Gräfenroda is a village and a former municipality in the

Ilm-Kreis Ilm-Kreis is a district in Thuringia, Germany. It is bounded by (from the north and clockwise) the city of Erfurt, the districts of Weimarer Land, Saalfeld-Rudolstadt and Hildburghausen, the city of Suhl, and the districts of Schmalkalden-Meininge ...

district, in

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 ...

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 1 January 2019, it is part of the municipality

Geratal Geratal is a municipality in the district Ilm-Kreis, in Thuringia, Germany. It was created with effect from 1 January 2019 by the merger of the former municipalities of Frankenhain, Geraberg, Geschwenda, Gossel, Gräfenroda and Liebenstein. The na ...

. It was the administrative seat of the former ''

Verwaltungsgemeinschaft Municipal associations (german: Verwaltungsgemeinschaften) are statutory corporations or public bodies created by statute in the German federal states of Bavaria, Saxony, Thuringia, and Schleswig-Holstein. In Baden-Württemberg the term ''stipul ...

'' Oberes Geratal.

Geography

The municipal area stretches along the valley of the Wilde Gera river and its Lütsche tributary, northeast of the

Thuringian Forest The Thuringian Forest (''Thüringer Wald'' in German), is a mountain range in the southern parts of the German state of Thuringia, running northwest to southeast. Skirting from its southerly source in foothills to a gorge on its north-west side i ...

mountain range and the

Rennsteig The () is a ridge walk as well as an historical boundary path in the Thuringian Forest, Thuringian Highland and Franconian Forest in Central Germany. The long-distance trail runs for about from and the valley in the northwest to and the r ...

ridge. The Lütsche Reservoir built in 1935-38 is located west of the settlement. The municipality has access to the

Bundesautobahn 71 is an Autobahn in Germany. It connects the A 38 and Erfurt to the A 70 near Schweinfurt. A further northern extension to the A 14 near Plötzkau has been proposed by the state government of Sachsen-Anhalt.Rennsteig Tunnel Rennsteig Tunnel (German: Rennsteigtunnel) is the longest road tunnel in Germany with a length of 7,878 meters (4.919 mi). The Rennsteig Tunnel is part of the motorway Autobahn A 71 between Gräfenroda and Oberhof in Thuringia. It is also c ...

at Gräfenroda junction, about to the southeast. With a population of about 3200, Gräfenroda is the district's fourth-largest municipality, though without

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 ...

History

Gräfenroda was first mentioned in a 1290 deed, located on an important trade route from

Arnstadt Arnstadt () is a town in Ilm-Kreis, Thuringia, Germany, on the river Gera about south of Erfurt, the capital of Thuringia. Arnstadt is one of the oldest towns in Thuringia, and has a well-preserved historic centre with a partially preserved town ...

Suhl Suhl () is a city in Thuringia, Germany, located SW of Erfurt, NE of Würzburg and N of Nuremberg. With its 37,000 inhabitants, it is the smallest of the six urban districts within Thuringia. Together with its northern neighbour-town Zella- ...

. From the early 14th century onwards, the local estates were held by the

Thuringian Thuringian is an East Central German dialect group spoken in much of the modern German Free State of Thuringia north of the Rennsteig ridge, southwestern Saxony-Anhalt and adjacent territories of Hesse and Bavaria. It is close to Upper Saxon sp ...

noble

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 ...

. From 1640 half of the estates were in possession of the

Ernestine Ernestine is a feminine given name. Ernest is the male counterpart of this name. Notable people with the name include: * Ernestine Anderson (1928–2016), American jazz and blues singer * Ernestine Bayer (1909–2006), American athlete * Ernestine ...

dukes of

Saxe-Gotha Saxe-Gotha (german: Sachsen-Gotha) was one of the Saxon duchies held by the Ernestine branch of the Wettin dynasty in the former Landgraviate of Thuringia. The ducal residence was erected at Gotha. History The duchy was established in 1640, when ...

, while the remaining Schwarzenburg parts from 1716 were ruled within the principality 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 local population was largely involved in agriculture and forestry, but also in

copper Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (from la, cuprum) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkis ...

silver Silver is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European wikt:Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/h₂erǵ-, ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, whi ...

and

lead Lead is a chemical element with the symbol Pb (from the Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metal that is denser than most common materials. Lead is soft and malleable, and also has a relatively low melting point. When freshly cu ...

mining, as well as in

glass production Glass production involves two main methods – the float glass process that produces sheet glass, and glassblowing that produces bottles and other containers. It has been done in a variety of ways during the history of glass. Glass container ...

While in the mid 19th century, numerous people emigrated from the remote area to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, the local economy developed in the course of the

industrialisation Industrialisation ( alternatively spelled industrialization) is the period of social and economic change that transforms a human group from an agrarian society into an industrial society. This involves an extensive re-organisation of an econo ...

. Gräfenroda station on the

Neudietendorf–Ritschenhausen railway The Neudietendorf–Ritschenhausen railway connects Neudietendorf and Ritschenhausen in the German state of Thuringia. It is a mainly single-track main line operated by DB Netze. History The first ten kilometres of the Neudietendorf–Ritsch ...

line was inaugurated by the

Thuringian Railway Company The Thuringian Railway Company (german: Thüringische Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft) was a company that existed from 1844 to 1886 for the construction of railways in the Thuringian states. History The ''Thuringian Railway Company'' was founded in 1844 a ...

in 1884, followed by a railway line to

Gotha Gotha () is the fifth-largest city in Thuringia, Germany, west of Erfurt and east of Eisenach with a population of 44,000. The city is the capital of the district of Gotha and was also a residence of the Ernestine Wettins from 1640 until the ...

in 1892. In the 1870s, two local companies began the industrial production of

garden gnome Garden gnomes (german: links=no, Gartenzwerge, lit=garden dwarfs) are lawn ornament figurines of small humanoid creatures based on the mythological creature and diminutive spirit which occur in Renaissance magic and alchemy, known as gnomes. Th ...

s (german: Gartenzwerge). After their first appearance at the 1898

Leipzig Trade Fair The Leipzig Trade Fair (german: Leipziger Messe) is a major trade fair, which traces its roots back for nearly a millennium. After the Second World War, Leipzig fell within the territory of East Germany, whereupon the Leipzig Trade Fair became o ...

, these figurines became increasingly popular throughout Germany, with Gräfenroda as a centre of manufacturing. Today, a museum examines the history of garden gnomes. From 1858 Gräfenroda was incorporated into the

Ohrdruf Ohrdruf () is a small town in the district of Gotha in the German state of Thuringia. It lies some 30 km southwest of Erfurt at the foot of the northern slope of the Thuringian Forest. The former municipalities Crawinkel, Gräfenhain an ...

district within the duchy of

Saxe-Coburg and Gotha Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (german: Sachsen-Coburg und Gotha), or Saxe-Coburg-Gotha (german: Sachsen-Coburg-Gotha, links=no ), was an Ernestine, Thuringian duchy ruled by a branch of the House of Wettin, consisting of territories in the present-d ...

. It became part of the Free State of Thuringia in 1920.

Politics

Seats in the municipal council (''Gemeinderat'') upon 2014 local elections: *

Christian Democratic Union of Germany The Christian Democratic Union of Germany (german: link=no, Christlich Demokratische Union Deutschlands ; CDU ) is a Christian democratic and liberal conservative political party in Germany. It is the major catch-all party of the centre-right ...

(CDU): 7 * The Left: 4 *

Social Democratic Party of Germany The Social Democratic Party of Germany (german: Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands, ; SPD, ) is a centre-left social democratic political party in Germany. It is one of the major parties of contemporary Germany. Saskia Esken has been the ...

(SPD): 3 *

Free Voters Free Voters (german: Freie Wähler, FW or FWG) in Germany may belong to an association of people which participates in an election without having the status of a registered political party. Usually it involves a locally organized group of voters ...

: 2

Notable people

Johann Peter Kellner Johann Peter Kellner (variants: Keller, Kelner) (28 September 1705 – 19 April 1772) was a German organist and composer. He was the father of Johann Christoph Kellner. Biography He was born in Gräfenroda, Thuringia, and was intended by his pa ...

(1705–1772), composer and organist * Johann Christoph Kellner (1736–1803), composer and organist *

Hermann Brill Dr. Hermann Louis Brill (9 February 1895 – 22 June 1959) was a German resistance fighter, doctor of law and politician ( SPD). Biography Brill was born in the small town of Gräfenroda, Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, on 9 February 1895 as the son o ...

(1895–1959), politician

References

External links

Municipal website

on visit-thuringia.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Grafenroda Ilm-Kreis Saxe-Coburg and Gotha Former municipalities in Thuringia