Günthersleben-Wechmar is a former

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

in the German state ( Bundesland) of

Thuringia Thuringia (; officially the Free State of Thuringia, ) is one of Germany, Germany's 16 States of Germany, states. With 2.1 million people, it is 12th-largest by population, and with 16,171 square kilometers, it is 11th-largest in area. Er ...

in the district of

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 ...

. Since July 2018, it is part of the municipality Drei Gleichen.Gebietsänderungen von Januar bis Dezember 2018

Statistisches Bundesamt The Federal Statistical Office (, shortened ''Destatis'') is a federal authority of Germany. It reports to the Federal Ministry of the Interior. The Office is responsible for collecting, processing, presenting and analysing statistical informati ...

The village of Wechmar is notable for having been the home of the

Bach family The Bach family is a family of notable composers of the baroque and classical periods of music, the best-known of whom was Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750). A family genealogy was drawn up by Johann Sebastian Bach himself in 1735 when he was ...

of musicians and composers.

Geography

The A4, one of Germany's primary east-to-west

Autobahn The (; German , ) is the federal controlled-access highway system in Germany. The official term is (abbreviated ''BAB''), which translates as 'federal motorway'. The literal meaning of the word is 'Federal Auto(mobile) Track'. Much of t ...

en, is located adjacent to Günthersleben-Wechmar. Its proximity to the nearby district capital of

, which itself is one of a whole chain of cities and towns following the former ''

Via Regia The Via Regia (Royal Highway) is a European Cultural Route following the route of the Historic roads, historic road of the Middle Ages. There were many such ''viae regiae'' associated with the king in the medieval Holy Roman Empire. History ...

'' from Frankfurt to the east, makes it easily accessible and has contributed to the prosperity of its two constituent villages, Günthersleben and Wechmar.

History

The oldest extant document referring to both villages is the ''brevarium lulli'', an inventory of possessions of the abbey of Hersfeld. In this document, dating from 786, they are referred to as ''Wehemare'' and ''Gonresleibin''. Up to the late Middle Ages, no specifically noteworthy historical events took place. Sometime between 1590 and 1600, however, Veit Bach settled in Wechmar, who is seen by most as the "founding father" of the Bach musical family. The most prominent person in this lineage is, of course,

Johann Sebastian Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (German: Help:IPA/Standard German, �joːhan zeˈbasti̯an baχ ( – 28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque music, Baroque period. He is known for his prolific output across a variety ...

, who was the great-great-grandson of Veit Bach and whose grandfather Christoph Bach grew up in Wechmar before taking a position as city musician in

Erfurt Erfurt () is the capital (political), capital and largest city of the Central Germany (cultural area), Central German state of Thuringia, with a population of around 216,000. It lies in the wide valley of the Gera (river), River Gera, in the so ...

. Based on these facts, the Village of Wechmar proudly calls itself "Home of the founding fathers of the Bach musical family" (''Urväterheimat der Musikerfamilie Bach''). As of 2006, there are once again some descendants of the Bach family living in Wechmar. During World War II several men and women were brought to the area as

forced labour Forced labour, or unfree labour, is any work relation, especially in modern or early modern history, in which people are employed against their will with the threat of destitution, detention, or violence, including death or other forms of ...

. A family with five children worked on the Swaine family farm in Günthersleben and 70 prisoners of war from Poland on Willy Hesse's estate. Men and women from Ukraine, Poland, and Russia, as well as military prisoners from Italy, were forced to work in the Thüringer Machine factory in Gothaer Straße. A Polish forced labourer was publicly hanged. A stone monument to his memory was erected in 2002..

Famous Residents

The family of the Freiherren von Wechmar can also trace its origins to the village of Wechmar. The former President of the UN General Assembly and former German ambassador to the UN,

Rüdiger von Wechmar Baron Rüdiger von Wechmar (15 November 1923 – 17 October 2007) was a German diplomat. He was West German ambassador to the UN in the 1970s. During the thirty-fifth ordinary and the eighth emergency special sessions, from 1980 to 1981, he was P ...

, who is also an honorary citizen of Wechmar, is currently their most prominent member.

Tourist attractions

Buildings in any way connected to the Bach family are, of course, the primary attractions, including the house of Veit Bach and the mill at which members of the Bach family worked as millers. There are, however, quite a few other places in both Günthersleben and Wechmar worth noticing: *The Landhaus Studnitz, with its rococo hall, famous for its ornately painted ceiling *The churches of St Vitus in Wechmar, St. Peter in Günthersleben *The remains of a moated castle in Günthersleben, a rather beautiful artificial island Morgenstimmung in Wechmar.jpg, Sunrise in Wechmar Veit Bach Mühle.jpg, Veit Bach Mill Bachhaus + Bach Museum.jpg, Bach House + Bach Museum Schild am Bach Museum.jpg, Johann Sebastian Bach Logo at the Bach Museum

References

External links

Official site
of Günthersleben-Wechmar * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gunthersleben-Wechmar Articles containing video clips Former municipalities in Thuringia Gotha (district)