Billmuthausen was a village in

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 ...

, founded in 1340. It was destroyed by

East German 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 ...

authorities in 1978 as it stood too close to the

Inner German border The inner German border (german: Innerdeutsche Grenze or ; initially also ) was the border between the German Democratic Republic (GDR, East Germany) and the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG, West Germany) from 1949 to 1990. Not including the ...

(part of the larger "Iron Curtain"), the border between the post-war states of East and

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

. It lay in the extreme south 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 ...

in the

Heldburger Land The Heldburger Land was the historical, Saxon, administrative district (''Amtsbezirk'') of Heldburg (borough of Heldburg) and is today the southernmost part of the Free State of Thuringia and the district of Hildburghausen, between the towns of Co ...

in the district of Hildburghausen, only five hundred metres (1,640 ft) away from the Thuringian-Bavarian border. In January 1965, the authorities destroyed the small village church. In September 1978, the last family left the village, after which all the buildings in the village were demolished and the land leveled.

History

Billmuthausen is first mentioned in historical records in 1340 under the name of Billmuthehusen and in 1528 under the name of Bylmethausen. In 1840, the village had 14 households, a mill and a church. A decade later, the village's population stood at 68. The former site of the village is now a memorial with a marker stone and cross, and a new chapel is located at the site of destroyed church. All that remains is the village cemetery, a transformation tower and the village well. In 1991 the book ''Billmuthausen-das verurteilte Dorf'' was published about the village. There is an annual ceremony to commemorate the history of the village. Artenschutzzentrum Billmuthausen

2014 Church Bell consecration

On 31 May 2014, the bells of the razed church rang again at Billmuthausen after having been silent for 50 years. They were

consecrated Consecration is the solemn dedication to a special purpose or service. The word ''consecration'' literally means "association with the sacred". Persons, places, or things can be consecrated, and the term is used in various ways by different grou ...

during a solemn ecumenical open-air church service attended by more than 150 participants. The two bronze bells, named ''Faith'' (''Glaube'') and ''Hope'' (''Hoffnung'') are kept in the Otto-Ludwig-Museum in Eisfeld and are moved to Billmuthausen on portable stands on commemorative occasions.

References

* Norbert Klaus Fuchs: Billmuthausen – Das verurteilte Dorf. Greifenverlag zu Rudolstadt & Berlin, 2009, * Norbert Klaus Fuchs: Das Heldburger Land–ein historischer Reiseführer; Verlag Rockstuhl, Bad Langensalza 2013, Towns in Thuringia Inner German border {{Hildburghausen-geo-stub