Fish and Game Weeks in the Land of a Thousand Ponds

Four Weeks of Culinary Delights and Nature in the Historic Pond Area

The Fish and Game Weeks in the Land of a Thousand Ponds is the most traditional culinary festival in the Thuringian Slate Mountains / Upper Saale Nature Park. Throughout October 2026, the inns, restaurants, and nature stations around the Plothen pond area will become a stage for regional fish and game specialties — featuring themed menus, guided nature tours, and special event days.

900 Years of Fish Farming Tradition

The Plothen pond area — also known as the "Land of a Thousand Ponds" — was created around 900 years ago on the initiative of Benedictine monks, who established a system of carp breeding ponds in the region between the villages of Plothen, Dreba, Knau, Bucha, Volkmannsdorf, and Schöndorf. This medieval fish farming tradition is still actively maintained today — the pond keepers of the nature park continue to raise carp, pike, tench, and trout.

Themed Menus and Inns

The focus is on the themed menus offered by the inns in the nature park. "Karpfen blau" (carp in a blue vinegar sauce), fried carp, pike dumplings, trout "Müllerin-Art" (meunière style), game goulash, venison medallions, wild boar roast — the region's chefs showcase what the local ponds and forests have to offer. The restaurants accompany the game weeks with special menus and wine recommendations from the nearby Saale-Unstrut wine region.

Guided Nature Tours and Carriage Rides

Complementing the culinary offerings, the festival provides a diverse nature experience program:

• Guided hikes through the pond area — over dams, through alder floodplains, past the characteristic monk stone markers
• Carriage rides on paved paths around the ponds
• Birdwatching tours — the area is a resting place for crane migrations and home to many water birds
• Tradition and cultural history — guided tours to culturally and historically significant sites

Fishermen's Festival Dreba and Mud-Football Tournament

A special highlight is the Fishermen's Festival in Dreba with the traditional mud-football tournament — a quirky and entertaining event that follows the pond draining and fish harvesting. Players compete for the ball in the pond mud — one of Thuringia's most unusual sporting events.

Family Adventure Day at the Main Pond

The Family Adventure Day at the Main Pond is the family highlight of the game weeks: guided tours for children, interactive stations on fish and game themes, hands-on activities, regional snack stands. The exact date will be announced in September on land-der-tausend-teiche.de.

Plothen — in the Thuringian Slate Mountains Nature Park

The municipality of Plothen (around 300 inhabitants) in the Saale-Orla district (Thuringia) is located in the heart of the Thuringian Slate Mountains / Upper Saale Nature Park. The Land of a Thousand Ponds is a unique cultural landscape heritage — the medieval pond landscape on the slate plateau is now a Natura 2000 protected area and a refuge for cranes, kingfishers, black storks, and ospreys. The quiet, sparsely populated region is ideal for multi-day stays combining hiking, culinary experiences, and nature observation.