Lauscha is a town in the district of Sonneberg, 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 ...

. It is situated 13 km north of

Sonneberg Sonneberg in Thuringia, Germany, is the seat of the Sonneberg district. It is in the Franconian south of Thuringia, neighboring its Upper Franconian twin town Neustadt bei Coburg. Sonneberg became known as the "world toy city", and is home to ...

, and 24 km southwest 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 ...

. Lauscha is known for its

glassblowing Glassblowing is a glassforming technique that involves inflating molten glass into a bubble (or parison) with the aid of a Blowpipe (tool), blowpipe (or blow tube). A person who blows glass is called a ''glassblower'', ''glassmith'', or ''gaffer'' ...

, especially for Christmas tree decorations like

baubles Christmas ornaments, baubles, "Christmas bulbs" or "Christmas bubbles" are decoration items, usually to decorate Christmas trees. These decorations may be woven, blown (glass or plastic), molded (ceramic or metal), carved from wood or expande ...

Geography

Lauscha is located in the mountain range of the

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 ...

. The town is nestled into the steep valley of a tributary of the river Steinach just below the ridge of the mountain chain, the well-known

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 ...

. The main train station in Lauscha is 611 m above sealevel, the Pappenheimer Berg, the highest mountain within the town limits rises up to 834,5 m above sea level.

Neighbouring towns

Immediate neighbours are the following towns and villages: *

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

Oberland am Rennsteig Oberland am Rennsteig is a former municipality in the Sonneberg district of Thuringia, Germany. Since 31 December 2013, it is part of the town Sonneberg.Steinach * Steinheid *

Ernstthal am Rennsteig Ernstthal am Rennsteig is a municipality section of the so-called ''Glass-blower Town'' (de: Glasbläserstadt) Lauscha in the district of Sonneberg in Thuringia, Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a c ...

in the north east is part of Lauscha since 1994.

Topography

The town and valley of Lauscha get their name from the stream, which was first mentioned as 'lutzscha' in 1366. Clean water is one of the requirements for making glass, the others being the availability of sand (from a nearby quarry in Steinheid), natron, potash and a sufficient supply of timber. In former times there were five mills which all have been long closed. However, some of them continue to live on in the placenames Obermühle, Wiesleinsmmühle and Göritzmühle. Since the completion of the rail connection and the road from Steinach to Neuhaus at the turn of the 20th century, the Lauscha river is largely confined to an underground channel. Before that the connection roads were restricted to the slopes because of the swampy ground of the valley. This can still be read in names of roads like 'Alter Weg' and 'Alte Chausee'. Typically for the Thüringer Schiefergebirge, broad and almost level mountain tops surround a deeply carved-in valley.

In Literature

Lauscha is the setting for the novel ''The Glassblower'' by Petra Durst-Benning (originally published in German in 2003). The novel fictionalizes the invention of glass Christmas ornaments in Lauscha by imagining them as the production of a family of three sisters left to fend for themselves after the death of their father.

Sons and daughters of the town

* Eduard Müller (* May 31, 1855, † 1912 in

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 ...

), manufacturer, commercial councilor and politician of the Nationalliberal Party (NLP) *

Ursula Buckel Ursula Buckel (11 February 1926 – 5 December 2005) was a German soprano singer, known for singing works of Johann Sebastian Bach. Career Born in the Thuringian town of Lauscha, Ursula Buckel studied singing in the School of Church Music in B ...

(* February 11, 1926; † December 5, 2005 in

Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...

), soprano

References

External links

Webcam-lauscha.de
Sonneberg (district) Duchy of Saxe-Meiningen {{Sonneberg-geo-stub