The Hirschgarten sits on the northern edge of Erfurt's historic centre, beside the baroque building that now houses the Thuringian State Chancellery. It is a free, publicly accessible park rather than a ticketed attraction, and Erfurt Tourismus lists seating, a rest area and a playground among its amenities.
That free status is the most useful thing to know before you go, because it changes how you plan. There is no ticket, no booking and no timed entry, so you can treat the park as a short stop on a wider walk through the old town rather than as a destination in its own right.
What the Hirschgarten Is Today
Today the Hirschgarten is a green pocket on the northern rim of the centre, between the State Chancellery grounds and the streets running down towards the Gera. Erfurt Tourismus gives its address as Regierungsstraße/Neuwerkstraße, 99084 Erfurt. A third-party listing gives a different address for the same name, so use the official one when navigating.
Do not confuse this Hirschgarten with the Kartausgarten in Eisenach, which is a separate site in a different Thuringian city. Both are gardens with similar-sounding roles in their towns, which is exactly why searches can blur them together. If you are planning a day across Thuringia, check the town name on the page before you commit to a route.
What you will not find here is a museum, a ticket desk or an indoor exhibition, so there is nothing to book and nothing to queue for. The park works as an open space with trees, lawns and benches rather than as a visitor attraction with opening and closing rituals. Plan your day around the old town's sights and let the Hirschgarten fill a gap between them.
Why It Exists: An 18th-Century Park With a Civic Purpose
The Hirschgarten was created in connection with the construction of what is now the Thuringian State Chancellery in the 18th century. That building was erected between 1711 and 1720 to designs by the architect Maximilian von Welsch, and the grounds laid out alongside it soon took on a public role. Erfurt Tourismus describes the result as the city's first public green space.
Access in that early period was not open to everyone at all hours: the grounds were opened once a week to respectably dressed townsfolk, which tells you how narrowly public space was defined in the 1700s. Over the following centuries the park changed repeatedly, gaining rare botanical plantings and several monuments. Those layers are part of why the site reads as an old civic garden rather than a freshly designed city park.
For a visitor, the practical upshot is that the Hirschgarten pairs naturally with the architecture around it. The State Chancellery facade, the shopping street at Lange Brücke and the cultural forum at Haus Dacheröden are all within a short walk, and the tourism office lists all three as nearby points of interest. Reading the park first makes those neighbouring stops easier to place.
From Neglect to the 2009 Reopening
In the 1990s the grounds stopped being maintained because of planned construction works, and the park lay fallow for a period. After years of planning and redesign it was inaugurated again in 2009 as parkland with a spacious play area. That recent chapter explains why parts of the layout feel more current than the 18th-century origin story would suggest.
Nothing in the city's published material points to a further round of works or a new programme in the park, so arrive expecting a settled green space rather than a construction site or an event venue. If that matters to your plans, check the Erfurt Tourismus park page shortly before you travel for any update. Do not rely on older third-party listings for the current state of the grounds.
Getting There: Tram, Parking and the Line-Number Question
The park is served by the Angerbrunnen tram stop, which the tourism office measures at five metres from the grounds, effectively at the entrance. The German-language page tells riders to take line 4 towards Bindersleben, while the English-language page on the same site says line 2 towards Messe/ega. Both name Angerbrunnen, so the stop itself is the reliable part of the instruction; check the line at the stop or in the current network plan on the day.
If you come by car, the centrally located Parkhaus Forum 1 is the option the tourism office highlights, with the walk to the Hirschgarten given as roughly five minutes. Several other Forum car parks and a garage on Neuwerkstraße are listed close by as well. Because parking tariffs and payments change, check the operator's current signage or app rather than budgeting from an old figure.
The location makes the park an easy add-on rather than a separate trip, since it sits within the ring of streets around the old town. Combined with a walking route through the centre, it costs you only the detour, not a journey. A wider look at how the city's sights fit together helps you slot it in. For wider planning, see Erfurt city travel guides.
What Is and Is Not on Site
Among the general information the tourism office lists are seating, a rest area, a playground, free entry, public accessibility and a setting where pets are allowed. Bicycle stands are noted under mobility offers, so arriving by bike is catered for. Photography is explicitly permitted, which matters if you want pictures of the Chancellery frontage or the park itself.
Two absences are worth planning around. The official pages list no sanitary facilities at the Hirschgarten and no digital offer such as an app, audio guide or online map. In practice that means you should use facilities in the old town or at a café before you arrive, and carry your own way of navigating instead of expecting an on-site information layer.
The city describes the grounds simply as free and publicly accessible, so do not expect published detail on step-free routes or similar specifics. If you need that level of information, contact the responsible garden office before your trip. The address and phone number are published on the official park page.
How Long to Spend in the Hirschgarten
As a suggestion rather than an official figure, allow about 30 to 60 minutes if you want to walk the paths, sit for a while and let children use the playground. That is enough time to see the park properly without treating it as a half-day outing. If you are short on time, even a fifteen-minute pass through gives you the character of the place.
Families should budget towards the upper end of that range, since the play area is the reason the 2009 redesign matters for children. Anyone visiting mainly for history and greenery can drop to the lower end and move on to the old town. Either way, the stop works best as one element in a walk rather than the anchor of your day.
Because the park is free and has no published closing routine in the city's material, the constraint is really daylight and your own itinerary. Do not plan an evening around it based on assumptions about lighting or gates. Build it into daylight hours when you are already nearby.
Pairing the Hirschgarten With Erfurt's Free Sights
The Hirschgarten's free status makes it a natural partner for the other no-cost corners of Erfurt, from the cathedral square to the riverside streets. For readers assembling a budget-conscious day, a list of free things to do in Erfurt keeps the walking logic simple and avoids paying twice for similar experiences. Use it to sequence the park with the centre rather than doubling back.
If you want a structured route through the historic core before or after the park, an old-town walking plan handles the orientation. The Hirschgarten sits close enough to the centre that the two fit into one afternoon without transport. That combination is the most efficient way to use a short stay in the city.
Visitors comparing Erfurt's green spaces should note that the Hirschgarten is a small, free neighbourhood park, while the Egapark is a large horticultural attraction with its own ticketed structures and seasonal programme. The Egapark Erfurt visitor guide is the right place to check how that site works, because its scope and organisation differ sharply. Choosing between them is really a question of how much of your day you want to give to gardens.
Where the Hirschgarten Fits in a Wider Erfurt Visit
Erfurt rewards slow walking, and the Hirschgarten is one of the places that makes a loose itinerary work better than a tightly scheduled one. If you are weighing how much time to give the city overall, a broader planning hub for Erfurt helps you balance the old town's monuments with its green and riverside edges. The park then becomes a pause rather than a task to tick off.
Museum-goers can also use the park as a breather between indoor stops, since the city's collections sit within walking distance of the Regierungsviertel. If you are choosing which interiors deserve your time, the Angermuseum Erfurt visitor guide explains one of the city's main art collections and its setting in a baroque patrician house. That kind of pairing keeps a day varied without adding transport legs.
One planning note for a longer trip: much of Erfurt's public green space is open without charge, so you can spread your budget across the few ticketed sights rather than across every stop. The Hirschgarten is a good example of that pattern. Check each attraction's own page before you go for anything time-sensitive or ticketed.
Plan Your Visit
The Hirschgarten is best understood as a free, short stop that adds texture to an Erfurt walk rather than a headline attraction. Approach it from the Angerbrunnen tram stop or from the Forum 1 car park, confirm the tram line on the day because the official German and English pages name different ones, and plan your toilet break before or after. With 30 to 60 minutes as a working suggestion, it fits neatly between the old town and the State Chancellery.
Because the city publishes no digital offer for the park and no sanitary facilities on site, the simplest preparation is to arrive with your own map and your own timing. Everything else, from seating to the playground and photo permissions, is already in place for visitors. Check the Erfurt Tourismus park page before travelling if you want the latest published details.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the Hirschgarten in Erfurt free to enter?
Yes. The city's tourism office describes the Hirschgarten as free and publicly accessible, and lists no ticket desk, booking requirement or entrance system. There is nothing to reserve ahead, and you can simply walk in as part of a route through the old town.
How do you get to the Hirschgarten in Erfurt by tram?
Get off at the Angerbrunnen stop, which the tourism office measures at just a few metres from the park. The German-language page names tram line 4 towards Bindersleben, while the English-language page names line 2 towards Messe/ega, so confirm the current line locally. Parkhaus Forum 1 is the listed parking option, around a five-minute walk away.
Is the Hirschgarten good for children?
It has a spacious playground, added when the park was reopened in 2009, plus seating and a rest area for accompanying adults. The grounds are free and publicly accessible, so there is no cost barrier to a short visit. Note that no sanitary facilities are listed on site, so plan accordingly with younger children.
Can you take photos in the Hirschgarten?
Yes. The tourism office states that photography is permitted in the Hirschgarten. The State Chancellery building beside the park makes an obvious subject, and there are no listed restrictions on taking pictures in the grounds themselves.
Are there toilets in the Hirschgarten?
The official pages list no sanitary facilities in the park, so do not count on finding any on site. Use facilities in the old town or at a nearby café before you arrive. If this is essential to your visit, check with the responsible city garden office using the contact details published on the official park page.
How long do you need at the Hirschgarten?
As a suggestion, allow around 30 to 60 minutes to walk the paths, sit for a while and let children use the playground. This is not an official figure, just a practical estimate based on the size and facilities of the park. It works well as a short addition to a longer old-town walk.
