Orlamünde () is a small town in the

Saale-Holzland Saale-Holzland (official German language, German name: Saale-Holzland-Kreis) is a ''Kreis'' (Districts of Germany, district) in the east of Thuringia, Germany. Neighboring districts are (from the north clockwise) the district Burgenlandkreis in Sa ...

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 ...

. It is part of the ''

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 ...

'' ("collective municipality")

Südliches Saaletal Südliches Saaletal is a ''Verwaltungsgemeinschaft'' ("collective municipality") in the district Saale-Holzland, in Thuringia, Germany. The seat of the ''Verwaltungsgemeinschaft'' is in Kahla Kahla () is a town in the Saale-Holzland district, in ...

Geography

The town centre stretches along the steep banks of 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, ...

river at the confluence with the Orla, approximately south of

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 ...

. With a population of about 1,100 it is one of the smallest towns in Thuringia. Orlamünde station is a stop on the

Saal Railway Saal may refer to: Places in Germany * Saal an der Donau, in the district of Kelheim, Bavaria *Saal an der Saale, in the district Rhön-Grabfeld, Bavaria * Saal, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, in the district Vorpommern-Rügen, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern ...

line from

Großheringen Großheringen is a municipality in the Weimarer Land district of 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, ...

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 ...

. Frome here the

Orla Railway The Orla Railway (german: Orlabahn) is a 14.9 kilometre long branch line in Thuringia, that runs from Orlamünde on the Saal Railway to Pößneck's "lower station" (''unterer Bahnhof''). Until 1946 there was a continuation of the line to Oppurg ...

runs along the Orla river to

Pößneck Pößneck (also spelled ''Poessneck'') is a town in the Saale-Orla-Kreis district, in Thuringia, Germany. It is situated 19 km east of Rudolstadt, and 26 km south of Jena. History Pößneck, which is of Slavonic origin, passed about 1 ...

History

Located at the eastern rim of the early medieval

Duchy of Thuringia The Duchy of Thuringia was an eastern frontier march of the Merovingian dynasty, Merovingian kingdom of Austrasia, established about 631 by King Dagobert I after his troops had been defeated by the forces of the Samo, Slavic confederation of Samo ...

, Orlamünde was the site of a fortress at the border with lands of the

Polabian Slavs Polabian Slavs ( dsb, Połobske słowjany, pl, Słowianie połabscy, cz, Polabští slované) is a collective term applied to a number of Lechitic ( West Slavic) tribes who lived scattered along the Elbe river in what is today eastern German ...

and the

Sorbian March The Sorbian March ( la, limes Sorabicus, german: Sorbenmark) was a frontier district on the eastern border of East Francia in the 9th through 11th centuries. It was composed of several counties bordering the Sorbs. The Sorbian March seems to hav ...

. The settlement itself was first mentioned in a 1039 deed. The estates were acquired by Count Otto of Weimar about 1062, who also ruled as

Margrave of Meissen This article lists the margraves of Meissen, a march and territorial state on the eastern border of the Holy Roman Empire. History King Henry the Fowler, on his 928-29 campaign against the Slavic Glomacze tribes, had a fortress erected on a hil ...

. He and his descendants went on to rule as Counts of Weimar-Orlamünde until the dynasty became extinct in 1112 and their possessions were inherited by the Saxon

House of Ascania The House of Ascania (german: Askanier) was a dynasty of German rulers. It is also known as the House of Anhalt, which refers to its longest-held possession, Anhalt. The Ascanians are named after Ascania (or Ascaria) Castle, known as ''Schloss ...

. The St Mary's parish church was erected west of Orlamünde Castle in the

11th century The 11th century is the period from 1001 ( MI) through 1100 ( MC) in accordance with the Julian calendar, and the 1st century of the 2nd millennium. In the history of Europe, this period is considered the early part of the High Middle Ages. Th ...

. A

Williamite A Williamite was a follower of King William III of England (r. 1689–1702) who deposed King James II and VII in the Glorious Revolution. William, the Stadtholder of the Dutch Republic, replaced James with the support of English Whigs. One ...

monastery is documented from 1331. When the Ascanian counts of Weimar-Orlamünde became extinct in 1372, their estates fell to the

House of Wettin The House of Wettin () is a dynasty of German kings, prince-electors, dukes, and counts that once ruled territories in the present-day German states of Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia. The dynasty is one of the oldest in Europe, and its ori ...

Notable people

Andreas Karlstadt Andreas Rudolph Bodenstein von Karlstadt (148624 December 1541), better known as Andreas Karlstadt or Andreas Carlstadt or Karolostadt, or simply as Andreas Bodenstein, was a German Protestant theologian, University of Wittenberg chancellor, a c ...

(1486–1541), reformer, priest in Orlamünde in 1523/24 *

Kaspar Glatz Kaspar Glatz (died 1551) was a minor figure in reformation-era Lutheranism. Trained in the early days of the reformation by Martin Luther at Wittenberg, he served as a pastor in the new movement for more than 20 years. The most comprehensive biograp ...

(d. 1551), Lutheran reformer, priest in Orlamünde from 1524

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Orlamunde Towns in Thuringia Saale-Holzland-Kreis