Sonneberg is a medium size town in its namesake county of Thuringia. Though first mentioned by in 1207, Sonneberg Castle dates back to 480 when Duke of Franconia felt it necessary to fight off Thuringian incursions. Sadly, even its ruins are now only part of the Schlossberg Sonneberg Event Location. The name Weltspielwarenstadt or World Toy City was coined in 1913. It was a reference to its 20% share of world toy manufacturing. A host of factors played in the fall of those glory days but the Toy Museum remains the town’s main attraction.
Toy Museum & Town Hall
Sonneberg is the gateway to Thuringia
Sonneberg is a gateway town to Thuringia if coming from Franconia to the south. It is after all, part of the Franconian Imperial Circle. If exploring further into Franconian Thuringia, you’ll very likely find yourself passing through. If you have a break before your next train or bus, this is a charming enough town. It It’s certainly worth a stroll through and if interested in the Toy Museum, you could even spend a night.
charming Sonneberg
Brauerei Gessner is the big local brewery in Sonneberg. Oddly, it’s not as easy to find their beers on tap as you might imagine. I had scoured the map looking for something to no avail. It’s one of the reasons it took me so long to stay on that train from Nuremberg, on my way to Bamberg, to its end station. Surprisingly enough, I found the Gessner beers on tap right at the train station. Since I didn’t know about the toy aspect, I thought that SpielLust was possibly a casino of sorts. Full review in link
below.
SpielLust Erlebnisrestaurant Sonneberg 
If you’re looking to pick up some of the local beers in Sonneberg, there is a Sagasser close to the station. They not only have all of the Gessner beers but a fair selection of two other Franconian Thuringian breweries: Dingslebner and Schwarzbacher.
Sagasser Getränkemarkt Sonneberg
Gustav-König-Straße 35
96515 Sonneberg
map
Back to Hildburghausen for more of Thuringia or towns .