The Free State of Thuringia ( , ) is a state of Germany, located in the central part of the country. It has an area of and 2.29 million inhabitants, making it the sixth smallest by area and the fifth smallest by population of Germany's sixteen states. The capital is Erfurt.

Geography

Thuringia borders on (from the northwest and clockwise) the German states of Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, Saxony, Bavaria and Hesse. The ridges of the western Harz Mountains divide the region from Lower Saxony on the north-west, while the eastern Harz similarly separates Thuringia from the state of Saxony-Anhalt to the north-east. To the south and southwest, the Thuringian Forest effectively separates the ancient region of Franconia, now the northern part of Bavaria, from the rolling plains of most of Thuringia. The central Harz range extends southwards along the western side into the northwest corner of the Thuringian Forest region, making Thuringia a lowland basin of rolling plains nearly surrounded by ancient somewhat-difficult mountains. To the west across the mountains and south is the drainage basin of the Rhine River.

The most conspicuous geographical feature of Thuringia is the Thuringian Forest, a mountain chain in the southwest.The Werra River, a tributary of the Weser River, separates this mountain chain from the volcanic Rhön Mountains, which are partially in Thuringia, Bavaria, and Hesse. In the northwest, Thuringia includes a small part of the Harz. The eastern part of Thuringia is generally a plain. The Saale River runs through these lowlands from south to north.

The geographic center of the Federal Republic is located in Thuringia, near the municipality of Niederdorla.

See also List of places in Thuringia.

Thuringia is divided into 17 districts (Landkreise):

Altenburger Land Eichsfeld Gotha Greiz Hildburghausen Ilm-Kreis

Kyffhäuserkreis Nordhausen Saale-Holzland Saale-Orla Saalfeld-Rudolstadt Schmalkalden-Meiningen

Sömmerda Sonneberg Unstrut-Hainich Wartburgkreis Weimarer Land

Furthermore there are six urban districts (not numerated in the map):

1. Erfurt
2. Eisenach
3. Gera
4. Jena
5. Suhl
6. Weimar

Towns

Towns in Thuringia
position	town	inhabitants			district
		31 December 1970	31 December 2000	30 June 2005
1.	Erfurt	192.679	200.564	202.590	independent city
2.	Gera	106.841	112.835	104.737	independent city
3.	Jena	85.169	99.893	102.201	independent city
4.	Weimar	63.985	62.425	64.361	independent city
5.	Gotha	57.256	48.376	47.045	Gotha
6.	Eisenach	50.059	44.442	43.858	independent city
7.	Nordhausen	42.018	45.633	43.781	Nordhausen
8.	Suhl	28.177	48.025	43.202	independent city
9.	Altenburg	47.497	41.290	38.203	Altenburger Land
10.	Mühlhausen	46.135	38.695	37.480	Unstrut-Hainich-Kreis
11.	Saalfeld	31.048	29.511	28.148	Saalfeld-Rudolstadt
12.	Ilmenau	19.634	27.176	26.713	Ilm-Kreis
13.	Arnstadt	27.368	27.220	25.828	Ilm-Kreis
14.	Rudolstadt	30.087	27.528	25.584	Saalfeld-Rudolstadt
15.	Apolda	29.754	25.899	24.684	Weimarer Land
16.	Greiz	39.424	26.177	24.007	Greiz
17.	Sonneberg	29.811	24.837	23.928	Sonneberg
18.	Sondershausen	22.195	23.088	21.718	Kyffhäuserkreis
19.	Meiningen	24.876	22.240	21.642	Schmalkalden-Meiningen
20.	Sömmerda	15.959	21.977	20.885	Sömmerda
21.	Leinefelde-Worbis (formed on 16 March 2004)	4.315 (LF) 3.401 (WO)	15.056 (LF) 5.497 (WO)	20.816	Eichsfeld
22.	Bad Langensalza	16.813	19.917	18.760	Unstrut-Hainich-Kreis
23.	Schmalkalden	14.527	18.551	17.893	Schmalkalden-Meiningen
24.	Zeulenroda-Triebes (formed on 1 March 2006)	13.549 (ZR) 4.790 (TR)	14.600 (ZR) 4.230 (TR)	17.702	Greiz
25.	Heiligenstadt	12.464	17.291	17.175	Eichsfeld
26.	Bad Salzungen	11.466	17.086	16.551	Wartburgkreis
27.	Pößneck	19.547	14.341	13.592	Saale-Orla-Kreis
28.	Schmölln	13.968	13.193	12.693	Altenburger Land
29.	Zella-Mehlis (formed on 1 April 1919)	17.136	13.036	12.355	Schmalkalden-Meiningen
30.	Hildburghausen	10.652	12.466	12.351	Hildburghausen
31.	Eisenberg	13.859	11.764	11.489	Saale-Holzland-Kreis
32.	Waltershausen	14.219	11.725	11.307	Gotha

History

Named after the Thuringii tribe who occupied it ca. AD 300, Thuringia came under Frankish domination in the 6th century, forming a part of the subsequent Holy Roman Empire. Thuringia became a landgraviate in 1130. After the extinction of the reigning Ludowingian line of counts in 1247 and the War of the Thuringian Succession (1247–1264), the western half became independent under the name of Hesse, never to become a part of Thuringia again. Most of the remaining Thuringia came under the rule of the Wettin dynasty of the nearby Margraviate of Meissen, the nucleus of the later Electorate and Kingdom of Saxony. With the division of the house of Wettin in 1485, Thuringia went to the senior Ernestine branch of the family, which subsequently subdivided the area into a number of smaller states, according to the Saxon tradition of dividing inheritance amongst male heirs. These were the "Saxon duchies", consisting, among others, of the states of Saxe-Weimar, Saxe-Eisenach, Saxe-Jena, Saxe-Meiningen, Saxe-Altenburg, Saxe-Coburg, and Saxe-Gotha; Thuringia became merely a geographical concept.

Thuringia generally accepted the Protestant Reformation. The Catholic faith was abolished as early as 1520; priests that remained loyal were driven away and churches and monasteries were largely destroyed, especially during the Peasants' War of 1525. In Mühlhausen and elsewhere, the Anabaptists found many adherents. Thomas Müntzer, a leader of some non-peaceful groups of this sect, was active in this city. Within the borders of Thuringia the Catholic faith was maintained only in the district called Eichsfeld, which was ruled by the Archbishop of Mainz, and to a small degree in the city and vicinity of Erfurt.



Some reordering of the Thuringian states occurred during the German Mediatisation from 1795–1814, and the territory was included within the Napoleonic Confederation of the Rhine organized in 1806. The 1815 Congress of Vienna confirmed these changes and the Thuringian states' inclusion in the German Confederation; the Kingdom of Prussia also acquired some Thuringian territory and administered it within the Province of Saxony. The Thuringian duchies which became part of the German Empire in 1871 during the Prussian-led unification of Germany were Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, Saxe-Meiningen, Saxe-Altenburg, Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, Schwarzburg-Sondershausen, Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt and the two principalities of Reuß. In 1920, after World War I, these small states merged into one state, called Thuringia; only Saxe-Coburg voted to join Bavaria instead. Weimar became the new capital of Thuringia. The coat of arms of this new state was simpler than they had been previously.

After July 1945, the state of Thuringia came under the Soviet occupation zone, and was expanded to include parts Prussian Saxony, such as the areas around Erfurt, Mühlhausen, and Nordhausen. Erfurt became the new capital of Thuringia.

In 1952, the German Democratic Republic dissolved its states, and created districts (Bezirke) instead. The three districts that shared the territory of Thuringia were based in Erfurt, Gera and Suhl.

The State of Thuringia was restored with slightly altered borders during Germany's reunification in 1990.

Politics

List of Minister-presidents of Thüringen

1. 1920–1921: Arnold Paulssen (DDP)
2. 1921–1923: August Frölich (SPD)
3. 1924–1928: Richard Leutheußer (DVP)
4. 1928–1929: Karl Riedel (DVP)
5. 1929 : Arnold Paulssen (DDP)
6. 1930–1932: Erwin Baum (Landbund)
7. 1932–1933: Fritz Sauckel (NSDAP)
8. 1933–1945: Willy Marschler (NSDAP)
9. 1945: Hermann Brill (SPD)
10. 1945–1947: Rudolf Paul (no party, then LDPD)
11. 1947–1952: Werner Eggerath (SED)
12. 1990–1992: Josef Duchac (CDU)
13. 1992–2003: Bernhard Vogel (CDU)
14. 2003–2009: Dieter Althaus (CDU)
15. 2009–present: Christine Lieberknecht (CDU)

August 30, 2009 state election

Turnout was 56.2%. SPD and CDU formed a coalition seven weeks after the election.

Transportation

• Autobahn: A4, A9, A38, A44, A71, A73
• Airports: Altenburg-Nobitz Airport, Erfurt Airport

See also

• Rulers of Thuringia
• Thüringer sausage
• Thuringowa

External links

• Official government web site
• Tourist website for Thuringia
• Official Directory
• Another Tourist website for Thuringia
• Historical Overview
• Tourist website with many pictures of thuringian landscapes
• Alternative Tourist website for Thuringia
• Thuringian flags at [5416] and [5417]
• Search engine for Thuringia with videos

References

1. CDU and SPD form Thuringia state coalition, The Local; 19 October 2009.