Rennsteig emergency & health guide: hospitals, mountain rescue, 112 and 116117

Emergency numbers

The Rennsteig has kilometre signs and many named shelters, inns and boundary stones: give the nearest one when you call. Mobile signal can drop out in deep forest, so carry a map, tell someone your plan and keep your phone charged.

Rules to know

• No permit or fee is needed to walk the Rennsteig. Follow the white "R" on trees and stones; a blue "R" marks detours and alternatives, and the yellow "R" on white marks the side trails (Rennsteig-Leitern) down to the villages.
• Camping: you may walk freely in the forest, but camping in it needs the forest owner's consent, so wild camping is not allowed. Sleeping in the trail shelters is not permitted either. The only campsite on the trail is the Trekkingplatz Frankenwald at Kobach (km 133.6), booked online only.
• Dogs: in Thuringian forests dogs must be kept on a lead.
• Fire: open fire is not allowed in the forest or within 100 m of it, and never in dry spells. Do not smoke in the forest.
• Winter: from mid-November to the end of March, with enough snow, much of the Rennsteig becomes a groomed cross-country ski trail. Do not walk in the ski tracks; the walking season is April to October.
• Bikes share much of the trail; they are allowed on firm paths and roads. Keep right and let them pass.
• Drones: flying over nature reserves, such as the Ebertswiese nature reserve, needs consent from the nature conservation authority; recreational flights there are not allowed.
• Rennsteiglauf: on the race weekend, usually in May, up to 15,000 runners use parts of the trail and beds are booked out. Plan around it.

Water is only available at inns, apart from two streams and the well at the Alte Tränke, so carry enough for the day. Plan trains and buses on bahn.de: Hörschel has no station (bus or taxi from Eisenach), Blankenstein (Saale) station is next to the end, and the Rennsteig-Shuttle runs from Rennsteig station to Ilmenau and Erfurt at weekends and on holidays. Book rooms early: the small villages have only a few beds.

Nearest hospital for each stage

Hospitals

Doctors near the trail

For sprains, blisters, cuts and minor infections, see a GP practice (Arztpraxis) in Ruhla, Oberhof, Neuhaus am Rennweg or Blankenstein during surgery hours, usually on weekday mornings. They are not emergency departments. Out of hours, call 116117: it tells you the nearest out-of-hours practice (Bereitschaftspraxis), several of which are at the hospitals.

Pharmacies, cash and supplies

• Pharmacies:
• ATMs:
• Shops: Allzunah, Blankenstein
• Bus stops and stations: Hörschel, Ebertswiese, Grenzadler, Allzunah, Friedrichshöhe, Spechtsbrunn, Brennersgrün, Blankenstein

Germany has a duty-pharmacy rota (Apothekennotdienst): in every area one pharmacy stays open at night and on Sundays and holidays, and each pharmacy shows the current one on its door. Find it on aponet.de, call 0800 00 22833 free from a landline, or dial 22833 from a mobile. On or near the trail there are pharmacies in Ruhla, Oberhof, Neuhaus am Rennweg and Steinbach am Wald; the small stage-end villages (Ebertswiese, Allzunah, Friedrichshöhe, Spechtsbrunn, Brennersgrün) have none, so carry a first-aid and blister kit.

Pharmacies, ATMs, shops and stops: © OpenStreetMap contributors. Hospitals and health centres checked online.