Friedrichroda’s prime attraction is the Marienglashöhle, a large gypsum cave featuring an underwater lake and a crystal grotto. You enter the latter in the dark, then – just to give you that otherworldly feel – the theme from Close Encounters of the Third Kind plays in the background as the light gradually brightens, unveiling a sparkling universe. Most of the crystallised gypsum here has been harvested and used to decorate statues of the Virgin Mary and altars in the region and beyond. The cave is about a 40-minute walk through the woods from the city centre, and is also a stop on the Thüringerwaldbahn.
