Brotterode () is a town and a former municipality next to the

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 ...

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 ...

, 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 ...

, central

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 ...

. Since 1 December 2011, it is part of the town

Brotterode-Trusetal Brotterode-Trusetal is a town in the Schmalkalden-Meiningen district, in Thuringia, Germany. It was named after the town Brotterode and the Germany, German river Truse that flows through the municipality. It was formed on 1 December 2011 by the mer ...

. It is situated 11 km north of

Schmalkalden Schmalkalden () is a town in the Schmalkalden-Meiningen district, in the southwest of the state of Thuringia, Germany. It is on the southern slope of the Thuringian Forest at the Schmalkalde river, a tributary to the Werra. , the town had a popula ...

, and 19 km southeast of

Eisenach Eisenach () is a town in Thuringia, Germany with 42,000 inhabitants, located west of Erfurt, southeast of Kassel and northeast of Frankfurt. It is the main urban centre of western Thuringia and bordering northeastern Hessian regions, situat ...

History

Brotterode was first mentioned in 1039 under the name of "Brunuwardesrot". In the Middle Ages (around 1360) it was the residence of a

Vogt During the Middle Ages, an (sometimes given as modern English: advocate; German: ; French: ) was an office-holder who was legally delegated to perform some of the secular responsibilities of a major feudal lord, or for an institution such as ...

. In 1583 it became a possession of the

Landgrave of Hesse The Landgraviate of Hesse (german: Landgrafschaft Hessen) was a principality of the Holy Roman Empire. It existed as a single entity from 1264 to 1567, when it was divided among the sons of Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse. History In the early Mi ...

. Before

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 ...

, was part of the

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an em ...

n province of

Hesse-Nassau The Province of Hesse-Nassau () was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1868 to 1918, then a province of the Free State of Prussia until 1944. Hesse-Nassau was created as a consequence of the Austro-Prussian War of 1866 by combining the p ...

. In 1895, the ''Great Fire of Brotterode'' almost completely destroyed the village. 729 out of 842 buildings were burned down, but the village was gradually rebuilt in the following years. In 1936 Brotterode obtained

city rights Town privileges or borough rights were important features of European towns during most of the second millennium. The city law customary in Central Europe probably dates back to Italian models, which in turn were oriented towards the tradition ...

. Today Brotterode is famous for tourism, winter sports, and hiking.

Main sights

Next to Brotterode is the

Großer Inselsberg Großer Inselsberg is a mountain in the Thuringian Forest with a height of above sea level, located on Rennsteig in the districts of Gotha and Schmalkalden-Meiningen. It is the fourth-highest distinct mountain of Thuringia, after Großer Beerbe ...

which is, with 916.5 meters, one of the highest mountains in the Thuringian Forest. Named after it is the

ski jumping hill A ski jumping hill is a sports venue used for ski jumping. They vary in size from temporary handmade snow structures to permanent competition venues. At the top is an in-run where the jumper runs down to generate sufficient speed, before reaching ...

Inselbergschanze with a current record of 123.5 meters.

International relations

Brotterode is twinned with: *

Bad Vilbel Bad Vilbel () is a spa town in Hesse (Hessen), Germany, famous for its many mineral water Spring (hydrology), springs. Bad Vilbel is the largest town in the Wetteraukreis district and part of the Frankfurt Rhein-Main Regional Authority, Frankfurt R ...

, Germany *

Saint-Martin-le-Vinoux Saint-Martin-le-Vinoux (; frp, Sant-Martin-lo-Vinox) is a commune in the Isère department in southeastern France, named after Saint Martin and the region's vineyards. It is part of the Grenoble urban unit The urban unit of Grenoble (french: u ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

References

External links

Official website

Inselbergbad Brotterode

Nordic Walking Zentrum Brotterode
Towns in Thuringia Former municipalities in Thuringia {{SchmalkaldenMeiningen-geo-stub