Pößneck (also spelled ''Poessneck'') is a town in the Saale-Orla-Kreis 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 situated 19 km east of

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 ...

, and 26 km 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 ...

History

Pößneck, which is of Slavonic origin, passed about 1300 to the Landgrave of Thuringia. Later it belonged to

Saxony Saxony (german: Sachsen ; Upper Saxon: ''Saggsn''; hsb, Sakska), officially the Free State of Saxony (german: Freistaat Sachsen, links=no ; Upper Saxon: ''Freischdaad Saggsn''; hsb, Swobodny stat Sakska, links=no), is a landlocked state of ...

and later still to the duchy of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, passing to Saxe-Meiningen in 1826. A Gothic church built about 1390 now serves an

Evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide Interdenominationalism, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being "bor ...

congregation. Pößneck also contains a Gothic town-hall erected during the succeeding century.

Balloon escape

Pößneck was the home of the Strelzyk and Wetzel families prior to 15 September 1979, when both families flew out of

East Germany 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 ...

in a homemade hot air balloon. Following the end of the

Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...

and

German reunification German reunification (german: link=no, Deutsche Wiedervereinigung) was the process of re-establishing Germany as a united and fully sovereign state, which took place between 2 May 1989 and 15 March 1991. The day of 3 October 1990 when the Ge ...

, they eventually moved back to Pößneck. Their story was the subject of the 1982 film '' Night Crossing''.

Economy

Its chief industries are the making of flannel,

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 ...

, furniture, machines, musical instruments, and chocolate. The town has also tanneries, breweries, dyeworks and brickworks.

Notable people

* Albert Wagner (1848 - 1898), architect in New York City * Robert Diez (1844–1922), sculptor, created among others the fountains of the Albert place in Dresden * Rudolf Koch (1856–1921), press drawer * Alfred Maul (1870–1942), engineer, pioneer of air reconnaissance *

Konrad Enke Konrad Enke (23 July 1934 – 13 November 2016) was a German swimmer who specialized in the 200 m breaststroke event. After winning five national titles in 1954–1955 and 1957–1959 he set a new European record at 2:38.4 in 1959. The next ...

(1934–2016), swimmer * Roland Matthes (1950–2019), swimmer *

Nico Herzig Nico Herzig (born 10 December 1983) is a German former professional footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, Americ ...

(born 1983), football player *

Denny Herzig Denny Herzig (born 13 November 1984) is a German former professional footballer who played as a centre-back. Career Having played as a youth for SV Sparneck, FC Bayern Hof and Carl Zeiss Jena, Herzig moved to England aged 16, joining Wimbledo ...

(born 1984), football player *

Maurice Hehne Maurice Hehne (born 14 April 1997) is a German footballer who plays as centre-back for Carl Zeiss Jena. Career Hehne began his career in his hometown with VfB Pößneck before moving to the youth academy of Carl Zeiss Jena. In 2013, he left ...

(born 1997), football player

References

Towns in Thuringia Saale-Orla-Kreis Duchy of Saxe-Meiningen {{SaaleOrla-geo-stub