The Weißbach
Rare guest in Erfurt
Popular excursion restaurant on the Weißbach
The Weißbach rises in Bienstädt in the Gotha district. An exciting area for water: a few meters further west, everything wet flows over the Nesse to the Weser, while the water from the Weißbach reaches the sea via the Elbe. Before that it reaches the city of Erfurt near Töttelstädt. Meanwhile undamaged. Here
The Töttelstädt reservoir was located until the 2010s. A water reservoir that was drained in 2011 and has now been completely dismantled. To Töttelstädt you go through a carefully maintained cultural landscape
to the Orphalgrund. The Grundmühle is a striking and well-known point here. A popular excursion restaurant directly on the Weißbach.
The hiking trail from there to Tiefthal follows the course of the stream.
Elaborately designed railing
Meadows with fruit trees and dense forest alternate here. It's hard to believe that this valley is part of the city of Erfurt.
Tiefthal itself is a district of Erfurt that has retained its core character - and this can be found along the course of the Weißbach.
From Tiefthal our stream flows past the threshold castle towards Kühnhausen. Before that, federal highway 4 is crossed under. In Kühnhausen, a partly elaborately designed railing lines the stream bed.
Rare guest
A little later the Weißbach meets the Mahlgera. This is derived from the Gera before Kühnhausen and supplied several places with hydroelectric power in pre-industrial times. Whether the Weißbach here
ends or simply flows through the Mahlgera is, as is often the case with water courses, a matter of definition . One thing is certain: some of the water does not flow with the Mahlgera to Elxleben, but flows into the Gera a few meters further.
Most of the time, however, the question of the end of the Weißbach does not arise. The Weißbach is a rare guest in Erfurt - the stream bed is usually dry. So he prefers to shine through his absence. Therefore, at the end, a real “bach photo” from the Weißbachtal:
