Tautenburg is a municipality in the north of the Saale-Holzland district in Thuringia and a member of the Dornburg-Camburg administrative community. The town is conveniently located near Jena, Dornburg and Camburg. Geographically, Tautenburg is located east of the Saale lowlands in the middle of the Tautenburg Forest in a horseshoe-shaped side valley surrounding the castle hill at approx. 250 meters above sea level. The forest is about 100 meters above the average altitude of the village.

Tautenburg Castle was first mentioned in documents in 1223. For a long time, it was the center of a large economic and administrative area. The castle was demolished in 1780. Only the keep remained and is still the landmark of Tautenburg, visible from afar.

The picturesque, idyllic town was already a popular summer resort in the 19th century. Famous personalities such as the philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, the actor Conrad Veidt, the writer Joachim Ringelnatz and the author, poet and philosopher Ricarda Huch spent their time in the pleasant tranquillity and wooded natural surroundings.

An interesting castle ruin, the "Gasthaus zur Tautenburg", a fallow deer enclosure, the nationally renowned Thuringian State Observatory "Karl Schwarzschild", hiking trails, such as the Tautenburg Planet Trail, completed in 2020, under centuries-old trees and much more are worth a visit.