Orlamünde () is a small town 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, in

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 ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. It is part of the ''

Verwaltungsgemeinschaft Municipal associations (, , ) 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 ''stipulated municipal association ...

'' ("collective municipality") Südliches Saaletal.

Geography

The town centre stretches along the steep banks of the

Saale The Saale (), also known as the Saxon Saale ( ) and Thuringian 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, Franconian Saale, a right-bank tributary of the M ...

river at the confluence with the Orla, approximately south of

Jena Jena (; ) is a List of cities and towns in Germany, city in Germany and the second largest city in Thuringia. Together with the nearby cities of Erfurt and Weimar, it forms the central metropolitan area of Thuringia with approximately 500,000 in ...

. With a population of about 1,100 it is one of the smallest towns in Thuringia. Orlamünde station is a stop on the Saal Railway line from Großheringen to

Saalfeld Saalfeld () is a town in Germany, capital of the Saalfeld-Rudolstadt district of Thuringia. It is best known internationally as the ancestral seat of the Saxe-Coburg and Gotha branch of the Saxon House of Wettin. Geography The town is situated ...

. Frome here the Orla Railway runs along the Orla river to Pößneck.

History

Located at the eastern rim of the early medieval

Duchy 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 Wogas ...

, Orlamünde was the site of a fortress at the border with lands of the

Polabian Slavs Polabian Slavs, also known as Elbe Slavs and more broadly as Wends, is a collective term applied to a number of Lechites, Lechitic (West Slavs, West Slavic) tribes who lived scattered along the Elbe river in what is today eastern Germany. The ...

and the

Sorbian March The Sorbian March (, , , ) was a frontier district on the eastern border of East Francia in the 9th through 11th centuries. It was composed of several counties bordering the Sorbs. The Sorbian March seems to have comprised the eastern part of Th ...

. The settlement itself was first mentioned in a 1039 deed. The estates were acquired by Count Otto of Weimar about 1062, who also ruled as

Margrave of Meissen This article lists the margraves of Margraviate of Meissen, Meissen, a March (territorial entity), march and territorial state on the eastern border of the Holy Roman Empire. History King Henry the Fowler, on his 928–29 campaign against the S ...

. He and his descendants went on to rule as Counts of Weimar-Orlamünde until the dynasty became extinct in 1112 and their possessions were inherited by the Saxon

House of Ascania The House of Ascania () was a dynasty of German rulers. It is also known as the House of Anhalt, which refers to its longest-held possession, Principality of Anhalt, Anhalt. The Ascanians are named after Ascania (or Ascaria) Castle, known as ' ...

. The St Mary's parish church was erected west of Orlamünde Castle in the

11th century The 11th century is the period from 1001 (represented by the Roman numerals MI) through 1100 (MC) in accordance with the Julian calendar, and the 1st century of the 2nd millennium. In the history of Europe, this period is considered the early ...

. A

Williamite A Williamite was a follower of King William III of England (r. 1689–1702) who deposed King James II and VII in the Glorious Revolution. William, the Stadtholder of the Dutch Republic, replaced James with the support of English Whigs. On ...

monastery is documented from 1331. When the Ascanian counts of Weimar-Orlamünde became extinct in 1372, their estates fell to the

House of Wettin The House of Wettin () was a dynasty which included Saxon monarch, kings, Prince Elector, prince-electors, dukes, and counts, who once ruled territories in the present-day German federated states of Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia. The dynas ...

Notable people

Andreas Karlstadt Andreas Rudolph Bodenstein von Karlstadt (148624 December 1541), better known as Andreas Karlstadt, Andreas Carlstadt or Karolostadt, in Latin, Carolstadius, or simply as Andreas Bodenstein, was a German Protestant theologian, University of Wit ...

(1486–1541), reformer, priest in Orlamünde in 1523/24 * Kaspar Glatz (d. 1551), Lutheran reformer, priest in Orlamünde from 1524

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Orlamunde Towns in Thuringia Saale-Holzland-Kreis