Ilmenau () is a town 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 ...
, central
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 ...
. It is the largest town within the
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 pic ...
district with a population of 38,600, while the district capital is
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 ...
. Ilmenau is located approximately south of
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 ...
and north of
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 ...
within the
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 pic ...
valley at the northern edge 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 ...
at an elevation of .
The most important institution in Ilmenau is the
Technische Universität Ilmenau
The Technische Universität Ilmenau (''Ilmenau University of Technology'', TU Ilmenau) is a German public research university located in Ilmenau, Thuringia, central Germany. Founded in 1894, it has five academic departments (faculties) with abo ...
, a
public
In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociological concept of the ''Öffentlichkei ...
research university
A research university or a research-intensive university is a university that is committed to research as a central part of its mission. They are the most important sites at which knowledge production occurs, along with "intergenerational kno ...
and Thuringia's only "Technical University" with about 4,900 students
and an emphasis on engineering disciplines, computer science, mathematics, natural sciences, economics, and media studies. Its precursor was founded in 1894 and developed into a university in 1992.
Since 1990, many research institutes have been established in the vicinity making Ilmenau an important hub of technological research.
Ilmenau was historically a small mining town, primarily silver, copper and manganese, until the deposits were depleted. After 1800, it was one of
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 ...
's favourite resorts because of its beautiful surroundings. In 1838, the establishment of the town as a
spa
A spa is a location where mineral-rich spring water (and sometimes seawater) is used to give medicinal baths. Spa towns or spa resorts (including hot springs resorts) typically offer various health treatments, which are also known as balneoth ...
led to the advent of tourism, which is still an important industry. Industrialisation started after the railway arrived in 1879, but increased rapidly during the following century primarily in glass and porcelain manufacturing. The porcelain factories closed (as in many other places in western Europe) during the 1990s. The glass industry, however, remained and produces laboratory equipment and measurement devices and is leading source of economic activity together with mechanical, electrical, and software engineering. Ilmenau and the surrounding region have produced many winter Olympic champions in disciplines such as
luge
A luge is a small one- or two-person sled on which one sleds supine (face up) and feet-first. A luger steers by using the calf muscles to flex the sled's runners or by exerting opposite shoulder pressure to the seat. Racing sleds weigh for s ...
,
bobsleigh
Bobsleigh or bobsled is a team winter sport that involves making timed runs down narrow, twisting, banked, iced tracks in a gravity-powered sleigh. International bobsleigh competitions are governed by the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Feder ...
, and
biathlon
The biathlon is a winter sport that combines cross-country skiing and rifle shooting. It is treated as a race, with contestants skiing through a cross-country trail whose distance is divided into shooting rounds. The shooting rounds are not tim ...
.
History
Middle Ages
The name comes from 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
**Ger ...
words ''Ulmen'' (i.e.
Elm
Elms are deciduous and semi-deciduous trees comprising the flowering plant genus ''Ulmus'' in the plant family Ulmaceae. They are distributed over most of the Northern Hemisphere, inhabiting the temperate and tropical-montane regions of North ...
s) and ''Aue'' (i.e.
floodplain
A floodplain or flood plain or bottomlands is an area of land adjacent to a river which stretches from the banks of its channel to the base of the enclosing valley walls, and which experiences flooding during periods of high discharge.Goudi ...
), in reference to the floodplain of the
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 pic ...
river, which was covered with elms before the foundation of the town. The mascots ("town animals") of Ilmenau are the
hen
Hen commonly refers to a female animal: a female chicken, other gallinaceous bird, any type of bird in general, or a lobster. It is also a slang term for a woman.
Hen or Hens may also refer to:
Places Norway
*Hen, Buskerud, a village in Ringer ...
and the
goat
The goat or domestic goat (''Capra hircus'') is a domesticated species of goat-antelope typically kept as livestock. It was domesticated from the wild goat (''C. aegagrus'') of Southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the a ...
.
The origins of Ilmenau are unknown. It is possible that the village was founded by the St. Peter's monastery of
Saalfeld
Saalfeld (german: Saalfeld/Saale) is a town in Germany, capital of the Saalfeld-Rudolstadt district of Thuringia. It is best known internationally as the ancestral seat of the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Saxe-Coburg and Gotha branch of the S ...
, which encouraged the settlement of this part of Thuringia during the High Middle Ages. However, there are no written sources to verify or disprove this. A first church was built during the 12th century; its walls were found under today's St. James Church. The first written mention of Ilmenau followed later, in 1273, as the village had already existed many decades. At that time, Ilmenau belonged to the Counts of
Käfernburg. They died out in 1302 and Ilmenau became part of the
Schwarzburg Schwarzburg may refer to:
* Schwarzburg (municipality)
* The House of Schwarzburg
* Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt
* Schwarzburg-Sondershausen
* House of Schwarzburg
* 13th-century fortress built by the Teutonic Order in Transylvania, present day Codlea
...
County. After 1320, an important trade route from
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 ...
in the south to
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 ...
in the north was relocated next to Ilmenau, so that a castle was established to control the traffic. Soon after, the Schwarzburgs founded a planned town (relatively similar to
Königsee
Königsee is a town and a municipality in the district of Saalfeld-Rudolstadt, in Thuringia, Germany. It is situated east of Ilmenau, and south of Erfurt. The present municipality was formed on 31 December 2012 by the merger of the former muni ...
) and Ilmenau received municipal rights in 1341. By 1343 the Schwarzburgs had sold their new town to the Counts of
Henneberg, who held it until their line died out in 1583. Nevertheless, the Hennebergs often mortgaged Ilmenau to other houses like the Schwarzburgs (1351–1420 and 1445–1464), the
Witzleben
Witzleben is a municipality in the district Ilm-Kreis in Thuringia, 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 ...
s (1420–1434) and the
Schaumbergs (1476–1498).
Early modern period
Between 1471 and 1626, copper mining made an important contribution to the economy of Ilmenau. In 1611, the mines produced an estimated 38 tons of copper and 188 kg of silver. Production reached these levels again in the 1730s until the operations ceased in 1739 because of an ingress of water in the mines. A brief revival of copper mining under the leadership of
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 ...
failed during the first decades of the 19th century. The Ilmenau
mint
MiNT is Now TOS (MiNT) is a free software alternative operating system kernel for the Atari ST system and its successors. It is a multi-tasking alternative to TOS and MagiC. Together with the free system components fVDI device drivers, XaAES g ...
was in use between 1690 and 1705 producing silver
Talers and smaller copper coins. A subsequent blow to the economy after the end of mining in 1739 occurred in 1752, as the town was nearly completely destroyed by fire. The population was impoverished and living conditions were bad. Reconstruction took decades under the leadership of
Gottfried Heinrich Krohne, a famous late-Baroque architect in Germany, who planned the new church, town hall and street plan, and so on.
After the Hennebergs died out in 1583, the city belonged to the
Wettins and since 1661 to the Wettin-Ernestine duchy of
Saxe-Weimar
Saxe-Weimar (german: Sachsen-Weimar) was one of the Saxon duchies held by the Ernestine branch of the Wettin dynasty in present-day Thuringia. The chief town and capital was Weimar. The Weimar branch was the most genealogically senior extant bra ...
(until the end of monarchy in Germany in 1918). The dukes tried to foster the town's economy by founding porcelain and glass manufactures. Whereas the foundation of the porcelain manufacture in 1777 was successful, the glass industry failed twice until industrialisation started in the 1850s.
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 ...
visited Ilmenau often between 1776 and 1831, sometimes as minister 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 rais ...
and sometimes for private holidays. Some Ilmenau-related parts of his written works are the poem "Ilmenau" (1783, the only town that Goethe dedicated a poem to), the poem "
Wanderer's Nightsong
"Wanderer's Nightsong" (original German title: "") is the title of two poems by the German poet Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. Written in 1776 ("") and in 1780 (""), they are among Goethe's most famous works. Both were first edited together in his 18 ...
II" (1780, which was written at
Kickelhahn
Kickelhahn is a mountain in the northern edge of the Central Thuringian Forest in the municipal area of Ilmenau, Germany. Its summit has an altitude of a.s.l.
Geography
Kickelhahn is the highest point in the municipal area of Ilmenau and i ...
mountain) and the 4th act of "
Iphigenia
In Greek mythology, Iphigenia (; grc, Ἰφιγένεια, , ) was a daughter of King Agamemnon and Queen Clytemnestra, and thus a princess of Mycenae.
In the story, Agamemnon offends the goddess Artemis on his way to the Trojan War by hunting ...
" (1779, written at Schwalbenstein rock).
Since 1815
Since 1838, Ilmenau had been a spa ressort, based on water cure treatments at
hydropathic establishments. Ilmenau's hydropathic establishment was serviced by Drs Schwabe, Fitzler, Baumbach, and Preller.
[
The later 19th century brought a boost to the town's development: the former 2000 people-small town arose to an industrial centre of glass, porcelain and toy production. Furthermore, mining saw a resurgence by gaining ]fluorite
Fluorite (also called fluorspar) is the mineral form of calcium fluoride, CaF2. It belongs to the halide minerals. It crystallizes in isometric cubic habit, although octahedral and more complex isometric forms are not uncommon.
The Mohs sca ...
and ''Braunstein'' (manganese
Manganese is a chemical element with the symbol Mn and atomic number 25. It is a hard, brittle, silvery metal, often found in minerals in combination with iron. Manganese is a transition metal with a multifaceted array of industrial alloy use ...
ore).[ After being connected by railway in 1879, the ]industrial revolution
The Industrial Revolution was the transition to new manufacturing processes in Great Britain, continental Europe, and the United States, that occurred during the period from around 1760 to about 1820–1840. This transition included going f ...
reached the town. Some factories for porcelain
Porcelain () is a ceramic material made by heating substances, generally including materials such as kaolinite, in a kiln to temperatures between . The strength and translucence of porcelain, relative to other types of pottery, arises mainl ...
(''Graf von Henneberg Porzellan'' since 1777), glassware
upTypical drinkware
The list of glassware includes drinking vessels (drinkware) and tableware used to set a table for eating a meal, general glass items such as vases, and glasses used in the catering industry. It does not include laboratory glass ...
s (the ''Sophienhütte'' since 1852) and toy
A toy or plaything is an object that is used primarily to provide entertainment. Simple examples include toy blocks, board games, and dolls. Toys are often designed for use by children, although many are designed specifically for adults and pet ...
s developed and grew until the Great Depression
The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
. It weakened especially private consumption, so that Ilmenau's toy industry collapsed, same as some porcelain producers focused on bibelot.
The precursor to the current university was founded in 1894 as the ''Thüringisches Technikum''. Now, it is the Technische Universität Ilmenau
The Technische Universität Ilmenau (''Ilmenau University of Technology'', TU Ilmenau) is a German public research university located in Ilmenau, Thuringia, central Germany. Founded in 1894, it has five academic departments (faculties) with abo ...
, where the ISWI
ISWI or imitation SWI is a protein found in the common fruit fly. It is the first ATPase protein subunit, subunit which has been isolated in the ISWI chromatin chromatin remodeling, remodeling family. This protein presents high level of similarity ...
takes place every two years.
After the German Revolution of 1918–19
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 ...
, the Thuringian small states, including Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, were merged into the new federal state of Thuringia in 1920 of which Ilmenau became part. It belonged to the 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 ...
district, which was divided in 1952 into the new Ilmenau district (southern part, to Bezirk Suhl
The Bezirk Suhl was a district (''Bezirk'') of East Germany. The administrative seat and the main town was Suhl.
History
The district was established, with the other 13, on 25 July 1952, substituting the old German states. After 3 October 1990 it ...
) and the Arnstadt district (northern part, to Bezirk Erfurt
The Bezirk Erfurt was a district (''Bezirk'') of East Germany. The administrative seat and the main town was Erfurt.
History
The district was established, along with the other 13, on 25 July 1952, substituting the old German states. After 3 Octob ...
). In 1994, both districts were reunited with the new name "Ilm-Kreis" (by the river 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 pic ...
) and Arnstadt as capital.
The FIL European Luge Championships of 1934 took place in the town. In the last few years of World War II, Ilmenau was the site of manufacture of the mock-up production of the single-seat fighter version of the Horten Ho 229
The Horten H.IX, RLM designation Ho 229 (or Gotha Go 229 for extensive re-design work done by Gotha to prepare the aircraft for mass production) was a German prototype fighter/bomber initially designed by Reimar and Walter Horten to be built ...
V6 (Version 6) jet aircraft. The only surviving example of the Horten jet is the Horten Ho 229 V3. In December 2011, the Horten V3 was transferred to the Smithsonian Institution's Paul E. Garber Restoration Facility in Suitland, Maryland, USA.
Geography and demographics
Topography
Ilmenau is located within a basin, formed by 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 pic ...
river on the northern edge 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 ...
at an altitude of 500m. The surrounding mountains are the ''Pörlitzer Höhe'' (573 m) in the north, the '' Ehrenberg'' (528 m) and the ''Tragberg'' (534 m) in the east, the ''Lindenberg'' (749 m) in the south, the ''Kickelhahn'' (861 m) in the south-west and the ''Hangeberg'' (701 m) in the west. Whereas the first three belong to the foothills, the last are part of the mountainous Thuringian Forest. There is also a geological border between them: the mountain range is of porphyry and the foothills are of Muschelkalk
The Muschelkalk (German for "shell-bearing limestone"; french: calcaire coquillier) is a sequence of sedimentary rock strata (a lithostratigraphic unit) in the geology of central and western Europe. It has a Middle Triassic (240 to 230 million ye ...
(in the west) and Buntsandstein
The Buntsandstein (German for ''coloured'' or ''colourful sandstone'') or Bunter sandstone is a lithostratigraphy, lithostratigraphic and allostratigraphy, allostratigraphic unit (a sequence of rock strata) in the Subsurface (geology), subsurface ...
(in the east). The Kickelhahn
Kickelhahn is a mountain in the northern edge of the Central Thuringian Forest in the municipal area of Ilmenau, Germany. Its summit has an altitude of a.s.l.
Geography
Kickelhahn is the highest point in the municipal area of Ilmenau and i ...
is one of the most visited mountains within the Thuringian Forest and hosts an old viewing tower with a panorama above the town and the forest landscape.
The Ilm river has two significant tributaries in the vicinity of Ilmenau: the ''Gabelbach'' is a small creek with a small valley between Kickelhahn and Lindenberg south of the city. It is one of the most preferred areas for walks next to Ilmenau. The other is the Schorte
Schorte is a river of Thuringia, Germany. It flows into the Ilm in Ilmenau.
See also
*List of rivers of Thuringia
A list of rivers of Thuringia, Germany:
A
* Alster
* Apfelstädt
* Ascherbach
*Auma
B
* Biber
* Bibra
* Blambach
* Bode
* ...
, a bigger creek within a deep, long valley in the south-east, marked by many abandoned mining tunnels, including one that can be visited as a mining museum. The area north of Pörlitzer Höhe is not part of the Ilm's drainage basin, the emanating rivers here (Reichenbach near Roda district and Wipfra near Oberpörlitz district) are tributaries of the Gera
Gera is a city in the German state of Thuringia. With around 93,000 inhabitants, it is the third-largest city in Thuringia after Erfurt and Jena as well as the easternmost city of the ''Thüringer Städtekette'', an almost straight string of cit ...
, which is itself a tributary of River 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 ...
.
There is a water area in the centre of the town, the ''Ilmenauer Teichgebiet''. This lies between the old town and the main campus of the university with 5 lakes, laid out by monks during the Middle Ages for providing fish. The biggest lake with an area of 95 hectares is made up of the Wipfra river next to Heyda district by the Heyda Dam, built in the 1980s. Nearly all the unbuilt municipal area is covered by forest with spruces
A spruce is a tree of the genus ''Picea'' (), a genus of about 35 species of coniferous evergreen trees in the family Pinaceae, found in the northern temperate and boreal (taiga) regions of the Earth. ''Picea'' is the sole genus in the subfa ...
and pines
A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. The World Flora Online created by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Missouri Botanical Garden accep ...
(in the north) as the main species. Smaller areas are also covered by beeches
Beech (''Fagus'') is a genus of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to temperate Europe, Asia, and North America. Recent classifications recognize 10 to 13 species in two distinct subgenera, ''Engleriana'' and ''Fagus''. The ''Engle ...
. The forest monocultures of spruces were caused by the enormous need of wood for mining and glass industry during the previous centuries. However, they are susceptible to diseases and windthrow and will be replaced by more natural mixed forest during the next few decades after storm conditions Kyrill led to enormous damage within the town's forests in 2007.
Administrative division
Ilmenau abuts the following municipalities, which are all part of the Ilm district: Neusiß
Neusiß is a village and a former municipality in the district Ilm-Kreis, in Thuringia, Germany. Since 1 January 2019, it is part of the town Plaue
Plaue is a town in the Ilm-Kreis district, in Thuringia, Germany. It is situated on the river Ge ...
, Plaue
Plaue is a town in the Ilm-Kreis district, in Thuringia, Germany. It is situated on the river Gera, 11 km north of Ilmenau, and 8 km southwest of Arnstadt. The former municipality Neusiß was merged into Plaue in January 2019. Plaue s ...
and Wipfratal
Wipfratal is a former municipality in the district Ilm-Kreis, in Thuringia, Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russi ...
in the north, Wolfsberg and Langewiesen
Langewiesen is a town and a former municipality in the Ilm-Kreis district, in Thuringia, Germany. Since July 2018, it is part of the town Ilmenau. It is situated on the river Ilm, 4 km southeast of Ilmenau
Ilmenau () is a town in Thuring ...
in the east, Stützerbach
Stützerbach is a village and a former municipality in the Ilm-Kreis district, in Thuringia, Germany. Since 1 January 2019, it is part of the town Ilmenau.
History
Within the German Empire (1871-1918), part of Stützerbach belonged to the Pru ...
, Schmiedefeld am Rennsteig
Schmiedefeld am Rennsteig is a village and a former municipality in Thuringia, Germany. Formerly in the district Ilm-Kreis, it is part of the town Suhl since January 2019.
Gallery
File:Winter in Schmiedefeld am Rennsteig.jpg, Schmiedefeld am Ren ...
and Gehlberg
Gehlberg is a village and a former municipality in Thuringia, Germany. Formerly in the district Ilm-Kreis, it is part of the town Suhl
Suhl () is a city in Thuringia, Germany, located SW of Erfurt, NE of Würzburg and N of Nuremberg. With ...
in the south as well as Elgersburg
Elgersburg is a municipality situated in the district of Ilm-Kreis, Thuringia, Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Rus ...
and Martinroda in the west.
There are five villages which are incorporated as municipal districts of Ilmenau: Heyda (incorporated in 1994), Manebach (1994), Oberpörlitz (1993), Roda (1939) and Unterpörlitz (1981). In July 2018 the former municipalities of Gehren
Gehren is a town and a former independent municipality in the Ilm-Kreis district, in Thuringia, Germany. It is situated 7 km southeast of Ilmenau. It officially became a town in its own right ('Stadt') in 1855. However, since July 2018, it ...
, Langewiesen
Langewiesen is a town and a former municipality in the Ilm-Kreis district, in Thuringia, Germany. Since July 2018, it is part of the town Ilmenau. It is situated on the river Ilm, 4 km southeast of Ilmenau
Ilmenau () is a town in Thuring ...
, Pennewitz
Pennewitz is a village and a former municipality in the district Ilm-Kreis, in Thuringia, Germany. Since July 2018, it is part of the town Ilmenau.
References
Ilm-Kreis
Former municipalities in Thuringia
{{IlmKreis-geo-stub ...
and Wolfsberg were merged with Ilmenau. In January 2019 the former municipalities of Frauenwald
Frauenwald is a village and a former municipality in the district Ilm-Kreis, in Thuringia, Germany. Since 1 January 2019, it is part of the town of Ilmenau
Ilmenau () is a town in Thuringia, central Germany. It is the largest town within the ...
and Stützerbach
Stützerbach is a village and a former municipality in the Ilm-Kreis district, in Thuringia, Germany. Since 1 January 2019, it is part of the town Ilmenau.
History
Within the German Empire (1871-1918), part of Stützerbach belonged to the Pru ...
were also merged with Ilmenau.
Demographics
In the past, Ilmenau had been a small town of less than 2,000 inhabitants. Population growth began in the 19th century from 2,000 in 1800, 2,800 in 1850 and reaching 3,400 in 1870. Subsequently, the population grew rapidly to 10,400 in 1900 and 17,300 in 1940. After World War II, the population rose further to 20,000 in 1975 and to the peak in 1988 with a population of 29,500. The unfavourable economic situation in the old East Germany after reunification in 1990 resulted in a decline in the population, which fell to 27,000 in 2000 before stabilising.
The average decline of population between 2009 and 2012 was approximately −0.03% p. a, whereas the population in bordering rural areas is declining more and more rapidly. Suburbanization has played only a small role in Ilmenau. It occurred after reunification for a short time in the 1990s, but most of the suburban areas were situated within the administrative city borders (e.g. Oberpörlitz and Hüttenholz settlement), others were Langewiesen
Langewiesen is a town and a former municipality in the Ilm-Kreis district, in Thuringia, Germany. Since July 2018, it is part of the town Ilmenau. It is situated on the river Ilm, 4 km southeast of Ilmenau
Ilmenau () is a town in Thuring ...
or Elgersburg
Elgersburg is a municipality situated in the district of Ilm-Kreis, Thuringia, Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Rus ...
.
The birth deficit was 132 in 2012, this is −5.1 per 1,000 inhabitants (Thuringian average: -4.5; national average: -2.4). The net migration rate was +2.8 per 1,000 inhabitants in 2012 (Thuringian average: -0.8; national average: +4.6). The most important regions of origin of Ilmenau migrants are rural areas of Thuringia as well as foreign countries.
Like other eastern German cities, Ilmenau has only a small immigrant population: circa 4.4% are non-Germans by citizenship and overall 9.5% are migrants (according to 2011 EU census 2011 EU census, or EU population and housing census 2011 was an EU-wide census in 2011 in all EU member states.
2011 EU member state censuses
{, class="wikitable sortable"
! Country
! Dedicated article
! Related articles
, -
, Austria , , , , ...
). Differing from the national average, the biggest groups of migrants in Ilmenau are Chinese
Chinese can refer to:
* Something related to China
* Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity
**''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation
** List of ethnic groups in China, people of va ...
, Russians
, native_name_lang = ru
, image =
, caption =
, population =
, popplace =
118 million Russians in the Russian Federation (2002 ''Winkler Prins'' estimate)
, region1 =
, pop1 ...
and Syria
Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...
ns. During recent years, the economic situation of the city has improved: the unemployment rate within the Ilm district has declined from 21% in 2005 to 7% in 2013. Owing to the official atheism in former GDR
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 ...
, most of the population is non-religious. 17.4% are members of the Evangelical Church in Central Germany
The Evangelical Church in Central Germany (German: ''Evangelische Kirche in Mitteldeutschland''; ''EKM'') is a United church body covering most of the German states of Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia and some adjacent areas in Brandenburg and Saxony.
...
(Lutheran) and 5.0% are Roman Catholics, according to 2011 EU census.
Culture, sights and cityscape
Museums
There are several museums in Ilmenau:
* The ''Goethe-Stadt-Museum'' in the Amtshaus in the market place is both the municipal museum and a museum about 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 ...
and his connection to the city.
* The ''Jagdhaus Gabelbach'' in the forest south of the city is a former hunting lodge built in 1783 and contains an exhibition about hunting and forestry during the 18th century.
* The ''Fischerhütte'' in Langewiesener Strasse is a former glass factory and displays historic laboratory glassware produced in Ilmenau as well as temporary exhibitions, for example about optics and light.
File:Amtshaus Ilmenau2010.JPG, Goethe-Stadt-Museum
File:Jagdhaus Gabelbach.JPG, Jagdhaus Gabelbach
File:Fischerhütte Ilmenau2.JPG, Fischerhütte
Cityscape
The town fire in 1752 destroyed nearly all the buildings in Ilmenau, so that the town was rebuilt during the 1750s and 1760s in a relatively uniform late-Baroque style by Gottfried Heinrich Krohne. The town centre is located between Obertorstraße in the north, Poststrasse in the east, Mühlgraben in the south and Burggasse in the west. Two older suburbs are the quarters around Rasen in the north-west and Lindenstraße in the south-west. Between 1871 and 1914, some interesting parts of the town with large villas developed: a larger one in the south-west around Waldstraße and Goetheallee and a smaller one in the west around Sturmheide, which are hosting noble mansions in Gründerzeit
(; "founders' period") was the economic phase in 19th-century Germany and Austria before the great stock market crash of 1873. In Central Europe, the age of industrialisation had been taking place since the 1840s. That period is not precisely ...
and 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 ...
style. On the one hand, prosperous factory owners lived here and on the other hand, many buildings were in use as guesthouses as Ilmenau was a spa town during the 19th century. During the GDR
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 ...
period, two big Plattenbau
(plural: , german: Platte + Bau, lit=panel/slab' + 'building/ construction) is a building constructed of large, prefabrication, prefabricated concrete slabs. The word is a compound of (in this context: panel) and (building). Such buildings ...
estates were established in the south-east ("Stollen") and in the north ("Pörlitzer Höhe"). The university's main campus at Ehrenberg in the east was set up in the 1950s and enlarged during the following decades up to the present time. It hosts also some interesting architecture from Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secretar ...
ist neo-classicism to contemporary glass-and-steel architecture.
File:Straße des Friedens Ilmenau.JPG, Pedestrian area in the centre
File:Ilmenau, Lindenstraße, Westen.jpg, The Lindenstraße, Ilmenau's boulevard
File:Villa Waldstraße Ilmenau4.JPG, Historistic mansion at Waldstraße
File:Villa Waldstraße Ilmenau.JPG, Art Nouveau mansion at Waldstraße
File:Villa Sturmheide Ilmenau2.JPG, Mansion at Sturmheide
File:Ilmenau Poerlitzer Hoehe.JPG, Plattenbau settlement at Pörlitzer Höhe
File:TU Ilmenau Helmholtzbau.JPG, Neo-classicist Helmholtzbau at Ehrenberg campus
Sights and architectural heritage
Older buildings (pre-1870)
* The ''Church of St James'' at Marktstrasse is the evangelical main church of Ilmenau, built after the town fire of 1752 in late-Baroque style.
* The ''Holy Cross Church'' at the cemetery north of the city centre is a small church, built in 1852. Furthermore, the historic cemetery hosts some 18th-century graves and a mourning hall (now reused as a Columbarium
A columbarium (; pl. columbaria) is a structure for the reverential and usually public storage of funerary urns, holding cremated remains of the deceased.
The term can also mean the nesting boxes of pigeons. The term comes from the Latin "'' colu ...
), built in 1836 in classicistic style.
* The town hall at the Marktplatz was also built after the last town fire of 1752.
* The ''Zechenhaus'' is one of the oldest buildings in Ilmenau, built in 1730. It was in use as seat of the local mining authority.
* The ''Bergmannskapelle'' (17th century) is a small wooden chapel, former used by the miners to pray for good luck.
* The ''Alte Münze'' (1691) at Wallgraben was the mint, where the Ilmenau Talers were coined around 1700.
* The parsonage at Kirchplatz was built in the 1760s in Baroque style.
* The ''Alte Försterei'' (1733) at Wetzlarer Platz is a small Baroque forester's lodge.
* The ''Wasserburg'' at Amtsstrasse is a castle ruin, consisting of only few low walls.
* The ''Kickelhahnturm'' (1855) and the ''Goethehäuschen'' (1783) were built on the top of the Kickelhahn
Kickelhahn is a mountain in the northern edge of the Central Thuringian Forest in the municipal area of Ilmenau, Germany. Its summit has an altitude of a.s.l.
Geography
Kickelhahn is the highest point in the municipal area of Ilmenau and i ...
mountain south of the town.
File:Stadtkirche Ilmenau3.JPG, St. James' Church
File:Kreuzkirche Ilmenau2.JPG, Holy Cross Church
File:Ilmenau Rathaus.jpg, Town hall
File:Bergmannskapelle Ilmenau.JPG, Bergmannskapelle
File:Alte Försterei Ilmenau.JPG, Alte Försterei
File:Ilmenau Kickelhahn Turm.jpg, Kickelhahnturm
File:Ilmenau Goethehaeuschen.jpg, Goethehäuschen at Kickelhahn
Modern architecture (after 1870)
* The ''Neues Technikum'' at Weimarer Straße was built in 1926 for enlarging the university's precursor in modern style.
* A department store at Friedrich-Hofmann-Straße, built in 1928 has a Bauhaus-style glass façade.
* A house at Naumannstraße was built from 1929 to 1932 in international-modern Bauhaus-style by Arthur Schröder.
* The ''St. Joseph's Church'' at Unterpörlitzer Straße was built between 1979 and 1983 as Catholic parish church in modern style.
* The Goethe memorial at the Marktplatz was established in 1996.
* The new Audimax of the university was built during the 2000s in modern style, same as a new auditorium's building in form of a glass cube at Weimarer Strasse.
* The ''Bundesanstalt für Wasserbau'', a federal authority based in Ilmenau, was built around 2000 in boomerang-style.
Neues Technikum Ilmenau.jpg, Neues Technikum
Bauhaus-Kaufhaus Ilmenau.JPG, Department store in Bauhaus-style
Ilmenau Naumannstr 9 Ansicht NO.jpg, Bauhaus-style house at Naumannstraße
Kirche Sankt Josef Ilmenau.JPG, St. Joseph's Church
Goethe-Denkmal in Ilmenau-2.jpg, Goethe memorial
TU Ilmenau Humboldtbau.JPG, University's new Audimax
Ilmenau BAfWb.jpg, Bundesanstalt für Wasserbau
Economy
Agriculture plays an insignificant role in the economy of Ilmenau as only 18% of the municipal territory are cultivated. The soil is not that fertile and the climate is harsh. The main crops are maize and rapeseed/ In addition there is cattle farming on some areas. 64% of the territory is forest, so that wood production is important in Ilmenau.
Industry was based on the production of glassware and porcelain during the 19th and 20th century with many large and famous companies (porcelain brands: ''Henneberg'' (est. 1777), ''Metzler & Ortloff'' (est. 1873)). The porcelain industry did not survive the structural change after German reunification in 1990, so that factories closed like most in Western Germany earlier during the 1970s and 1980s. The glass industry always concentrated on laboratory glassware such as thermometers, test tubes and other chemical and medical requisites. During the GDR period, all the glass factories of Ilmenau and the surrounding villages were centralized in a new Kombinat
Combine (russian: Комбинат) is a term for industrial business groups, conglomerates or trusts in the former socialist countries. Examples include VEB Kombinat Robotron, an electronics manufacturer, and IFA, a manufacturer of vehicles ...
, opened in 1976 with 5,000 workers in Ilmenau being one of the biggest glass producers within the Comecon
The Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (, ; English abbreviation COMECON, CMEA, CEMA, or CAME) was an economic organization from 1949 to 1991 under the leadership of the Soviet Union that comprised the countries of the Eastern Bloc along wi ...
states. After reunification, the factory survived and is still a leading company for laboratory glassware in Germany, nevertheless, due to rationalization efforts during the 1990s, the number of employees decreased to 225. After 1990, new branches were established in Ilmenau. Mechanical engineering and polymer processing are now playing an especially important role in Ilmenau, as is software engineering. These new sectors benefit from the vicinity to the university and the research institutes. In 2012, there were 26 companies in industrial production with more than 20 workers employing 1,500 persons and generating a turnover of €170 million.
Local employment (such asretail, hospital, cinema etc.) include serving the university in particular (which is the biggest employer with 2,000 employees), but also research and industrial services. Tourism has also played a large role since the town became a spa in the 1830s. In 2012, there were 49,000 hotel guests having 114,000 overnight stays in Ilmenau.
Transport
Rail
Ilmenau station is located in the city centre on the Plaue–Themar railway
The Plaue–Themar railway is a 62 kilometre-long, single-track, non-electrified, standard-gauge branch-line in the Thuringian Forest (''Thüringer Wald'') in Germany. The Stützerbach–Schleusingerneundorf section was built as the first Prussian ...
, which opened to Ilmenau in 1879. Ilmenau station and stations in the districts of ''Pörlitzer Höhe'' and ''Roda'' are connected by an hourly service to 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 ...
via 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 ...
. Another line to Großbreitenbach
Großbreitenbach is a town in the Ilm-Kreis district, in Thuringia, Germany. It is situated 13 km southeast of Ilmenau. It has about 8000 inhabitants. Major industries are glass manufacturing and tourism. The former municipalities Altenfeld, ...
was opened in 1881 and closed in 1998 and a third one to Themar
Themar () is a town in the district of Hildburghausen, in Thuringia, Germany. It is situated on the river Werra, 11 km northwest of Hildburghausen, and 14 km southwest of Suhl.
Main sights
* St. Bartholomew's Church, Themar
* St. J ...
via Schleusingen
Schleusingen is a town in the district of Hildburghausen, in Thuringia, Germany. It is situated 10 km north of Hildburghausen, and 12 km southeast of Suhl.
Geography
The town of Schleusingen in the Henneberger Land got its name from ...
opened in 1904. Since 1998, there has no longer been a regular service, but there are some historical steam locomotives running at special events on the line, which crosses 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 ...
on one of the steepest lines in Germany (with a gradient of 6%). Freight transport by rail is no longer important, with the exception of a train transporting the town's refuse to the incinerator at Leuna
Leuna is a town in Saxony-Anhalt, eastern Germany, south of Merseburg and Halle, on the river Saale.
The town is known for the ''Leunawerke'', at 13 km2 one of the biggest chemical industrial complexes in Germany, where a very wide range of ...
. The Nuremberg–Erfurt high-speed railway
The Nuremberg–Erfurt high-speed railway is a German high-speed railway, between Nuremberg and Erfurt. The line is listed in Germany's federal transport plan as ''Verkehrsprojekt Deutsche Einheit Nr.'' ("German Unity transport project no") ''8.1 ...
passes through the municipal boundaries, but no trains stop in Ilmenau as of 2021. There is debate whether the Ilmenau-Wolfsberg service station should be served by passenger trains.
Road
Ilmenau is situated close to the motorways 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.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 ...
in the north and Würzburg
Würzburg (; Main-Franconian: ) is a city in the region of Franconia in the north of the German state of Bavaria. Würzburg is the administrative seat of the ''Regierungsbezirk'' Lower Franconia. It spans the banks of the Main River.
Würzburg is ...
/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 ...
(A 73) to the south. Near the town, the Autobahn crosses the Thuringian Forest with some of Germany's longest tunnels and bridges. Furthermore, there were three Bundesstraße
''Bundesstraße'' (German for "federal highway"), abbreviated ''B'', is the denotation for German and Austrian national highways.
Germany
Germany's ''Bundesstraßen'' network has a total length of about 40,000 km.
German ''Bundesstraßen'' ...
n connecting Ilmenau: the Bundesstraße 4
The Bundesstraße 4 (abbr. B4) is a German federal highway running in a northwesterly to southly direction from the state of Schleswig-Holstein to Bavaria. It provides a direct route for motorists traveling between Hamburg and Nuremberg.
The sec ...
to Erfurt in the north and Coburg
Coburg () is a town located on the Itz river in the Upper Franconia region of Bavaria, Germany. Long part of one of the Thuringian states of the Wettin line, it joined Bavaria by popular vote only in 1920. Until the revolution of 1918, it was ...
in the south (annulled after the opening of A 71 during the 2000s), the Bundesstraße 87
The Bundesstraße 87 (Abbreviation: B 87) is a Bundesstraße in Germany. It begins in Ilmenau and ends in Frankfurt (Oder). In Thüringia it runs partly along the Straße der Romanik.
History
Origin
The modern-day Bundesstraße 87 ha ...
to 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 ...
in the north-east (now starting at the Autobahn some kilometres north-east of the town) and the Bundesstraße 88
''Bundesstraße'' (German for "federal highway"), abbreviated ''B'', is the denotation for German and Austrian national highways.
Germany
Germany's ''Bundesstraßen'' network has a total length of about 40,000 km.
German ''Bundesstraßen'' ...
to Eisenach
Eisenach () is a town in Thuringia, Germany with 42,000 inhabitants, located west of Erfurt, southeast of Kassel and northeast of Frankfurt. It is the main urban centre of western Thuringia and bordering northeastern Hessian regions, situat ...
in the north-west and Rudolstadt
Rudolstadt is a town in the German federal state Thuringia, with the Thuringian Forest to the southwest, and to Jena and Weimar to the north.
The former capital of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, the town is built along the River Saale inside a wide va ...
in the east, which was relocated around Ilmenau as a bypass (via the A 71 in the north and on a new line in the east).
Air
The nearest local airport to Ilmenau is the Erfurt–Weimar Airport
Erfurt–Weimar Airport (german: Flughafen Erfurt–Weimar, formerly ''Erfurt Airport'', ) serves Erfurt, the capital of the German state of Thuringia, and the nearby city of Weimar, both of which form the largest part of the state's central metr ...
, approx. to the north, which serves mostly for holiday flights to the Mediterranean and other touristic regions. The next major airports are Frankfurt Airport
Frankfurt Airport (; german: link=no, Flughafen Frankfurt Main , also known as ''Rhein-Main-Flughafen'') is a major international airport located in Frankfurt, the fifth-largest city of Germany and one of the world's leading financial centres ...
, Berlin Brandenburg Airport
Berlin Brandenburg Airport ''Willy Brandt'' (german: Flughafen Berlin Brandenburg "Willy Brandt", , ) is an international airport in Schönefeld, just south of the Germany, German capital Berlin in the state of Brandenburg. Named after the f ...
and Munich Airport
Munich International Airport- Franz Josef Strauß (german: link=no, Flughafen München) is an international airport serving Munich and Upper Bavaria. It is the second-busiest airport in Germany in terms of passenger traffic after Frankfurt A ...
. Some holidaymakers also use Nuremberg Airport
Nuremberg Airport , german: link=no, Albrecht Dürer Flughafen Nürnberg, is the international airport of the Franconian metropolitan area of Nuremberg and the second-busiest airport in Bavaria after Munich Airport. With about 4.1 million pass ...
which has a wider range of destinations than Erfurt Airport and is closer than Munich Airport.
Bicycle
Cycling is becoming ever more popular since the construction of quality cycle paths began in the 1990s. There is the ''Ilm track'' from 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 ...
in the Thuringian Forest to the Saale
The Saale (), also known as the Saxon Saale (german: Sächsische Saale) and Thuringian Saale (german: Thüringische Saale), is a river in Germany and a left-bank tributary of the Elbe. It is not to be confused with the smaller Fränkische Saale, ...
valley at the Saxony-Anhalt border via Ilmenau and 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 ...
. In addition there are cycle paths that connect to the ''Gera track'' (in Elgersburg
Elgersburg is a municipality situated in the district of Ilm-Kreis, Thuringia, Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Rus ...
) to 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 ...
nearby and to the Saale valley in the east via Gehren
Gehren is a town and a former independent municipality in the Ilm-Kreis district, in Thuringia, Germany. It is situated 7 km southeast of Ilmenau. It officially became a town in its own right ('Stadt') in 1855. However, since July 2018, it ...
, Königsee
Königsee is a town and a municipality in the district of Saalfeld-Rudolstadt, in Thuringia, Germany. It is situated east of Ilmenau, and south of Erfurt. The present municipality was formed on 31 December 2012 by the merger of the former muni ...
and Rudolstadt
Rudolstadt is a town in the German federal state Thuringia, with the Thuringian Forest to the southwest, and to Jena and Weimar to the north.
The former capital of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, the town is built along the River Saale inside a wide va ...
. Many paths through the forest are used by mountain bikers, since mountain biking is very popular in the region. There are few cycle lanes for inner city everyday traffic but using side roads and paths is working well. Despite the hilly terrain in some parts, Ilmenau is a cycle-friendly city owing in part to the high percentage of residents being students.
Public transit
Public transport includes a bus network connecting the city centre with the outskirts and neighbouring villages.
Education and research
The Technische Universität Ilmenau
The Technische Universität Ilmenau (''Ilmenau University of Technology'', TU Ilmenau) is a German public research university located in Ilmenau, Thuringia, central Germany. Founded in 1894, it has five academic departments (faculties) with abo ...
has 7,000 students and is Thuringia's second-largest university, founded in 1894 as ''Thüringisches Technikum'', converted to a university in 1992. Its emphasis is on mathematics, physics, informatics, several engineering disciplines and media studies. Furthermore, there are two grammar schools Gymnasiums
A gymnasium, also known as a gym, is an indoor location for athletics. The word is derived from the ancient Greek term " gymnasium". They are commonly found in athletic and fitness centres, and as activity and learning spaces in educational ins ...
in Ilmenau, one offers a focus on science as an elite boarding school in addition to the common curriculum. They are the Gymnasium "Am Lindenberg" – which focuses on languages and economics, and Goetheschule which specialises in science and mathematics.
Notable research institutes are:
* Fraunhofer Institute for Digital Media Technology
* Fraunhofer Institute of Optronics, System Technologies and Image Exploitation
* Institut für Mikroelektronik- und Mechatronik-Systeme
Politics
Mayor and city council
The current mayor Daniel Schultheiß (Independent) has been in office since November 2018.
The last municipal election was held in 2009 with the following results:
Twin towns – sister cities
Ilmenau is twinned with:
* Blue Ash
''Fraxinus quadrangulata'', the blue ash, is a species of ash native primarily to the Midwestern United States from Oklahoma to Michigan, as well as the Bluegrass region of Kentucky and the Nashville Basin region of Tennessee. Isolated populati ...
, United States
* Homburg, Germany
* Wetzlar
Wetzlar () is a city in the state of Hesse, Germany. It is the twelfth largest city in Hesse with currently 55,371 inhabitants at the beginning of 2019 (including second homes). As an important cultural, industrial and commercial center, the un ...
, Germany
* Târgu Mureș
Târgu Mureș (, ; hu, Marosvásárhely ) is the seat of Mureș County in the historical region of Transylvania, Romania. It is the List of cities and towns in Romania, 16th largest Romanian city, with 134,290 inhabitants as of the 2011 Romania ...
, Romania
Notable people
*Andreas Libavius
Andreas Libavius or Andrew Libavius was born in Halle, Germany c. 1550 and died in July 1616. Libavius was a renaissance man who spent time as a professor at the University of Jena teaching history and poetry. After which he became a physician a ...
(1555–1616), philosopher and chemist, taught in Ilmenau
*Karl Ludwig von Knebel
Karl Ludwig von Knebel (30 November 1744 – 23 February 1834) was a German poet and translator.
Biography
He was born at the Castle of Wallerstein (near Nördlingen) in Franconia. After having studied law for a short while at Halle, he entered t ...
(1744–1834), poet, retired to Ilmenau
*Corona Schröter
Corona Elisabeth Wilhelmine Schröter (14 January 1751 – 23 August 1802) was a German musician best known as a singer. She also composed songs, setting texts by Friedrich Schiller and Johann Wolfgang von Goethe to music.Grove
Early life
Schr ...
(1751–1802), singer, died in Ilmenau
* Johann Karl Wilhelm Voigt (1752–1821), mineralogist, worked and died in Ilmenau
*Friedrich Christoph Pelizaeus
Friedrich Christoph Pelizaeus (3 April 1851 – 11 August 1942) was a German balneologist and neurologist who was a native of Rietberg.
In 1874 he earned his medical doctorate from the University of Würzburg, and afterwards served as an assistant ...
(1859–1942), neurologist, temporarily spa doctor in Ilmenau
*Marie Gutheil-Schoder
Marie Gutheil-Schoder (16 February 1874 – 4 October 1935) was an important German soprano.
Born Marie Schoder in Weimar, she married Gustav Gutheil in 1899, with whom she lived until his death in 1914. In 1920, she married the photographer ...
(1874–1935), soprano, died in Ilmenau
*Paul Löbe
Paul Gustav Emil Löbe (14 December 1875 – 3 August 1967) was a German politician of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), a member and president of the Reichstag of the Weimar Republic, and member of the Bundestag of West Germany. He ...
(1875–1963), politician (SPD), worked as a printer in Ilmenau
*Theodor Eicke
Theodor Eicke (17 October 1892 – 26 February 1943) was a senior SS functionary and Waffen SS divisional commander during the Nazi era. He was one of the key figures in the development of Nazi concentration camps. Eicke served as the seco ...
(1892–1943), high-ranking SS officer, studied in Ilmenau
*Fritz Sauckel
Ernst Friedrich Christoph "Fritz" Sauckel (27 October 1894 – 16 October 1946) was a German Nazi politician, ''Gauleiter'' of Gau Thuringia from 1927 and the General Plenipotentiary for Labour Deployment (''Arbeitseinsatz'') from March 1942 unti ...
(1894–1946), Nazi war criminal, studied in Ilmenau
*Fritz Reinhardt
Friedrich Rudolph (Fritz) Reinhardt (3 April 1895 – 17 June 1969) was an official in the Nazi Party (NSDAP) and in the government of the Third Reich, most notably, State Secretary in the German Finance Ministry.
Early life
The son of a book ...
(1895–1969), Nazi Finance Minister
*Robert Döpel
Georg Robert Döpel (3 December 1895 – 2 December 1982) was a German experimental nuclear physicist. He was a participant in a group known as the " first ''Uranverein''", which was spawned by a meeting conducted by the ''Reichserziehungsmin ...
(1895–1982), nuclear physicist, died in Ilmenau
* Michael Roth (1936–2019), engineer
*Jan Behrendt
Jan Behrendt (born 29 November 1967 in Ilmenau, Bezirk Suhl) is an East German-German luger who competed from the mid-1980s to 1998. Together with Stefan Krauße he won two Olympic gold medals ( 1992, 1998), ...
(born 1967), luger
*Wolfram Fiedler
Wolfram Fiedler (29 September 1951 – 11 April 1988) was an East German luger who competed from the mid-1960s to the mid-1970s. He won two bronze medals at the 1972 Winter Olympics in Sapporo, earning them in the men's singles and men's doubles ...
(1951–1988), luger
*Matthias Platzeck
Matthias Platzeck (born 29 December 1953) is a German politician. He was Minister President of Brandenburg from 2002 to 2013 and party chairman of the SPD from November 2005 to April 2006.
On 29 July 2013 Platzeck announced his resignation fro ...
(born 1953), politician (SPD), studied and graduated in Ilmenau
*Hartwig Gauder
Hartwig Gauder (10 November 1954 – 22 April 2020) was a German race walker who won a gold medal in the Men's 50 kilometres walk at the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow.
Born in West Germany, his family moved to East Germany in 1960 when they ...
(1954–2020), walker, Olympic champion, lived in Ilmenau
*Ute Oberhoffner
Ute Oberhoffner ( Weiß, born 15 September 1961 in Ilmenau, Bezirk Suhl, sometimes shown as Ute Oberhoffner-Weiss) is an East German luger who competed during the 1980s. She won two medals in the women's singles event at the Winter Olympics ...
(born 1961), luger
* Jens Müller (born 1965), luger, lives in Ilmenau
*Claudia Nolte
Claudia Crawford ('' né'' Wiesemüller, formerly and still commonly known as Claudia Nolte; born 7 February 1966) is a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), who became the youngest cabinet minister in German history whils ...
(born 1966), politician (CDU), 1994–1998 Federal Minister for family affairs, studied in Ilmenau
*Stefan Krauße
Stefan Krauße (born 17 September 1967 in Ilmenau, Bezirk Suhl) is an East German-German luger who competed from the mid-1980s to 1998. Together with Jan Behrendt he won two Olympic gold medals ( 1992, 1998) ...
(born 1967), luger
*Peter Sendel
Peter Sendel (born 6 March 1972) is a former German biathlete. At the 1998 Olympics in Nagano, Sendel was a part of the German team that won the gold medal. Later he earned a relay silver medal from the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City.
Sendel reti ...
(born 1972), biathlete
*André Lange
André Lange (; born 28 June 1973) is a retired German bobsledder and the most successful bob pilot of all time. Competing at the 2002, 2006 and 2010 Winter Olympics, he has won four gold and one silver medals. Lange originally started his sledd ...
(born 1973), bobsledder
*Andrea Henkel
Andrea Burke, née Henkel (born 10 December 1977) is a retired Germany, German professional biathlon, biathlete and the younger sister of Manuela Henkel, a successful Cross-country skiing (sport), cross-country skier. She trained at SV Großbreit ...
(born 1977), biathlete, Olympic champion
*Dajana Eitberger
Dajana Eitberger (born 7 January 1991) is a German luger. She currently represents Germany in the women's singles event in the Luge World Cup.
Career
During the 2014–15 Luge World Cup season she was victorious in one event which was the fina ...
(born 1991), luger, Olympic medalist
References
External links
*
Ilmenau Notgeld
(emergency banknotes)
{{Authority control
Ilm-Kreis
Grand Duchy of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach