Bad Berka () is a German

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 ...

, situated in the south of Weimar region in the 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 ...

. With its almost 8,000 inhabitants Bad Berka is the second biggest city in

Weimarer Land Weimarer Land is a ''Landkreis'' (district) in the east of Thuringia, Germany. Neighboring districts are (from the northeast clockwise) the district Burgenlandkreis in Saxony-Anhalt, the district Saale-Holzland and the district-free city Jena, the ...

district (after

Apolda Apolda () is a town in central Thuringia, Germany, the capital of the Weimarer Land district. It is situated in the center of the triangle Weimar–Jena–Naumburg near the river Ilm, c. east by north from Weimar. Apolda station lies on the Hall ...

, 23,000). The river flowing through the town, which is embedded in new red sandstone, is called

Ilm Ilm or ILM may refer to: Acronyms * Identity Lifecycle Manager, a Microsoft Server Product * '' I Love Money,'' a TV show on VH1 * Independent Loading Mechanism, a mounting system for CPU sockets * Industrial Light & Magic, an American motion ...

. Since 1 December 2008, the city has incorporated the former municipality of Gutendorf. Bad Berka is a spa town with an iron-rich spring and Kneipp facilities. In 2002 the award of "State Recognised Spa with Mineral Spring Health Facility" was given to the city. In order to treat

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in ...

, a clinic was erected in 1952. This was the beginning of the main economic sector of the city. Bad Berka's Zentralklinik has since gained a reputation as a center of medicinal expertise far beyond the boundaries of Germany. Its foundation can be traced back to 1898. In addition, there was a rehabilitation clinic built after the

fall of the Berlin Wall The fall of the Berlin Wall (german: Mauerfall) on 9 November 1989, during the Peaceful Revolution, was a pivotal event in world history which marked the destruction of the Berlin Wall and the figurative Iron Curtain and one of the series of eve ...

. The "Median-Klinik" consists of two buildings, which were opened in 1994 and 1997. Because of its proximity to the cultural capital

Weimar Weimar is a city in the state of Thuringia, Germany. It is located in Central Germany between Erfurt in the west and Jena in the east, approximately southwest of Leipzig, north of Nuremberg and west of Dresden. Together with the neighbouri ...

and association with numerous historical figures, Bad Berka is also popular among tourists. Between 1812 and 1828

Goethe Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic. His works include plays, poetry, literature, and aesthetic criticism, as well as treat ...

visited his friend Heinrich Friedrich Schütz several times. He was also involved in the plans of the spa. Therefore, Bad Barka is called "Das Goethebad im Grünen" (Goethe spa in greenery), as well. Bad Berka is surrounded by spruce and beech forest. Other bigger cities in the vicinity are

Jena Jena () is a German city and the second largest city in Thuringia. Together with the nearby cities of Erfurt and Weimar, it forms the central metropolitan area of Thuringia with approximately 500,000 inhabitants, while the city itself has a popu ...

( north-east),

Erfurt Erfurt () is the capital and largest city in the Central German state of Thuringia. It is located in the wide valley of the Gera river (progression: ), in the southern part of the Thuringian Basin, north of the Thuringian Forest. It sits i ...

( north-west) and

( north).

History

In 1251, a

Cistercian nunnery Cistercian nuns are female members of the Cistercian Order, a religious order belonging to the Roman Catholic branch of the Catholic Church. History The first Cistercian monastery for women, Le Tart Abbey, was established at Tart-l'Abbaye in t ...

was founded at Bad Berka, and the

sulphur bath Mineral water is water from a mineral spring that contains various minerals, such as salts and sulfur compounds. Mineral water may usually be still or sparkling (carbonated/effervescent) according to the presence or absence of added gases. Tr ...

spa was established in 1813. Within the

German Empire The German Empire (),Herbert Tuttle wrote in September 1881 that the term "Reich" does not literally connote an empire as has been commonly assumed by English-speaking people. The term literally denotes an empire – particularly a hereditary ...

(1871-1918), Bad Berka was part of the

Grand Duchy of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach (german: Sachsen-Weimar-Eisenach) was a historical German state, created as a duchy in 1809 by the merger of the Ernestine duchies of Saxe-Weimar and Saxe-Eisenach, which had been in personal union since 1741. It was raised ...

. In 1945, bombing targets of the Oil Campaign of World War II were the Bad Berka oil plant, oil storage, and underground

forced labor Forced labour, or unfree labour, is any work relation, especially in modern or early modern history, in which people are employed against their will with the threat of destitution, detention, violence including death, or other forms of ex ...

plant. The annual Party.San Open Air music festival was first held in 1996. Rathaus Bad Berka

Sons and daughters of the town

* Otto Fries (1849-1905), politician

National Liberal Party (Germany) The National Liberal Party (german: Nationalliberale Partei, NLP) was a liberal party of the North German Confederation and the German Empire which flourished between 1867 and 1918. During the Prussian-led unification of Germany, the National Libe ...

, member of Reichstag * Hugo Günther (1891-1954), party functionary (SPD/KPD/KPO/SED) and insurance director *

Hans Carl Nipperdey Hans Carl Nipperdey (21 January 1895 in Berka – 21 November 1968 in Cologne) was a German labour law expert who worked as the president of the Federal Labour Court from 1954 to 1963. He was a controversial figure due to his close association wi ...

(1895-1968), law professor, first president of the Federal Labour Court * Hartmut Griesmayr (born 1945), screenwriter and director * Henry Augustus Siebrecht, horticulturalist (1839-1934) born in Berka, studied in Göttingen, emigrated to America.

People who are connected to the town

Carl Schenk - Dietrich Georg Kieser 1858

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic. His works include plays, poetry, literature, and aesthetic criticism, as well as trea ...

(1749-1832), writer, stayed there as a visitor and bathing guest *

Jakob Michael Reinhold Lenz Jakob Michael Reinhold Lenz (23 January 1751, or 12 January in the Julian calendar – 4 June 1792, or 24 May in the Julian calendar) was a Baltic German writer of the ''Sturm und Drang'' movement. Life Lenz was born in Sesswegen (Cesvaine), ...

(1751-1792), poet of

Sturm und Drang ''Sturm und Drang'' (, ; usually translated as "storm and stress") was a proto- Romantic movement in German literature and music that occurred between the late 1760s and early 1780s. Within the movement, individual subjectivity and, in particul ...

, wrote several works here *

Dietrich Georg von Kieser Dietrich Georg von Kieser (24 August 1779 – 11 October 1862) was a German physician born in Harburg. He studied medicine at the Universities of Würzburg and Göttingen, receiving his doctorate from the latter institution in 1804. For most of h ...

(1779-1862), medical doctor, worked as a physician in Berka *

Adolf Brütt Adolf Brütt (10 May 1855 in Husum – 6 November 1939 in Bad Berka)Husum Tourismus ...

(1855-1939), sculptor, worked in Weimar and Bad Berka, since 1928 honorary citizen of the city * Hans Gerhard Gräf (1864-1942), Goethe researcher, investigated the relationship between Goethe and Bad Berka *

Martin Hellberg Martin Hellberg (also known as Martin Heinrich, 31 January 1905 – 31 October 1999) was a German actor, director and writer. Life Martin Hellberg was born in 1905 in Dresden, Saxony, Germany, as a son of a pastor. From 1922 to 1924, Martin Hell ...

(1905-1999), author, actor and director, worked and lived in Bad Berka *

Wolfgang Blochwitz Wolfgang Blochwitz (8 February 1941 – 8 May 2005) was a football goalkeeper from East Germany. Playing career During his club career he played for 1. FC Magdeburg (1960–1966) and FC Carl Zeiss Jena (1966–1976). He made 275 appearances i ...

(1941-2005), football player, active among others for Carl Zeiss Jena, died in Bad Berka * Albrecht Schröter (born 1955), educator and social scientist, Mayor of Jena from 2006 to 2018, worked as a speaker at ThILLM in Bad Berka from 1996 to 2000 *

Henry Augustus Siebrecht Henry Augustus Siebrecht (1849 – June 19, 1934) was a German immigrant to America who used his early horticultural training to become one of the top floral designers and horticulturalists in the United States. Siebrecht is credited with having ...

(1849-1934), florist, "Father of Fifth Avenue"

Town twinning

Bad Berka is twinned with: *

Żabno Żabno is a town and municipality on the river Dunajec in southern Poland, north of Tarnów. Since Poland's administrative reorganization in 1999, Żabno has been a part of Tarnów powiat which belongs to Lesser Poland Voivodeship. Before adm ...

, Poland *

Solesmes, Nord Solesmes (; Picard: ''Solinmes'') is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. Heraldry Education The city is home to: * the École Saint-Joseph. * the ' Institution Saint Michel: Collège and Lycée', a Catholic Secondary Scho ...

, France

References

{{Authority control Oil campaign of World War II Towns in Thuringia Weimarer Land Grand Duchy of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach Spa towns in Germany