Münchenbernsdorf is a town in the district of Greiz, 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. It is situated approximately 16 km southwest of

Gera Gera is a city in the German state of Thuringia. With around 93,000 inhabitants, it is the third-largest city in Thuringia after Erfurt and Jena as well as the easternmost city of the ''Thüringer Städtekette'', an almost straight string of cit ...

. The town is seat of a

municipal association Municipal associations (german: Verwaltungsgemeinschaften) are statutory corporations or public bodies created by statute in the German federal states of Bavaria, Saxony, Thuringia, and Schleswig-Holstein. In Baden-Württemberg the term ''stipul ...

with eight members.

Geography

Münchenbernsdorf is located southwest of

, the third-largest city in Thuringia. The town is nestled on the gentle slopes of a hilly basin from where the creek named Görlitzbach originates. This stream flows northeastwards past Münchenbernsdorf's municipal neighborhoods, or villages, of Kleinbernsdorf, Kananda, and Schöna on its way to its mouth that opens into the

White Elster The White Elster
Accessed on 16 Jan 2011. (, ) is a long river in central

Saale The Saale (), also known as the Saxon Saale (german: Sächsische Saale) and Thuringian Saale (german: Thüringische Saale), is a river in Germany and a left-bank tributary of the Elbe. It is not to be confused with the smaller Fränkische Saale, ...

river near the village of

Tautendorf Tautendorf is a municipality in the district Saale-Holzland, in Thuringia, 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, ...

. A small branch of the Görlitzbach starts north of the town but is dammed to form several ponds. The larger pond (in German: ''Mahlteich'') is used as an outdoor natural swimming pond in the summer. The run off from these ponds eventually flows into the Görlitzbach at Kleinbernsdorf.

Neighboring Municipalities

Surrounding Münchenbernsdorf are the following towns (clockwise from the north): Lindenkreuz,

Saara Saara may refer to: Places * Saara, Estonia, a village in Lääne-Viru County, Estonia * Saara, Greiz, a municipality in Thuringia, Germany * Saara, Altenburger Land, a municipality in Thuringia, Germany Other * ''Saara'' (lizard), a genus of l ...

, Hundhaupten, Bocka, Harth-Pöllnitz and

Lederhose Lederhose is a municipality in the Greiz district of Thuringia, Germany. The town has a municipal association with Münchenbernsdorf. The name is a well-known example of an unusual place name as it is synonymous with the German term for Lederhos ...

, all located in the administrative district of

Greiz Greiz () is a town in the state of Thuringia, Germany, and is the capital of the district of Greiz. Greiz is situated in eastern Thuringia, east of state capital Jena, on the river ''White Elster''. Greiz has a large park in its center (Fürstl ...

, as well as

Renthendorf Renthendorf is a municipality in the district Saale-Holzland, in Thuringia, Germany. The ornithologist Christian Ludwig Brehm was minister in Renthendorf from 1813, and his son Alfred Brehm Alfred Edmund Brehm (; 2 February 1829 – 11 N ...

and

in the

Saale-Holzland Saale-Holzland (official German language, German name: Saale-Holzland-Kreis) is a ''Kreis'' (Districts of Germany, district) in the east of Thuringia, Germany. Neighboring districts are (from the north clockwise) the district Burgenlandkreis in Sa ...

district.

Municipal Subdivisions

Other than Münchenbernsdorf proper, there are the following municipal subdivisions, in order of their location downstream from Münchenbernsdorf along the Görlitzbach: *Kleinbernsdorf * Kanada * Schöna

History

The community was likely founded in the second half of the 12th century. A document dated August 17, 1251 from the lord protector (Vogt) of Weida (

Weida, Thuringia Weida () is a town in the district of Greiz, in Thuringia, Germany, situated 12 km south of Gera on the river Weida. History Within the German Empire (1871-1918), Weida was part of the Grand Duchy of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach. The Eisenhammer ...

) first mentions Münchenbernsdorf as a locality. The

Partition of Leipzig The Treaty of Leipzig or Partition of Leipzig (German ''Leipziger Teilung'') was signed on 11 November 1485 between Elector Ernest of Saxony and his younger brother Albert III, the sons of Elector Frederick II of Saxony from the House of Wettin ...

of 1485 ceded the settlement to the Ernestiner nobility line. Then in 1571, it became part 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 ...

. To punish the

Kingdom of Saxony The Kingdom of Saxony (german: Königreich Sachsen), lasting from 1806 to 1918, was an independent member of a number of historical confederacies in Napoleonic through post-Napoleonic Germany. The kingdom was formed from the Electorate of Saxon ...

for its allegiance to

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

and France, the

Vienna Congress The Congress of Vienna (, ) of 1814–1815 was a series of international diplomatic meetings to discuss and agree upon a possible new layout of the European political and constitutional order after the downfall of the French Emperor Napoleon B ...

of 1815 granted certain tracts that included Münchenberndorf to the

Grand Duchy of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach (german: Sachsen-Weimar-Eisenach) was a historical German state, created as a duchy in 1809 by the merger of the Ernestine duchies of Saxe-Weimar and Saxe-Eisenach, which had been in personal union since 1741. It was raised ...

, then ruled by Grand Duke

Charles Augustus Karl August, sometimes anglicised as Charles Augustus (3 September 1757 – 14 June 1828), was the sovereign Duke of Saxe-Weimar and of Saxe-Eisenach (in personal union) from 1758, Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach from its creation (as a political uni ...

(in German: ''Carl August''). In the late 1800s and early 1900s, the community prospered economically through the introduction and growth of carpet factories, permitting the acquisition of

town privileges 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 ...

(in German: ''Stadtrecht'') in 1904. The town of Münchenbernsdorf itself is a member and seat of the Münchenbernsdorf (Verwaltungsgemeinschaft) (administrative municipality community) since March 9, 1992.

References

Greiz (district) {{Greiz-geo-stub