The Lutheran Church in the town centre was the first church in the region to provide a forum for the inhabitants to discuss their grievances under the Communist regime. People attended the Thursday meetings in hundreds at great risk to themselves, and the Pastor, Herr Schurig, was personally heroic. Because, in those days, the inhabitants of East Europe could not visit Capitalist countries, holiday centres like Friedrichroda became extremely important. The modern Berg Hotel, which dominates the skyline, was once a Communist holiday home for workers. The Treff Hotel, now a luxury hotel, was formerly a 'Stasi' home - on its front wall there are some interesting 'worker' motifs from this period.
Today there are also other hotels and many friendly guest houses with modern comforts.
Nearby 'PuschkinPark' has lost most of its Communist statues now. Hence, in 1993, the first team to come from Friedrichroda to the Knaresborough Bed Race, came as a deliberate attempt to pick themselves up and publicise their region. For some time much building work and remaking of roads was necessary because of the severe neglect under the old system and for a while Friedrichroda resembled a building site. Much work has been done and the town is coming alive again. Today it has a population of 6200 inhabitants, but this swells during the summer months due to its poplarity as a tourist resort.