Bad Blankenburg, a small town in the district of Saalfeld-Rudolstadt, Thuringia, is also known as the Lavender City, in reference to a former lavender farm in Blankenburg. The town also has a reputation as the “Gateway to the Wildly Romantic Schwarzatal” – one of the oldest conservation areas in Thuringia. The town has been used as a heath resort since 1840, and in 1911, was awarded the name “Bad”, which is used in Germany to signify a sanitarium. Since 2013, the town has been officially recognised as a state-certified health resort.

Bad Blankenburg is a popular tourist destination for travellers with a variety of interests. It is home to the headquarters of the German Evangelical Alliance and the regional sport school, as well as numerous landmarks and places of interest.

The town’s most famous export is kindergarten, which was founded in Bad Blankenburg by Friedrich Fröbel. In 1837, Fröbel moved to Blankenburg and began work on educational play resources, known today as “Fröbel’s Gifts”. Bad Blankenburg was one of the most important places in the life and times of Fröbel and in 1839, he was declared a citizen of honour. At the same time, he was given free use of the “House Above the Cellar”, which he used to test his play resources with the town’s children. Here he also began to instruct young men and later, women, in his “Play and Activity Institute” (“Spiel- und Beschäftigungsanstalt”).

In early 1840, Fröbel decided upon the appropriate name “kindergarten” for his facility. For the opening of his General German Kindergarten (“Allgemeinen Deutschen Kindergartens”), Fröbel chose June 28, 1840, the 400^th anniversary of the invention of the art of printing. The opening of the kindergarten was celebrated in the Bad Blankenburg Town Hall with honoured guests and citizens from the city. A stone sign on the outside wall of the renovated building today provides a lasting reminder of the event.

Numerous other links to Fröbel’s life can be easily found in Bad Blankenburg. Historic sites, memorials, educational facilities, associations and hiking trails bear witness both in and around the city to Fröbel’s body of thought. Further information about Fröbel in Bad Blankenburg can be found here.

More details about Bad Blankenburg can be found on the town's website.