Bad Frankenhausen (officially: Bad Frankenhausen/Kyffhäuser) is a

spa town A spa town is a resort town based on a mineral spa (a developed mineral spring). Patrons visit spas to "take the waters" for their purported health benefits. Thomas Guidott set up a medical practice in the English town of Bath in 1668. H ...

in the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

state of

Thuringia Thuringia (; german: Thüringen ), officially the Free State of Thuringia ( ), is a state of central Germany, covering , the sixth smallest of the sixteen German states. It has a population of about 2.1 million. Erfurt is the capital and larg ...

. It is located at the southern slope of the

Kyffhäuser The Kyffhäuser (,''Duden - Das Aussprachewörterbuch, 7. Auflage (German)'', Dudenverlag, sometimes also referred to as ''Kyffhäusergebirge'', is a hill range in Central Germany, shared by Thuringia and Saxony-Anhalt, southeast of the Harz mou ...

mountain range, on an artificial arm of the Wipper river, a tributary of the

Unstrut The Unstrut () is a river in Germany and a left tributary of the Saale. The Unstrut originates in northern Thuringia near Dingelstädt (west of Kefferhausen in the Eichsfeld area) and its catchment area is the whole of the Thuringian Basin. It ...

. Because of the nearby

Kyffhäuser monument The Kyffhäuser (,''Duden - Das Aussprachewörterbuch, 7. Auflage (German)'', Dudenverlag, sometimes also referred to as ''Kyffhäusergebirge'', is a hill range in Central Germany, shared by Thuringia and Saxony-Anhalt, southeast of the Harz mo ...

dedicated to

Emperor Frederick Barbarossa Frederick Barbarossa (December 1122 – 10 June 1190), also known as Frederick I (german: link=no, Friedrich I, it, Federico I), was the Holy Roman Emperor from 1155 until his death 35 years later. He was elected King of Germany in Frankfurt o ...

, it is nicknamed '' Barbarossastadt''. The municipality includes the villages of Seehausen, Udersleben, (since 2007)

Esperstedt Esperstedt is a village and a former municipality in the Saalekreis district, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Since 1 January 2010, it is part of the municipality Obhausen.Ichstedt and Ringleben.

History

Frankenhausen was first attested as a

Frankish Frankish may refer to: * Franks, a Germanic tribe and their culture ** Frankish language or its modern descendants, Franconian languages * Francia, a post-Roman state in France and Germany * East Francia, the successor state to Francia in Germany ...

settlement in the 9th century in deeds of the

Abbey of Fulda The Abbey of Fulda (German ''Kloster Fulda'', Latin ''Abbatia Fuldensis''), from 1221 the Princely Abbey of Fulda (''Fürstabtei Fulda'') and from 1752 the Prince-Bishopric of Fulda (''Fürstbistum Fulda''), was a Benedictine abbey and ecclesiastic ...

. It received

town privileges Town privileges or borough rights were important features of European towns during most of the second millennium. The city law customary in Central Europe probably dates back to Italian models, which in turn were oriented towards the tradition ...

in 1282 and from 1340 on was part of the

County of Schwarzburg The House of Schwarzburg was one of the oldest noble families of Thuringia. Upon the death of Prince Friedrich Günther in 1971, a claim to the headship of the house passed under Semi-Salic primogeniture to his elder sister, Princess Marie Ant ...

. On 15 May 1525 it was the location of the Battle of Frankenhausen, one of the last great battles of the

German Peasants' War The German Peasants' War, Great Peasants' War or Great Peasants' Revolt (german: Deutscher Bauernkrieg) was a widespread popular revolt in some German-speaking areas in Central Europe from 1524 to 1525. It failed because of intense oppositio ...

, when the insurgent peasants under

Thomas Müntzer Thomas Müntzer ( – 27 May 1525) was a German preacher and theologian of the early Reformation whose opposition to both Martin Luther and the Roman Catholic Church led to his open defiance of late-feudal authority in central Germany. Müntzer w ...

were defeated by troops of the allied Duke George of Saxony, Landgrave Philip I of Hesse and Duke Henry V of Brunswick-Lüneburg. Müntzer was captured, tortured and finally

beheaded Decapitation or beheading is the total separation of the head from the body. Such an injury is invariably fatal to humans and most other animals, since it deprives the brain of oxygenated blood, while all other organs are deprived of the ...

Mühlhausen Mühlhausen () is a city in the north-west of Thuringia, Germany, north of Niederdorla, the country's geographical centre, north-west of Erfurt, east of Kassel and south-east of Göttingen. Mühlhausen was first mentioned in 967 and bec ...

on 27 May. With the partition of Schwarzburg County in 1599, Frankenhausen became the capital of the ''Unterherrschaft'' subdivision of the County of

Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt was a small historic state in present-day Thuringia, Germany, with its capital at Rudolstadt. History Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt was established in 1599 in the course of a resettlement of Schwarzburg dynasty lands. Since th ...

, which in 1710 was raised to a principality. Prince Günther Victor was the last German monarch to abdicate, on 23 November (as Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt) and 25 November 1918 (as Prince of

Schwarzburg-Sondershausen Schwarzburg-Sondershausen was a small principality in Germany, in the present day state of Thuringia, with its capital at Sondershausen. History Schwarzburg-Sondershausen was a county until 1697. In that year, it became a principality, which ...

). The succeeding short-lived Free State of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt merged into the newly created Thuringia in 1920. Since 1818 a

saline water Saline water (more commonly known as salt water) is water that contains a high concentration of dissolved salts (mainly sodium chloride). On the United States Geological Survey (USGS) salinity scale, saline water is saltier than brackish water, ...

well that had been used for centuries to extract salt has been used for saline baths and medical purposes. Therefore, in 1927 Frankenhausen received the official title of a spa town (''Bad''). In the 19th century the town was also famous for the manufacture of pearl buttons. Today it mainly depends on tourism and spa vacation. Since 1972 Frankenhausen has been a garrison town, formerly of a

motorised infantry Motorized infantry is infantry that is transported by trucks or other motor vehicles. It is distinguished from mechanized infantry, which is carried in armoured personnel carriers or infantry fighting vehicles, and from light infantry, which ...

regiment of the

National People's Army The National People's Army (german: Nationale Volksarmee, ; NVA ) were the armed forces of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) from 1956 to 1990. The NVA was organized into four branches: the (Ground Forces), the (Navy), the (Air Force) an ...

, from 1990 on of the 13th Mechanized Infantry Division of the

German Army The German Army (, "army") is the land component of the armed forces of Germany. The present-day German Army was founded in 1955 as part of the newly formed West German ''Bundeswehr'' together with the ''Marine'' (German Navy) and the ''Luftwaf ...

Population since 1994

Population as of 31 December unless otherwise noted:

Peasants' War Panorama

Based on

Friedrich Engels Friedrich Engels ( ,"Engels"
'' The Peasant War in Germany ''The Peasant War in Germany'' (German: ''Der deutsche Bauernkrieg'') by Friedrich Engels is a short account of the early-16th-century uprisings known as the German Peasants' War (1524–1525). It was written by Engels in London during the sum ...

'', Thomas Müntzer as an early revolutionary became an icon of

historical materialism Historical materialism is the term used to describe Karl Marx's theory of history. Marx locates historical change in the rise of class societies and the way humans labor together to make their livelihoods. For Marx and his lifetime collaborat ...

East Germany East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...

.
At the 450-years jubilee of the battle for Frankenhaus in 1975, the then-ruling

Socialist Unity Party of Germany The Socialist Unity Party of Germany (german: Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschlands, ; SED, ), often known in English as the East German Communist Party, was the founding and ruling party of the German Democratic Republic (GDR; East German ...

(''SED'') charged the rector of the Leipzig Academy of Visual Arts, Professor

Werner Tübke Werner Tübke (30 July 1929 in Schönebeck, Germany – 27 May 2004 in Leipzig, Germany) was a German painter, best known for his monumental '' Peasants' War Panorama'' located in Bad Frankenhausen Bad Frankenhausen (officially: Bad Frankenhaus ...

, with the creation of a monumental panorama painting: ''

Early Bourgeois Revolution in Germany ''Early Bourgeois Revolution in Germany'' (), also known as the ''Peasants' War Panorama'' (''Bauernkriegspanorama''), is a monumental painting by the East German painter Werner Tübke, executed from 1976 to 1987. It spans by is the main attract ...

'', also known as the ''Peasants' War Panorama''. The work in a specially erected rotunda was finished in 1987. Depicting more than 3000 individuals, the panorama is in length and in height.
Despite the

Politburo A politburo () or political bureau is the executive committee for communist parties. It is present in most former and existing communist states. Names The term "politburo" in English comes from the Russian ''Politbyuro'' (), itself a contraction ...

's plans modelled on the

Battle of Borodino The Battle of Borodino (). took place near the village of Borodino on during Napoleon's invasion of Russia. The ' won the battle against the Imperial Russian Army but failed to gain a decisive victory and suffered tremendous losses. Napoleon ...

panorama at

Poklonnaya Hill Poklonnaya Gora (russian: Покло́нная гора́, literally "bow-down hill"; metaphorically "Worshipful Submission Hill"') is, at 171.5 meters, one of the highest natural spots in Moscow. Its two summits used to be separated by the Setun ...

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

, Tübke realised a rather pessimistic vision of a resigned Müntzer standing alone among battling troops, a

Bundschuh The Bundschuh movement (German: ''Bundschuh-Bewegung'') refers to a series of localized peasant rebellions in southwestern Germany from 1493 to 1517. They were one of the causes of the German Peasants' War (1524–1526). The Bundschuh movement wa ...

flag on the ground at his side. The Panorama was inaugurated by

Kurt Hager Kurt Hager (24 July 1912 – 18 September 1998) was an East German statesman, a member of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany who was known as the chief ideologist of the party and decided many cultural and educational policies in the German ...

and

Margot Honecker Margot Honecker (née Feist; 17 April 1927 – 6 May 2016) was an East German politician who was an influential member of that country's Communist government until 1989. From 1963 until 1989, she was Minister of National Education (''Ministerin f ...

, as deputy for her husband

Erich The given name Eric, Erich, Erikk, Erik, Erick, or Eirik is derived from the Old Norse name ''Eiríkr'' (or ''Eríkr'' in Old East Norse due to monophthongization). The first element, ''ei-'' may be derived from the older Proto-Norse ''* ain ...

, on 14 September 1989, eight weeks before the fall of the

Berlin Wall The Berlin Wall (german: Berliner Mauer, ) was a guarded concrete barrier that encircled West Berlin from 1961 to 1989, separating it from East Berlin and East Germany (GDR). Construction of the Berlin Wall was commenced by the government ...

and the eventual reunification of Germany in October 1990. Today the ''Panorama Museum'' displays art shows and a collection of works of contemporary international artists.

Sights

* Frankenhausen Castle, with medieval foundations from the 14th century on, served as a residence of the

House of Schwarzburg The House of Schwarzburg was one of the oldest noble families of Thuringia. Upon the death of Prince Friedrich Günther in 1971, a claim to the headship of the house passed under Semi-Salic primogeniture to his elder sister, Princess Marie An ...

. Heavily damaged during the Peasants' War, it was rebuilt in

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...

style between 1533 and 1536. Today it houses a museum of local history. * The church of Our Dear Lady at the Mountain, colloquially called ''Oberkirche'' (Upper Church), built in 1382, is known for its spire, which precariously inclines to the side. The imbalance caused by

sinkhole A sinkhole is a depression or hole in the ground caused by some form of collapse of the surface layer. The term is sometimes used to refer to doline, enclosed depressions that are locally also known as ''vrtače'' and shakeholes, and to openi ...

s of the nearby salt mines had already started to affect it in the 17th century, for the

Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

top partly equalises the slant of the tower. When last measured, it leant at 4.8°, increasing 6 cm/2.4 ins a year, and thus is the second most leaning tower of Germany (after the spire of the Suurhusen Church) and leaning to a greater extent than the Tower of Pisa. In 2014, the German federal government agreed to pay €950,000 for work to stabilise the lean of the tower, fitting a "steel corset", thereby saving the structure from the risk of demolition. * The Kyffhäuser mountain range north of the town is the site of the

Kyffhäuser Monument The Kyffhäuser (,''Duden - Das Aussprachewörterbuch, 7. Auflage (German)'', Dudenverlag, sometimes also referred to as ''Kyffhäusergebirge'', is a hill range in Central Germany, shared by Thuringia and Saxony-Anhalt, southeast of the Harz mo ...

, a huge sculpture in celebration of German national unity built from 1890 to 1896 to plans by Bruno Schmitz on the ruins of a former

Kaiserpfalz The term ''Kaiserpfalz'' (, "imperial palace") or ''Königspfalz'' (, "royal palace", from Middle High German ''phal ne'' to Old High German ''phalanza'' from Middle Latin ''palatia'' luralto Latin ''palatium'' "palace") refers to a number of ...

Notable people

Rudolf Aderhold Rudolf Ferdinand Theodor Aderhold (12 February 1865 in Frankenhausen – 17 March 1907 in Berlin-Dahlem) was a German mycologist and pomologist. He obtained his education at the University of Berlin as a student of August Wilhelm Eichler and Si ...

(1865–1907), mycologist, botanist, director of the Imperial Institute of Agriculture and Forestry in Berlin-Dahlem *

Sethus Calvisius Sethus Calvisius or Setho Calvisio, originally Seth Kalwitz (21 February 1556 – 24 November 1615), was a German music theorist, composer, chronologer, astronomer, and teacher of the late Renaissance. Biography He was born into a peasant family ...

(1556–1615), composer, grew up in Frankenhausen * Dapayk (born 1978), producer and label owner *

Georg Eberhardt The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (german: Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes) and its variants were the highest awards in the military and paramilitary forces of Nazi Germany during World War II. The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross was awarde ...

(1914–1943), Sturmbannführer (Major) of the Waffen SS during World War II *

Ludwig Elsbett Ludwig Elsbett (8 November 1913 – 28 March 2003) was the inventor of the Elsbett Engine. Elsbett was one of nine children of the farmer Viktor Elsbett and his wife Maria. He grew up in agriculture, and was originally trained as a fitte ...

(1913–2003), inventor of the

Elsbett The Elsbett engine is an 89 HP, direct-injection diesel engine designed to run on straight vegetable oil. The engine is also known as Elko engine (for "Elsbett Konstruktion") and was invented by Ludwig Elsbett. The design limits the loss of ener ...

Engine, studied engineering in Bad Frankenhausen *

Robert H. Foerderer Robert Hermann Foerderer (May 16, 1860July 26, 1903) was an American businessman and politician who served as a Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives for Pennsylvania's at-large congressional district from 1901 to 1903 and Penn ...

(1860-1903), U.S. Congressman * Reimund Neugebauer (born 1953), engineer and university teacher * Eva Padberg (born 1980), fashion model, born 27 January 1980 in Bad Frankenhausen. * Dieter Rex (1936–2002), painter and designer *

Doris Schade Doris Schade (21 May 1924 – 25 June 2012) was a German stage, radio, and film actress. She was born in Bad Frankenhausen, Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the ...

(1924–2012), actress, born in Frankenhausen * (born 1928 in Esperstedt), choreographer of modern dance theater *

Selmar Schonland Selmar Schonland (15 August 1860 – 22 April 1940), originally spelt ''Schönland'', the founder of the Department of Botany at Rhodes University, was a German immigrant, who came to the Eastern part of the Cape Colony in 1889 to take up an app ...

(1860–1940), botanist and a founder of

Rhodes University Rhodes University is a public university, public research university located in Makhanda, Eastern Cape, Makhanda (Grahamstown) in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. It is one of four universities in the province. Established in 1904, ...

, born in Bad Frankenhausen *

Nils Schumann Nils Schumann (; born 20 May 1978) is a former German athlete, winner of the 800 m at the 2000 Summer Olympics, who retired in 2009. For most of the five years before his retirement he had featured sparingly at an international level due to injur ...

(born 1978), track and field athlete and Olympic 800 m champion * Harald Vollmar (born 1947), marksman and multiple Olympic medalist *

Martin Gottfried Weiss Martin Gottfried Weiss, alternatively spelled Weiß ( – 29 May 1946), was the commandant of the Dachau concentration camp in 1945 at the time of his arrest. He also served from April 1940 until September 1942 as the commandant of Neuengamme ...

(1905–1946), war criminal, commander of the

Dachau concentration camp , , commandant = List of commandants , known for = , location = Upper Bavaria, Southern Germany , built by = Germany , operated by = ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) , original use = Political prison , construction ...

, studied electrical engineering in Bad Frankenhausen * (1860–1920), the first social democratic president of a German parliament *

Christa Wolf Christa Wolf (; née Ihlenfeld; 18 March 1929 – 1 December 2011) was a German novelist and essayist.
Barbara Gard ...

(1929–2011), novelist, finished school in Bad Frankenhausen * (born 1928), writer and publisher

Twin town

Bad Sooden-Allendorf Bad Sooden-Allendorf is a spa town in the Werra-Meißner-Kreis in Hesse, Germany. Geography Location The spa town of Bad Sooden-Allendorf lies in the Werra valley near the Hoher Meißner, right on the boundary with Thuringia, almost at Germany's ...

Werra-Meißner-Kreis Werra-Meißner is a ''Kreis'' (district) in the north of Hesse, Germany. Neighboring districts are Göttingen, Eichsfeld, Unstrut-Hainich-Kreis, Wartburgkreis, district-free Eisenach, Hersfeld-Rotenburg, Schwalm-Eder-Kreis, Kassel. History The di ...

Hesse Hesse (, , ) or Hessia (, ; german: Hessen ), officially the State of Hessen (german: links=no, Land Hessen), is a States of Germany, state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt. Two other major histor ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

since 1990.

References

Literature

* ''Deutscher Städteatlas''; Band: IV; 2 Teilband. Acta Collegii Historiae Urbanae Societatis Historicorum Internationalis - Serie C. Im Auftrag des Kuratoriums für vergleichende Städtegeschichte e. V. und mit Unterstützung der Deutschen Forschungsgemeinschaft, hrsg. von Heinz Stoob, Wilfried Ehbrecht, Jürgen Lafrenz und Peter Johannek. Stadtmappe Bad Frankenhausen, Author: Heinz Stoob. ; Dortmund-Altenbeken, 1989.

External links

*
1525 Memorial - Panorama Museum
* {{Authority control Kyffhäuserkreis Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt Spa towns in Germany 9th-century establishments in Europe Populated places established in the 9th century