In Thuringia, naturist days are always rich in variety: some years mountains, some years lakes and dams in focus. Each year between 9 and 12 days with the option to stay together in a hut. For the Thüringer Naturistentage (TNT) [en: Thuringian Naturist Days] 2019, 
Andreas had again prepared a varied programme of hiking, cycling, and culture. This year, the central quarter was set up on the camping site in Meyersgrund in the Ilmenau area, where most of the participants settled in bungalows or other typical camping accommodations. Instead, some individualists preferred the comfort of a guesthouse, hotel, or holiday apartment in the surrounding area and met the others at planned meeting points for the events.
As usual, Andreas had described the tours in great detail, with all the highlights and special features, so that everyone could prepare well, for what to encounter on the way. For each hike, he had also thought of laggards and indicated one or two alternative meeting points, if one or the other could not make it to the planned starting point in time.
Of course, destination of most of the hikes were the Thüringer Wald [en: Thuringian Forest] with the Rennweg, the Goethe-Wanderweg, and many other hiking trails, but during the 
hike on the first sunday, guest initiator Horst led about 40 participating naturists through the nature conservation area Hainich, where numerous art objects could be admired along the Skulpturenpfad [en: Sculpture Path]. From the observation tower at the Generalblick, the view swept over the horizon to the significant silhouette of the Wartburg [en: Wartburg Castle].
Before the beginning of the Tuesday hike, 19 of the naturists visited the Grotte Morassina [en: Morassina Grotto], 
a former mine, in which various minerals were extracted for about 200 years. The Soviets last tried to find uranium-containing minerals in the 1950s, but without success.
Another visit with an industrial-historical background, the naturists renovated on Friday in Frauenwald. This is where the railway line from Neustadt ended, which in the years from 1913 to 1965 provided the necessary raw material for the local glass industry with quartz sand. On the way back, the railway took the finished glass products with it to the whole world, because the earlier transport with horse-drawn carriages produced breakages far too often due to the many pot-holes in the 
roads and because of the hardly spring-loaded carriages. The entire village once lived from glass production – today the number of inhabitants is more than halved, and none of the former four food shops is left; also all textile shops and other shops have closed long ago – the concentration to metropolises and Internet mail order services showed first effect in smaller communities. In 20 years, there will be no more shops in Berlin either – Amazon and its associates will displace everything.
During the week, about 30 participants regularly came together for the TNT hikes. Only on Wednesday, we formed several groups with different destinations and activities such as visits to thermal baths, museums, or sightseeing excursions due to the unstable weather with sometimes abundant rain.
Since most of the hikes had the typical 
ascents of the Thuringian Forest, you could enjoy the fact, that you could lose 2 to 3 kg of your weight due to the hiking activities during the week – even if you went to a restaurant every day after the hikes and enjoyed the offered Thuringian specialities. Hiking makes you slim and healthy – hiking in the buff is additional fun and provides pure nature experience.
