Lichtenfels () is a

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

in the

Upper Franconia Upper Franconia (, ) is a (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 Franconia and Lower Franconia, wh ...

n region of

Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...

, Germany, the administrative seat of Lichtenfels district. It is chiefly known as the German "

Basket A basket is a container that is traditionally constructed from stiff Fiber, fibers, and can be made from a range of materials, including wood splints, Stolon, runners, and cane. While most baskets are made from plant materials, other materials ...

City".

Geography

It is situated on the upper course of the river Main, about southeast of

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

, and northeast of

Bamberg Bamberg (, , ; East Franconian German, East Franconian: ''Bambärch'') is a town in Upper Franconia district in Bavaria, Germany, on the river Regnitz close to its confluence with the river Main (river), Main. Bamberg had 79,000 inhabitants in ...

. The hilly landscape is called ''Gottesgarten am Obermain'' ("God's garden on the upper Main"), referring to the

Basilica of the Fourteen Holy Helpers The Basilica of the Fourteen Holy Helpers (German: Basilika Vierzehnheiligen) is a church located near the town of Bad Staffelstein near Bamberg, in Bavaria, southern Germany. The late Baroque (Rococo) basilica, designed by Balthasar Neumann, w ...

and

Banz Abbey Banz Abbey (), now known as Banz Castle (), is a former Benedictine monastery, since 1978 a part of the town of Bad Staffelstein north of Bamberg, Bavaria, southern Germany. History The abbey was founded in about 1070 by Countess Alberada o ...

. The Maintal (valley of the Main) goes from East to West. The most important cities of the district are

Burgkunstadt Burgkunstadt () is a town in the district of Lichtenfels, in northern Bavaria, Germany. It is situated on the right bank of the Main, 15 km west of Kulmbach, and 24 km southeast of Coburg. History The earliest archeological evidence o ...

Bad Staffelstein Bad Staffelstein is a town in the Bavarian Regierungsbezirk, Administrative Region of Upper Franconia in Germany. It has around 10,000 inhabitants. Bad Staffelstein is known for several landmarks, such as the Basilica of the Vierzehnheiligen des ...

and the district city of Lichtenfels. The Rodach river, a tributary of the Main, runs through the area and reaches its greatest width in the northern part between Hochstadt am Main and Lichtenfels. The district of Lichtenfels lies in the western part of the government region (''Regierungsbezirk'') of Oberfranken (Upper Franconia). It is surrounded by (from the north and clockwise) the districts of

Kronach Kronach (; ) is a Town#Germany, town in Upper Franconia, Germany, located in the Franconian Forest area. It is the capital of the Kronach (district), district Kronach. The town is equipped with a nearly complete city wall and Germany's biggest an ...

Kulmbach Kulmbach () is the capital of the district of Kulmbach in Bavaria in Germany. The town, once a stronghold of the Principality of Bayreuth, is renowned for its University of Life Sciences, a branch of the University of Bayreuth, the massive Plasse ...

Bayreuth Bayreuth ( or ; High Franconian German, Upper Franconian: Bareid, ) is a Town#Germany, town in northern Bavaria, Germany, on the Red Main river in a valley between the Franconian Jura and the Fichtel Mountains. The town's roots date back to 11 ...

and

. The southern bank of the Main stretches up to the mountain range of the

Franconian Jura The Franconian Jura ( , , or ) is an upland in Franconia, Bavaria, Germany. Located between two rivers, the Danube in the south and the Main in the north, its peaks reach elevations of up to and it has an area of some 7053.8 km2. Emil Mey ...

( Fränkische Alb) beneath the

Staffelberg The Staffelberg is a hill in Bavaria, Germany. It is part of the Franconian Switzerland and one of the most important landmarks in Franconia. First settlements date from the Neolithic. Ancient Rome, Romans, Celts and Franconians followed. Duri ...

close to

. The northern bank of the Main stretches up to the Itz-Baunach Highlands.

Administrative division

The town is divided into several districts: Buch am Forst, Degendorf, Eichig, Gnellenroth, Hammer, Isling, Klosterlangheim, Kösten, Köttel, Krappenroth, Lahm, Mistelfeld, Mönchkröttendorf, Oberlangheim, Oberwallenstadt, Reundorf, Roth, Rothmannsthal, Schney, Schönsreuth, Seehof, Seubelsdorf, Stetten, Stöcken, Tiefenroth, Trieb, Unterwallenstadt und Weingarten.

History

Lichtenfels was first mentioned in 1142 and chartered in 1231. That was titled and conferred from Otto III, Count Palatine of Burgundy. After the expiration of the Meranians (Meranier) in 1248 Lichtenfels became part of the

Prince-Bishopric of Bamberg The Prince-Bishopric of Bamberg () was an ecclesiastical State of the Holy Roman Empire. It goes back to the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Bamberg, Roman Catholic Diocese of Bamberg established at the 1007 synod in Frankfurt, at the behest of Ki ...

(Hochstift Bamberg). With those and with the

Secularization In sociology, secularization () is a multilayered concept that generally denotes "a transition from a religious to a more worldly level." There are many types of secularization and most do not lead to atheism or irreligion, nor are they automatica ...

in 1802 incorporate to the

Prince-elector The prince-electors ( pl. , , ) were the members of the Electoral College of the Holy Roman Empire, which elected the Holy Roman Emperor. Usually, half of the electors were archbishops. From the 13th century onwards, a small group of prince- ...

ate ( Kurfürstentum) and later to the

Kingdom of Bavaria The Kingdom of Bavaria ( ; ; spelled ''Baiern'' until 1825) was a German state that succeeded the former Electorate of Bavaria in 1806 and continued to exist until 1918. With the unification of Germany into the German Empire in 1871, the kingd ...

(Königreich Bayern). The Lichtenfelser are also called, in a sneering kind of way, the scoopers of the pool (Tümpelschöpfer). This name they obtained from the

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War, fought primarily in Central Europe between 1618 and 1648, was one of the most destructive conflicts in History of Europe, European history. An estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died from battle, famine ...

(1618–1648), from attempting to retrieve hidden sunken treasures in a pond, which they could not empty out due to rapidly running groundwater.

Economy

Owing to the success of numerous local middle class enterprises, the town of 20,000 has an above average occupational quota. The backbone of the local economy is formed by businesses in various industry sectors such as manufacturing, with an upholstery industry and its suppliers as well as

wood processing Wood processing is an engineering discipline in the wood industry comprising the production of forest products, such as pulp and paper, construction materials, and tall oil. Paper engineering is a subfield of wood processing. The major wo ...

and the production of foamed material. Other businesses include machine and tool fabrication, laser technology and one international cargo carrier.

Basket making

Lichtenfels became a centre of basket making in the middle of the 19th century. The basket makers in the surrounding upper Maintal area brought their products to trade in Lichtenfels, which was and is the biggest retail market. The leading entrepreneur was the basket dealer Joseph Crinkly. Since 1904, there has been a technical basket college, and as of 1912 there was also a braiding course for women. Those fashioned and very frequent

outwork An outwork is a minor fortification built or established outside the principal fortification limits, detached or semidetached. Outworks such as ravelins, lunettes (demilunes), flèches and caponier A caponier is a type of defensive structur ...

baskets came from the whole family. After the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

Lichtenfels became known as the seat of the German wicker or basket-making industry. The period saw the gradual extinction of basket making in Germany. After the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Lichtenfels was the main remaining basket dealer and today as an exclusive exporter of the braiding manufactures. Lichtenfels is the basket-making capital of Germany and has the only college which still teaches the old craft skills. Each year at the end of September the Korbmarkt (Basket Market) is held when the town is filled with stalls selling baskets from many countries and one can watch many craftspeople at work. On the Market Place in front of the town hall there is the World's largest gift basket.

Transport

Road

Coburg can be reached by car via B 173 Lichtenfels- Hof-

Dresden Dresden (; ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; , ) is the capital city of the States of Germany, German state of Saxony and its second most populous city after Leipzig. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, 12th most p ...

or motorway A 73

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 ...

-Lichtenfels-Nuremberg.

Railways

Lichtenfels station is on the Eisenach–Lichtenfels and Bamberg-Hof main lines. The Franconian Forest Railway turns off from Bamberg-Hof railway near Lichtenfels. It is a regional rail hub and a former

ICE Ice is water that is frozen into a solid state, typically forming at or below temperatures of 0 ° C, 32 ° F, or 273.15 K. It occurs naturally on Earth, on other planets, in Oort cloud objects, and as interstellar ice. As a naturally oc ...

stop.

Notable people

* Thomas Dehler (1897–1967), politician ( DDP, FDP), Federal Minister of Justice *

Niklas Dorsch Niklas Bernd Dorsch (born 15 January 1998) is a German professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for Bundesliga club 1. FC Heidenheim. Club career Bayern Munich On 2 September 2015, Dorsch signed a one-year apprentice contrac ...

(born 1998), footballer * Heinrich Faber (c. 1490–1552), pedagogue and music theorist *

Reinhard Hütter Reinhard Hütter (born 1 November 1958 in Lichtenfels, Bavaria) is a German Roman Catholic theologian. He is currently Visiting Professor of Catholic Theology at Duke Divinity School and Professor Emeritus of Fundamental and Dogmatic Theology at C ...

(born 1958), Christian theologian and professor * Max Jüngling (1903–1963), politician * Stefan Kießling (born 1984), footballer * Friedrich Myconius (1490–1546), reformer * Andreas Röschlaub (1768–1835), physician and

natural philosopher Natural philosophy or philosophy of nature (from Latin ''philosophia naturalis'') is the philosophical study of physics, that is, nature and the physical universe, while ignoring any supernatural influence. It was dominant before the developme ...

* Emmi Zeulner (born 1987), politician ( CSU)

Twin towns – sister cities

Lichtenfels is twinned with: * Ariccia, Italy (2004) * Cournon-d'Auvergne, France (1992) *

Prestwick Prestwick () is a town in South Ayrshire on the west coast of Ayrshire in Scotland about southwest of Glasgow. It adjoins the larger town of Ayr to the south on the Firth of Clyde coast, the centre of which is about south, and the small vi ...

, Scotland, United Kingdom (1974) * Vandalia, United States (1975)

References

{{Authority control Lichtenfels (district) Populated places on the Main basin Populated riverside places in Germany