Schmalkalden-Meiningen is a ''

Landkreis In all German states, except for the three city states, the primary administrative subdivision higher than a '' Gemeinde'' (municipality) is the (official term in all but two states) or (official term in the states of North Rhine-Westphalia ...

'' in the southwest of

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 ...

. Its neighboring districts are (from the northwest clockwise) the districts

Wartburgkreis Wartburgkreis is a ''Kreis'' (district) in the west of Thuringia, Germany. Neighboring districts are (from the north clockwise) the districts Unstrut-Hainich-Kreis, Gotha, Schmalkalden-Meiningen, and the districts Fulda, Hersfeld-Rotenburg and W ...

Gotha Gotha () is the fifth-largest city in Thuringia, Germany, west of Erfurt and east of Eisenach with a population of 44,000. The city is the capital of the district of Gotha and was also a residence of the Ernestine Wettins from 1640 until the ...

Ilm-Kreis Ilm-Kreis is a district in Thuringia, Germany. It is bounded by (from the north and clockwise) the city of Erfurt, the districts of Weimarer Land, Saalfeld-Rudolstadt and Hildburghausen, the city of Suhl, and the districts of Schmalkalden-Meininge ...

, the district-free city

Suhl Suhl () is a city in Thuringia, Germany, located SW of Erfurt, NE of Würzburg and N of Nuremberg. With its 37,000 inhabitants, it is the smallest of the six urban districts within Thuringia. Together with its northern neighbour-town Zella- ...

, the district

Hildburghausen Hildburghausen ( IPA adapted from: ) is a town in Thuringia in central Germany, capital of the district Hildburghausen. Geography It is situated in the Franconian part of Thuringia south of the Thuringian Forest, in the valley of the Werra riv ...

, the

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...

n district

Rhön-Grabfeld Rhön-Grabfeld is a ''Landkreis'' (district) in Bavaria, Germany. It is bounded by (from the southeast and clockwise) the districts of Hassberge, Schweinfurt and Bad Kissingen, and the states of Hesse (district Fulda) and Thuringia (districts ...

, and the district

Fulda Fulda () (historically in English called Fuld) is a town in Hesse, Germany; it is located on the river Fulda and is the administrative seat of the Fulda district (''Kreis''). In 1990, the town hosted the 30th Hessentag state festival. History ...

Hesse Hesse (, , ) or Hessia (, ; german: Hessen ), officially the State of Hessen (german: links=no, Land Hessen), is a States of Germany, state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt. Two other major histor ...

History

The district is located mainly on the territory of the former duchy of

Saxe-Meiningen Saxe-Meiningen (; german: Sachsen-Meiningen ) was one of the Saxon duchies held by the Ernestine line of the Wettin dynasty, located in the southwest of the present-day German state of Thuringia. Established in 1681, by partition of the Ernestin ...

(part Meiningen district) and the former dominion of Schmalkalden. The district as a unit originated in 1994 with the merging of the previous districts Meiningen, Schmalkalden and (partially) Suhl-Land, which were formed during the time in the GDR. The municipality Kaltennordheim passed from the

to Schmalkalden-Meiningen on 1 January 2019.

Geography

The main river in Schmalkalden-Meiningen is the

Werra The Werra (), a river in central Germany, is the right-bank headwater of the Weser. "Weser" is a synonym in an old dialect of German. The Werra has its source near Eisfeld in southern Thuringia. After the Werra joins the river Fulda in the ...

. The landscape of the district consists of the Rhön Mountains in the west and 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 ...

Mountains in the east, separated by the valley of the river Werra. To the south lies the hilly

Grabfeld The Grabfeld is a region in Germany, on the border between Bavaria and Thuringia. It is situated southeast of the Rhön Mountains. Its highest elevation is 679 metres high in the little Gleichberge mountain range. The Grabfeld gave its name to t ...

. The ''Rennsteig'' hiking path crosses the Thuringian Forest and is the Border to Gotha district. The area around Oberhof is a famous

winter sports Winter sports or winter activities are competitive sports or non-competitive recreational activities which are played on snow or ice. Most are variations of skiing, ice skating and sledding. Traditionally, such games were only played in cold are ...

resort. The capital

Meiningen Meiningen () is a town in the southern part of the state of Thuringia, Germany. It is located in the region of Franconia and has a population of around 25,000 (2021).

in the center of the district lies at an altitude of 287 meters above the sea. The lowest point is 250 meters in

Breitungen Breitungen (official name: ''Breitungen/Werra'') is a municipality in the Schmalkalden-Meiningen district, Thuringia, Germany. It is situated on the river Werra, southeast of Bad Salzungen Bad Salzungen () is a town in Thuringia, Germany. It i ...

. The highest mountain is the ''Wildekopf'' mountain with 943 meters near Zella-Mehlis.

Culture and economy

Meiningen is a cultural city with a famous

theater Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actor, actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The p ...

and an old traditional Court orchestra. The city has a classical cityscape with extensive parks. Featured castles are in Meiningen and in Schmalkalden. Economically are significant mechanical engineering, high technology, tool manufacturing and food industry.

Coat of arms

The coat of arms of Schalkalden-Meiningen shows symbols from the coats of arms of the three precursor districts, which also symbolise the historic states which formerly ruled in the territory of the district. The rooster in the top left derives from the coat of arms of the counts of Henneberg. It stands on three green mounds, a reminder of the hills and mountains of the area. The lion of

appears in the top right canton, as Hesse controlled the area from 1360 to 1866. The banner in the bottom left comes from the coat of arms of the district of Meiningen, and derives from the coat of arms of the city of

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 ...

. The prince-bishops of Würzburg owned Meiningen in the past. The coat of arms of

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 ...

in the bottom right recalls the duchy of

, which existed from 1680 until 1918.

Towns and municipalities

References

External links

* {{Authority control