Henneberg Franconia (german: Henneberg-Franken) is an historically correct term for the

Franconia Franconia (german: Franken, ; Franconian dialect: ''Franggn'' ; bar, Frankn) is a region of Germany, characterised by its culture and Franconian languages, Franconian dialect (German: ''Fränkisch''). The three Regierungsbezirk, administrative ...

n part of the Free State 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 lar ...

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 ...

that is generally referred to as South Thuringia (''Südthüringen''). The region is almost exactly coextensive with that covered by the Planning Region of Southwest Thuringia, the Chamber of Industry and Commerce of South Thuringia, the Trades Chamber of South Thuringia and the Agricultural Office of

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 ...

Origin of the name

The term relates to the Franconian Princely

County of Henneberg The House of Henneberg was a medieval German comital family (''Grafen'') which from the 11th century onwards held large territories in the Duchy of Franconia. Their county was raised to a princely county (''Gefürstete Grafschaft'') in 1310. Upo ...

at its largest extent in the mid-14th century when even the entire ''Pflege'' of

Coburg Coburg () is a town located on the Itz river in the Upper Franconia region of Bavaria, Germany. Long part of one of the Thuringian states of the Wettin line, it joined Bavaria by popular vote only in 1920. Until the revolution of 1918, it ...

belonged to it. The southern and easternmost parts of the County of Henneberg lie today in

Upper Franconia Upper Franconia (german: Oberfranken) is a ''Regierungsbezirk'' (administrative 'Regierungs''region 'bezirk'' of the state of Bavaria, southern Germany. It forms part of the historically significant region of Franconia, the others being Middle F ...

Lower Franconia Lower Franconia (german: Unterfranken) is one of seven districts of Bavaria, Germany. The districts of Lower, Middle and Upper Franconia make up the region of Franconia. History After the founding of the Kingdom of Bavaria the state was totally ...

and

East Hesse East Hesse (german: Osthessen) is a common but not unofficial regional name for the eastern part of the German state of Hesse as well as a regional planning region. It corresponds roughly to the Hessian catchment area of Fulda and its heart covers ...

. The society of Henneberg-Itzgrund-Franken has striven since mid-2013 to establish the name.

South Thuringia

The historical South Thuringia, as part of the subsequent

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

lies north of the Rennsteig way. The term South Thuringia is not only used for the southwestern part of the Free State of Thuringia, however. In its broader sense the relationship with Thuringia is wrong and misleading because the region is culturally part of

. Even from a political standpoint, the region belonged to Franconia for a very long time and was only transferred to through inheritance and as a dowry from the Hennebergs to the territorial lordship of the Saxon Wettins and then subsequently to Thuringia.

Henneberg Franconian

The term Henneberg Franconian (''Hennebergisch-Fränkisch'') is occasionally used as part of the name of clubs and societies and also in referring to Henneberg Franconian timber-framed architecture (''Hennebergisch-Fränkischen Fachwerk'').

Dialect

The main dialects spoken in Henneberg Franconia are

Main-Franconian East Franconian (german: Ostfränkisch) or Mainfränkisch, usually referred to as Franconian (') in German, is a dialect which is spoken in Franconia, the northern part of the federal state of Bavaria and other areas in Germany around Nuremberg, ...

Hennebergisch, Itzgründisch, Rhöner Platt and Grabfeldisch.

External weblinks

Henneberg-Itzgrund-Franken
(society website)
Henneberg Franconia v. South Thuringia
(another website of the Henneberg-Itzgrund-Franken Soc.)
Henneberg-Franconian History Society

Outline of a historical and geographical description of the County of Henneberg (''Journal von und für Franken'')

Henneberg districts in the ''Journal von und für Franken''; (1790 to 1793)
{{Coord, 50, 30, , N, 10, 30, , E, type:landmark_region:DE-TH, display=title Regions of Thuringia Franconia Thuringian Franconia