Gräfenthal () is a

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an ori ...

in the district of

Saalfeld-Rudolstadt Saalfeld-Rudolstadt is a ''Kreis'' (district) in the south of Thuringia, Germany. Neighboring districts are (from the north clockwise) the districts Weimarer Land, Saale-Holzland, Saale-Orla, the district Kronach in Bavaria, and the districts Sonn ...

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 ...

Geography

Gräfenthal is located in the southern

Thüringer Schiefergebirge The Thuringian Highland, Thuringian Highlands or Thuringian-Vogtlandian Slate MountainsKohl, Horst; Marcinek, Joachim and Nitz, Bernhard (1986). ''Geography of the German Democratic Republic'', VEB Hermann Haack, Gotha, p. 7 ff. . (german: Thüring ...

, a low mountain range south-eastern of the better known Thuringian Forest. Mountains in this region rise up to 800 meters above

sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical datuma standardised g ...

and are usually wooded with spruce trees. 20 km north-eastern of Gräfenthal lies district town Saalfeld. Neighboring municipalities (clockwise, starting northwards) are:

Reichmannsdorf Reichmannsdorf is a village and a former municipality in the district Saalfeld-Rudolstadt, in Thuringia, Germany. Since 1 January 2019, it is part of the town Saalfeld. Before, it belonged to the municipal association Lichtetal am Rennsteig, which ...

, Probstzella,

Ludwigsstadt Ludwigsstadt is a town in the district of Kronach, in the Upper Franconian region of Bavaria, Germany. Geography It is situated in the valley of the Loquitz River, a tributary of the Saale, in the Thuringian-Franconian Highlands of the Thurin ...

Tettau Tettau is a municipality in the district of Kronach in Bavaria 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 th ...

, Oberland am Rennsteig,

Piesau Piesau is a village and a former municipality in the district of Sonneberg in Thuringia, Germany, close to the Thuringian Rennsteig. Formerly in the district Saalfeld-Rudolstadt, it is part of the town Neuhaus am Rennweg since January 2019. It ...

Lichte 220px, Wallendorfer Porcelain Manufacture, Oct. 2006 220px, Leibis-Lichte Dam, 102.5 m high Lichte is a village and a former municipality in the district of Sonneberg in Thuringia, Germany, close to the Thuringian Rennsteig. Formerly in th ...

, Schmiedefeld Gräfenthal has 8 subdivisions: *Buchbach *Creunitz *Gebersdorf *Gräfenthal *Großneundorf *Lichtenhain *Lippelsdorf *Sommersdorf

History

In 1288 the town was first mentioned. It was for much of its early history under various

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 ...

princelings.

Number of inhabitants

* 1994: 3.146 * 1997: 3.036 * 2000: 2.913 * 2003: 2.808 * 2006: 2.692 * 2009: 2.499 * 2012: 2.150 * 2014: 2.056

Pictures

Buildings

*Castle Wespenstein *Grenz- und Heimatmuseum Gräfenthal *Town church, with restored

Art Nouveau Art Nouveau (; ) is an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, especially the decorative arts. The style is known by different names in different languages: in German, in Italian, in Catalan, and also known as the Modern ...

mural paintings. *Railway viaduct

Economy and infrastructure

Erstwhile

mining Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the Earth, usually from an ore body, lode, vein, seam, reef, or placer deposit. The exploitation of these deposits for raw material is based on the economic via ...

and the location at the route for commerce between

Nuremberg Nuremberg ( ; german: link=no, Nürnberg ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the second-largest city of the German state of Bavaria after its capital Munich, and its 518,370 (2019) inhabitants make it the 14th-largest ...

and

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as wel ...

were important economical factors. Mainly

iron Iron () is a chemical element with symbol Fe (from la, ferrum) and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, right in f ...

slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. It is the finest grained foliated metamorphic rock. ...

and

alum An alum () is a type of chemical compound, usually a hydrated double salt, double sulfate salt (chemistry), salt of aluminium with the general chemical formula, formula , where is a valence (chemistry), monovalent cation such as potassium or a ...

had been mined. During the 20th century Gräfenthal was well known for its porcelain products. From the formerly three manufactories only one is still in existence. Today a plastics factory is the main employer. Gräfenthal lies on the road between

Neuhaus am Rennweg Neuhaus am Rennweg is a town in the district of Sonneberg, in Thuringia, Germany. It is situated in the Thuringian Forest, 17 km north of Sonneberg, and 22 km southwest of Saalfeld. The former municipalities Lichte and Piesau Piesau ...

and Probstzella. Further roads lead to surrounding municipalities. The town used to be connected to the railway-system up until the line section between Sonneberg and Probstzella became disused due to lacking profitability.

Sons and daughters of the town

* Reinhard Höhn (1904-2000), state and administrative lawyer in the

Period of National Socialism Period may refer to: Common uses * Era, a length or span of time * Full stop (or period), a punctuation mark Arts, entertainment, and media * Period (music), a concept in musical composition * Periodic sentence (or rhetorical period), a concept ...

Helmut Lipfert Helmut Lipfert (6 August 1916 – 10 August 1990) was a German Luftwaffe fighter ace and recipient of Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves. Lipfert ranks as the world's thirteenth fighter ace. Lipfert was credited with 203 victori ...

(1916-1990), Luftwaffe officer in World War II * Christian Paschold (born 1949), sculptor, artist

References

Saalfeld-Rudolstadt Duchy of Saxe-Meiningen {{SaalfeldRudolstadt-geo-stub