Zella-Mehlis is a town in the

Schmalkalden-Meiningen Schmalkalden-Meiningen is a ''Landkreis'' in the southwest of Thuringia, Germany. Its neighboring districts are (from the northwest clockwise) the districts Wartburgkreis, Gotha, Ilm-Kreis, the district-free city Suhl, the district Hildburghausen, ...

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 in 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 ...

, 5 km north of

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- ...

, and 20 km east of

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).

. The town of Zella-Mehlis is the site of the original

Walther Arms Carl Walther GmbH Sportwaffen (), or simply known as Walther, is a German firearm manufacturer, and a subsidiary of the PW Group. Founded by Carl Walther in 1886, the company has manufactured firearms and air guns at its facility in Germany f ...

and J.G. Anschütz weapons factories. They remained there until the Soviets occupied eastern Germany at the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. The former municipality

Benshausen Benshausen is a village and a former municipality in the district Schmalkalden-Meiningen, in Thuringia, Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous cou ...

was merged into Zella-Mehlis in January 2019.

Historical Population

Twin towns

Zella-Mehlis is twinned with: *

Andernach Andernach () is a town in the district of Mayen-Koblenz, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, of about 30,000 inhabitants. It is situated towards the end of the ''Neuwied basin'' on the left bank of the Rhine between the former tiny fishing village ...

, Germany *

Gemünden am Main Gemünden am Main (officially ''Gemünden a.Main'') is a town in the Main-Spessart district in the ''Regierungsbezirk'' of Lower Franconia (''Unterfranken'') in Bavaria, Germany and lies roughly 40 km down the Main from Würzburg. Gemünde ...

, Germany *

Saint-Martin-d'Hères Saint-Martin-d'Hères (; frp, Sant-Martin-d’Èra) is a commune in the Isère department in southeastern France. Part of the Grenoble urban unit (agglomeration),

Thuringia Zella-Mehlis asv2020-07 img01 railway station

Personalities

Honorary citizen

Helmut Recknagel Helmut Recknagel (born 20 March 1937 in Steinbach-Hallenberg) is an East German former ski jumper who was active in the late 1950s and early 1960s. He earned a gold medal at the 1960 Winter Olympics in ski jumping and also won the Holmenkolle ...

(* 1937), the first German Olympic ski jumping champion and world champion, started for SC Motor Zella-Mehlis

Sons and daughters of the city

* Johann Kaspar Friedrich Manso (1759-1826), teacher, historian and philologist * Johann Heinrich Ehrhardt (1805-1883), locomotive builder, engineer of the Saxon Railroad *

Johann Peter Haseney Johann Peter Haseney (1812, Mehlis, Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg – 1869, Munich) was a German engraver. Haseney came to Munich in his young years, where he worked as an engraver with the Seitz company. There he made different designs for stamps. H ...

(1812-1869), copper engraver, creator of the first German stamp "Schwarzer Einser" (Black one) * Karl Künstler (1901–1945), Nazi SS concentration camp commandant * Michael Schumann (1946-2000), professor of philosophy, politician (SED, PDS), Member of Brandenburg Landtag, Member of Bundestag *

Anja Kampe Anja Kampe (born 1968) is a German-Italian operatic soprano. She is notable for her performances in major opera houses of the works of Richard Wagner and other German and Austrian composers. Career Kampe was born in Zella-Mehlis, Thuringia, th ...

(born 1968), Opera singer

People associated with Zella-Mehlis

* Carl Walther (1858-1915), gunsmith *

Marcel Callo Marcel Callo (6 December 1921 – 19 March 1945) was a French Roman Catholic from Rennes who served in Catholic organizations – in particular the Young Christian Workers (Jocists) – devoted to charitable works to the poor and to communities i ...

(1921-1945), blessed of the Roman Catholic Church, a place was named here after him *

Horst Queck Horst Queck (born 5 October 1943 in Steinach, Thuringia) is an East German former ski jumper who competed from 1966 to 1971. Queck's best individual finish was second in the individual normal hill event in Austria Austria, , bar, Ö ...

(born 1943), ski jumper * Reinhard Heß (1945-2007), ski jumping coach of the German national team * Fredi Albrecht (born 1947), wrestler and competitor, visited the children's and youth sports school here *

Klaus-Peter Göpfert Klaus-Peter Göpfert (born 22 October 1948 in Coburg) is a German former Greco-Roman wrestler who competed in the 1972 Summer Olympics and in the 1976 Summer Olympics Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Econom ...

(born 1948), wrestler, attended the children's and sports school in Zella-Mehlis * Rainer Schmidt (born 1948), ski jumper, overall winner of the

Four Hills Tournament The Four Hills Tournament (german: link=no, Vierschanzentournee) or the German-Austrian Ski Jumping Week (german: link=no, Deutsch-Österreichische Skisprung-Woche) is a ski jumping event composed of four World Cup events and has taken place in ...

, lives in Zella-Mehlis *

Christoph Matschie Christoph Matschie (born 15 July 1961 in Mühlhausen) is a German politician of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) who served as Deputy Minister-President of Thuringia between 2009 and 2014. He was also a member of the Bundestag from 1999 to 2004 ...

(born 1961), politician, SPD Chairman of the State of Thuringia 1999–2014, minister and parliamentary secretary of state, received training as a mechanic in Zella-Mehlis *

Kati Wilhelm Kati Wilhelm (; born 2 August 1976 in Schmalkalden) is a German former professional biathlete. Like most German biathletes she is also a member of the German Armed Forces (''Bundeswehr'') with the rank of master sergeant (''Hauptfeldwebel''). Wi ...

(born 1976), biathlete *

Sebastian Haseney Sebastian Haseney (born August 27, 1978, in Suhl) is a former German nordic combined skier who has competed since 1999. He won two silver medals in the 4 x 5 km team event at the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships (2005, 2007) and fi ...

(born 1978), Nordic Combiner *

Franz Göring Franz Göring (born 22 October 1984) is a German cross-country skier who has been competing since 2002. He won a silver medal in the 4 × 10 km event at the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2009 in Liberec and had his best individual fin ...

(born 1984), cross-country skier, lives in Zella-Mehlis *

Andi Langenhan Andi Langenhan (born 1 October 1984) is a German luger who has been competing since 1995 and has been on the German national team since 2001. He won two bronze medals in the men's singles event at the FIL World Luge Championships (2008, 2011). ...

(born 1984), Rennrodler *

Frank Rommel Frank Rommel (born 30 July 1984 in Suhl) is a German retired skeleton racer who began competing internationally in 2002. He won two medals at the FIBT World Championships with a gold in the mixed team ( 2009) and a bronze in the men's skeleton ...

(born 1984), Skeleton Pilots *

Tino Edelmann Tino Edelmann (born 13 April 1985) is a retired German Nordic combined skier who has competed since 2001. He won a bronze medal in the 4 x 5 km team event at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver and six silver medals at the FIS Nordic World ...

(born 1985), Nordic Combiner

References

Schmalkalden-Meiningen Saxe-Coburg and Gotha {{SchmalkaldenMeiningen-geo-stub