With the Audi RS e-tron GT to the Wartburg – a road trip with depth

With the Audi RS e-tron GT, my first long e-road trip through Germany takes me to the land of poets and thinkers. In Thuringia, high above Eisenach, Wartburg Castle becomes an unexpected turning point and a story that changes everything

Some trips are planned for years. They are like a silent wish that you carry inside you, somewhere between longing and curiosity. Especially when it comes to the car for this road trip. And then comes the moment when you start this adventure. Then the time had come. My first long exploration tour through Germany in an electric car could begin. Thuringia was my choice. A region that until then I had only known from driving through. But I finally wanted to get inside, not just drive past it. Into the land of poets and thinkers, into the landscapes of Goethe and Schiller, Bauhaus and history.

The car? An Audi RS e-tron GT – powerful, futuristic and yet surprisingly poetic. Because this car doesn’t just drive. It glides – quietly, but present, like a thought that won’t go away.

I had chosen two places: Weimar and Wartburg Castle in Eisenach. But it was the almost 1000-year-old Wartburg that changed everything.

Wartburg Castle – a place full of myths

For years, it has been my dream to visit this castle, which is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Not only because I love castles, but also because it is shrouded in many myths that have been perpetuated over the centuries. Martin Luther translated the Bible here while, according to legend, the devil appeared to him. The famous ink stain that Luther left behind after throwing his inkwell at the devil is said to still be visible on the wall. The stain has long since faded and is regularly “refreshed” by the castle’s caring staff so that future visitors can continue to enjoy it.

The war of the singers and the power of words

And then there are the minstrels, who fascinate me – this medieval world of music, rivalry and poetry. To this day, an inscription in the castle’s great hall commemorates the famous Singers’ War, probably the most famous contest between the minnesingers. The Singers’ War itself is perhaps less a historically verified event than a literary condensation, a myth that shows the importance of words at the time. The focus was not on swords, but on verse.

It is said that famous poets such as Walther von der Vogelweide, whose language still sounds like pure longing today, and Wolfram von Eschenbach, the great storyteller of the inner path and the quest for the Grail, competed against each other here. Their songs were more than just entertainment, they were a kind of interpretation of the world.

On the outward journey and all those years before, I thought that would be the emotional core of my visit. I was wrong. Because when I entered the halls, I encountered something completely different. Something that has stayed with me to this day. A story that is not loud, but quiet and that is precisely why it is so unbearably moving.

Elisabeth of Thuringia: The unexpected encounter

I have to confess: Before that day, I hadn’t heard of her at all. Yet another woman whose deeds were suppressed by the patriarchy and forgotten outside its borders. And then I stood there and met a young woman from the 13th century whose fate was so radical and so human that it overshadowed everything else.

Because sometimes it’s not the stories we come for that change us, but the ones we didn’t even know were waiting for us.

The chambers of St. Elisabeth of Thuringia at Wartburg Castle are a place full of stories and legends that tell of her life and work. I stand in Elisabeth’s bower, her fireplace room, and look at the elaborate mosaic depictions on the walls, which tell of her short but eventful life. Kaiser Wilhelm II is the founder and had it built between 1902 and 1906. According to tradition, the Singers’ War took place on July 7, 1207 – the day on which the Hungarian king’s daughter was born.

Symbol number 7

A date that feels like a symbol: poetry and holiness, secular art and spiritual depth united in a single moment. Three times the number seven, the most sacred in the cultural context. It symbolizes completeness and divinity.

I feel connected to it because I was also born on July 7. A coincidence? Of course. And yet it felt as if this castle had not only welcomed me, but also spoken to me.

Elisabeth was married to Landgrave Ludwig IV of Thuringia at the age of four and lived at Wartburg Castle from then on. A marriage of convenience for a political alliance. A life that was mapped out for her long before she could even understand what life meant. And yet – perhaps the greatest happiness in her tragic fate – this arranged marriage actually resulted in love. But even this happiness did not last long.

Her husband died on the way to the Crusades. At the age of just twenty, Elisabeth was a widow and mother of three young children. The life she had been given was taken from her just as quickly. She was expelled from Wartburg Castle by her brother-in-law.

The miracle of roses

She was known for her deep piety, her charity and her care for the poor. The miracle of the roses is probably the most famous legend about Elizabeth of Thuringia. Whether it actually happened is, of course, up in the stars, but the legend tells how people perceived it. As a landgravine, Elisabeth was known for not living a life of courtly detachment, but for caring for the poor. She secretly carried bread and food, and sometimes money, out of the castle to distribute. And that was not appreciated. One day – as the old stories go – she was intercepted by a relative or a court official on her way to the needy. She was asked sternly what she was wearing under her cloak. Elisabeth replied that she was carrying roses. However, the man demanded that she open her cloak. The moment she opened it, the hidden bread had turned into a bouquet of beautiful roses.

After the early death of her husband, she devoted herself increasingly to charitable work. She could have returned to comfort. To safety. To some courtly arrangement. But she did the opposite: she laid down her crown as a sign of her Christian humility, built a hospital and cared for the sick personally. She gave away the rest of her life to those in need. It is said that she died in 1231 at the age of just 24 – emaciated and emaciated because she had spent all her energy in the hospice. She was canonized by Pope Gregory IX in Perugia, Italy, in 1235.

Setting off for electric freedom

Wartburg Castle is my place of longing. I wanted to visit it because of an ink stain – but instead it wrote a mark on my heart. Once again it became clear: man plans, God laughs.

The Audi RS e-tron GT was more than just a means of transportation. This car was my companion. No engine noise, just silence and scenery. You drive electrically in a different way – more attentively and consciously. When I drove away from the Wartburg again later, I carried Elisabeth’s story inside me like a weight. But also the awareness that my life is free compared to hers.

It is not without resistance and not without the echo of a patriarchy that can be felt more frequently today. But I am still grateful. Grateful that I was able to go on this road trip. That I am allowed to set off today as a woman. That I can make decisions as a woman. That I am allowed to write as a woman. And I will continue to devote my energy to this freedom.

The Wartburg reminds me that traveling is more than just movement. Back then it was verses that led to it, today it is electric travel. Whatever the reason for seeking it out was or is, the longing remains the same: love (of neighbor) and freedom.

Audi RS e-tron GT (2024) – key technical data

The RS e-tron GT combines electric power and sports car aesthetics in an impressive way:
With 646 hp, it sprints from 0 to 100 km/h in just 3.2 seconds and reaches a top speed of 250 km/h.

The range is up to 472 kilometers, while the battery (gross/net) comprises 93.4 kWh / 83.7 kWh.

Thanks to a charging capacity of up to 270 kW, fast recharging is possible even on long journeys (o%-80% in 23 minutes)
The combined energy consumption according to WLTP is 20.6-22.5 kWh/100 km.

Thank you very much!

This trip would not have been the same without my colleague Liza Kellner from Audi AG. Born in Thuringia, she guided me to all these special places with such warmth. Her perspective not only enriched this road trip, but gave it depth.

Special thanks to Thüringen Entdecken for the excellent organization of this trip. I also very much appreciated the opportunity to test the weimar card Plus. The offer is aimed at travelers interested in culture who want to visit numerous cultural institutions and historical sites within 96 hours with just one ticket – including in Weimar and Eisenach, including Wartburg Castle. A well thought-out and practical concept that makes cultural travel easier and easier to plan.

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