of many.

Today, the Stölcker tannery in Zöllnersgasse is the last representative of the once so important guild in Mühlhausen. Guided tours for groups can be requested through the Tourist Information Mühlhausen.

In 1872, the New Jewish Cemetery was consecrated. Twelve valuable graves were transferred from the medieval graveyard near the castle to the new site. After the Holocaust during the Third Reich Mühlhausen failed to attracted enough Jews to establish a new Jewish community. For a long time the Jewish Cemetery was almost completely forgotten. Only after the German reunification was the cemetery re-established again. Since then, every year Mühlhausen’s citizens meet here on November 9, the night of the pogroms, to remember its victims.

Many magnificent historical buildings are located in the pedestrian zone on Steinweg, which is a popular place both for shopping and stopping for a bite to eat.

History:

Steinweg ("stone way") got its name from the pavement laid here. The street changed in the course of time. Late Classicism and Neo-Renaissance buildings dominate here. In addition to new buildings, old houses were faced with new facades. In GDR times, the area of the upper Steinweg was designed as a boulevard. Today this high street is a popular promenade.

Many picturesque and historic buildings are located in the pedestrian zone of Linsenstraße, which is a popular place for shopping as well as stopping for a bite to eat. Annually, various events on Linsenstraße offer an entertaining programme from fashion shows to culinary specialties.

History:

Linsenstrasse got its name from a farm belonging to the Linse family. The street crosses the course of the Schwemmnotte stream.