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), being eleventh in size with an area of 16,200 km² and twelfth most populous with 2.45 million inhabitants.
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.
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.