  We revisit the classical dynamics of fundamental strings in BTZ black holes
with NSNS flux. We analyse probe strings in the black hole background and
determine their classical energy using a Nambu-Goto action. Three-dimensional
gravity has a non-local effect on the metric surrounding a massive object which
can be measured by winding strings. We also study the behaviour of short and
long strings in the Wess-Zumino-Witten orbifold and show that their energy
matches the long string probe analysis. In the process, we fix subtleties in
the Lorentzian choice of NSNS flux. In Euclidean signature, we analyse the
one-loop fundamental string partition function on the BTZ black hole and
interpret the off-shell degrees of freedom as those of a coset orbifold.
Finally, we speculate on how to identify the quantum Lorentzian string spectrum
from the Euclidean orbifold partition function.
