The Free State of Thuringia (German Freistaat Thüringen) lies in central Germany and is among the smaller of the country's sixteen Bundesländer (federal states), with an area of 16,200 sq. km. and 2.45 million inhabitants. The capital is Erfurt. Map of Germany showing Erfurt Erfurt [ˈɛrfʊrt] is a city in central Germany. ... Square kilometre (US spelling: Square kilometer), symbol km², is an SI unit of surface area. ... Population density can be used as a measurement of any tangible item. ... ISO 3166-2 is the second part of the ISO 3166 standard. ... A minister-president (Ministerpräsident) is the head of government of a German federal state; the office corresponds to the governorship of a state in the United States. ... Dieter Althaus (born in Heiligenstadt, Thuringia, on June 29, 1958) is a German politician (CDU). ... This article needs cleanup. ... This article needs cleanup. ... Germany is a federation of 16 states called Länder (singular Land) or unofficially Bundesländer (singular Bundesland, German federal state). ... Map of Germany showing Erfurt Erfurt [ˈɛrfʊrt] is a city in central Germany. ...

Geography

Thuringia borders on (from the north and clockwise) the German states of Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, Saxony, Bavaria and Hesse. The major cities include Erfurt (200,000), Gera (110,000), Jena (103,000), Weimar (64,000), Gotha (50,000), Eisenach (44,200) and Suhl (46,700). With an area of 47,618 km and nearly eight million inhabitants, Lower Saxony (German Niedersachsen) lies in north-western Germany and is second in area and fourth in population among the countrys sixteen Bundesl nder (federal states). ... With an area of 20,447 km² and a population of 2. ... With an area of 18,400 sq. ... With an area of 70,553 km² (27,241 square miles) and 12. ... With an area of 21,110 km² and just over six million inhabitants, Hesse (German Hessen) is one of Germanys sixteen federal states (Bundesländer). ... Map of Germany showing Erfurt Erfurt [ˈɛrfʊrt] is a city in central Germany. ... Categories: Stub | Cities in Germany ... See also Jena, Louisiana, United States. ... For the locality in Texas called Weimar see Weimar, Texas, there is also Weimar bei Kassel and Weimar in Marburg-Biedenkopf. ... Categories: Germany geography stubs ... Eisenach is a city in Thuringia, Germany. ... Suhl is a city in Thuringia, Germany. ...

The most conspicuous geographical feature of Thuringia is the Thuringian Forest (Thüringer Wald), a mountain chain in the southwest. In the northwest Thuringia includes a small part of the Harz mountains. The eastern part of Thuringia is generally plain. The Saale river runs through these lowlands from south to north. The Thuringian Forest (Thüringer Wald in German language) running northwest to southeast, forms a continuous stretch of rounded hills in the German state of Thuringia. ... The Harz is a mountain range in northern Germany. ... Saale is the name of two rivers in Germany: the Saxonian Saale (German: Sächsische Saale) and the Franconian Saale (German: Fränkische Saale). ...

See also List of places in Thuringia. This is a list of geographical features in the state of Thuringia, Germany. ...

Thuringia is divided into 17 districts (Landkreise):

Furthermore there are six independent towns, which don't belong to any district: Altenburger Land is a district in Thuringia, Germany. ... Eichsfeld is a district in Thuringia, Germany. ... Gotha is a Kreis (district) in the middle of Thuringia, Germany. ... Greiz is a Kreis (district) in the east of Thuringia, Germany. ... Hildburghausen is a district in Thuringia, Germany. ... Ilm-Kreis is a district in Thuringia, Germany. ... Nordhausen is a Kreis (district) in the north of Thuringia, Germany. ... Saale-Holzland is a Kreis (district) in the east of Thuringia, Germany. ... Saale-Orla is a Kreis (district) in the east of Thuringia, Germany. ... Saalfeld-Rudolstadt is a Kreis (district) in the south of Thuringia, Germany. ... Schmalkalden-Meiningen is a Kreis (district) in the west of Thuringia, Germany. ... Sonneberg is a Kreis (district) in the south of Thuringia, Germany. ... Unstrut-Hainich is a Kreis (district) in the north of Thuringia, Germany. ... Wartburgkreis is a Kreis (district) in the west of Thuringia, Germany. ... Weimarer Land is a Kreis (district) in the east of Thuringia, Germany. ...

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

Map of Germany showing Erfurt Erfurt [ˈɛrfʊrt] is a city in central Germany. ... Eisenach is a city in Thuringia, Germany. ... Categories: Stub | Cities in Germany ... See also Jena, Louisiana, United States. ... Suhl is a city in Thuringia, Germany. ... For the locality in Texas called Weimar see Weimar, Texas, there is also Weimar bei Kassel and Weimar in Marburg-Biedenkopf. ...

History

Named after the Thuringian people who occupied it around 300 AD, Thuringia came under Frankish domination in the 6th century, forming a part (from 1130 a landgravate) of the subsequent Holy Roman Empire. After the extinction of the reigning Ludowing line of counts in 1247 and the War of the Thuringian Succession (1247-64), 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 nearby Meissen, the nucleus of the later duchy 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. They consisted of the states of Saxony-Weimar, Saxony-Meiningen, Saxony-Altenburg, Saxony-Coburg, Saxony-Gotha, Schwarzburg-Sondershausen, Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt and the two principalities of Reuß. They now constitute the German state of Thuringia. 'Thuringia' became merely a geographical concept. The Thuringii was a tribe which appeared later than most in the highlands of central Germany, a region which still bears their name to this day -- Thuringia. ... The Franks were one of several west Germanic tribes who entered the late Roman Empire from Frisia as foederati and established a lasting realm in an area that covers most of modern-day France and the region of Franconia in Germany, forming the historic kernel of both these two modern... The crown of the Holy Roman Empire (2nd half of the 10th century), now held in the Vienna Schatzkammer. ... With an area of 21,110 km² and just over six million inhabitants, Hesse (German Hessen) is one of Germanys sixteen federal states (Bundesländer). ... The Wettin dynasty of German counts, dukes, Prince Electors (Kurfürsten) and kings ruled the area of todays German state of Saxony for more than 800 years as well as holding for a time the kingship of Poland. ... Old town of Meißen. ... With an area of 18,400 sq. ...

Within the Napoleonic Confederation of the Rhine organized in 1806, some reordering of territories began, confirmed at the Congress of Vienna (1814-15) with the creation of the German Confederation.-1... The Congress of Vienna was a conference between ambassadors from the major powers in Europe that was chaired by the Austrian statesman Klemens Wenzel von Metternich and held in Vienna, Austria, from October 1, 1814, to June 9, 1815. ... The German Confederation (German Deutscher Bund) was a loose association of Central European states created by the Congress of Vienna in 1815 to organize the surviving states of the Holy Roman Empire, which had been abolished in 1806. ...

The Thuringian states within the German Empire were Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, Saxe-Meiningen, Saxe-Altenburg, Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, Schwarzburg-Sondershausen, Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt and the two principalities of Reuß. The term German Empire (Deutsches Reich) commonly refers to Germany, from its consolidation as a unified nation-state on January 18, 1871, until the abdication of Kaiser ( Emperor) Wilhelm II on November 9, 1918. ... The Duchy of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach (Herzogtum von Sachsen-Weimar-Eisenach) was created in 1809 by the merger of the Duchies of Saxe-Weimar and Saxe-Eisenach, which had been in personal union since 1741, when the Saxe-Eisenach line had died out. ... The Duchy of Saxe-Meiningen was one of the Saxon Duchies held by the Ernestine line of the Wettin Dynasty. ... Saxe-Altenburg (German Sachsen-Altenburg) was one of the Saxon duchies held by the Ernestine branch of the Wettin dynasty. ... Saxe-Coburg-Gotha or Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (German: Sachsen-Coburg und Gotha) was once the name given to the two German duchies of Saxe-Coburg and Saxe-Gotha in Germany, in the present states of Bavaria and Thuringia, which were in personal union between 1826 and 1918. ... Schwarzburg-Sondershausen was a small state in Germany, in the present day state of Thuringia, with capital at Sondershausen. ... Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt was a small state in Germany, in the present-day state of Thuringia, with capital at Rudolstadt. ...

In the Weimar Republic that followed World War I, these dynastic mini-states were dissolved. Thuringia re-emerged as a political entity in 1920, when the state of Thuringia was established by merging the hereditary territories; only the southernmost parts of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha voted to join Bavaria. The city of Erfurt, although enclosed by Thuringian territory, remained a part of Prussia. Weimar became the new capital of Thuringia. The period of German history from 1919 to 1933 is known as the Weimar Republic (Pronounced Vye-Mar, and in German it is known as the Weimarer Republik). It is named after the city of Weimar, where a national assembly convened to produce a new constitution after the German monarchy... With an area of 70,553 km² (27,241 square miles) and 12. ... The coat of arms of the Kingdom of Prussia, 1701-1918 The word Prussia (German: Preußen or Preussen, Polish: Prusy, Lithuanian: Prūsai, Latin: Borussia) has had various (often contradictory) meanings: The land of the Baltic Prussians (in what is now parts of southern Lithuania, the Kaliningrad exclave of Russia and... For the locality in Texas called Weimar see Weimar, Texas, there is also Weimar bei Kassel and Weimar in Marburg-Biedenkopf. ...

The state of Thuringia, under Soviet occupation after 1946, was broken into three districts in 1952 under an East German administrative restructuring. It was restored on Germany's reunification in 1990. East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR), German Deutsche Demokratische Republik (DDR), was a Communist state that existed from 1949 to 1990 in the former Soviet occupation zone of Germany. ... German reunification (Deutsche Wiedervereinigung) refers to the reunification of Germany from its constituent parts of East Germany and West Germany under a single government on October 3, 1990. ...

List of minister presidents of Thuringia

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. since 2003: Dieter Althaus (CDU)

1920 is a leap year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar) Events January January 7 - Forces of Russian White admiral Kolchak surrender in Krasnoyarsk. ... 1921 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... The German Democratic Party, or Deutsche Demokratische Partei (DDP), was founded by leaders of the former Progressive Peoples Party (Fortschrittliche Volkspartei) and the left wing of the National Liberal Party (Nationalliberale Partei) in the early days of the Weimar Republic. ... 1921 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... 1923 was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... The Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD – Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands) is the second oldest political party of Germany still in existence and also one of the oldest and largest in the world, celebrating its 140th anniversary in 2003. ... 1924 was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1928 was a leap year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ... The German Peoples Party (Deutsche Volkspartei, or DVP) was founded by the more right-wing elements of the old National Liberal Party in the early days of the Weimar Republic, led by Gustav Stresemann. ... 1928 was a leap year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1929 was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1929 was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1930 is a common year starting on Wednesday. ... 1932 is a leap year starting on a Friday. ... 1932 is a leap year starting on a Friday. ... 1933 was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ... Fritz Sauckel Fritz Sauckel (Ernst Friedrich Christoph Sauckel, October 27, 1894 - October 16, 1946) was a senior government official in Nazi Germany. ... The Nazi swastika symbol The National Socialist German Workers Party (German: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei), better known as the NSDAP or the Nazi Party was a political party that was led to power in Germany by Adolf Hitler in 1933. ... 1933 was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1945 was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1945 was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... Prof. ... 1945 was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1947 was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... Dr. Rudolf Paul (1893 - 1978) was a German politician. ... This article is part of or related to the Liberalism series Categories: Politics stubs | Liberal related stubs | East German political parties | Historical liberal parties ... 1947 was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1952 - Wikipedia /**/ @import /skins/monobook/IE50Fixes. ... Werner Eggerath (March 16, 1900 - 1977) was an East German author and communist politician. ... SED The Socialist Unity Party of Germany (German: Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschlands, or SED) was the governing party of East Germany (the GDR) from its formation in 1949 until the elections of 1990, following the GDR governments collapse. ... 1990 is a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1992 is a leap year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Josef Duchac (born February 19, 1938) is a German politician (CDU). ... The Christian Democratic Union (CDU - Christlich Demokratische Union) is a political party in Germany, founded after World War II by Konrad Adenauer among others. ... 1992 is a leap year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 2003 is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Bernhard Vogel (born December 19, 1932 in Göttingen) is a German politician (CDU). ... 2003 is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Dieter Althaus (born in Heiligenstadt, Thuringia, on June 29, 1958) is a German politician (CDU). ...

External links

• Official governmental portal (http://www.thueringen.de/)
• Touristical website for Thuringia (German) (http://www.thueringen.info/)
• Alternative Touristical website for Thuringia (German, English) (http://www.thueringen-tourismus.de/)
• Thuringia at www.dmoz.org (http://dmoz.org/Regional/Europe/Germany/States/Thuringia/)
• Thuringian flags at [1] (http://fotw.vexillum.com/flags/de-th.html) and [2] (http://www.flaggenkunde.de/deutscheflaggen/de-th.htm)