Schmalkalden

Schmalkalden
Schmalkalden about 1900 Schmalkalden about 1900
Coat of arms of Schmalkalden
Schmalkalden
Coordinates	50°43′0″N 10°27′0″E
Administration
Country	Germany
State	Thuringia
District	Schmalkalden-Meiningen
Mayor	Thomas Kaminski (SPD)
Basic statistics
Area	98.35 km2 (37.97 sq mi)
Elevation	295 m  (968 ft)
Population	20,653  (31 December 2007)
- Density	210 /km2 (544 /sq mi)
Other information
Time zone	CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2)
Licence plate	SM
Postal code	98574
Area code	03683
Website	www.schmalkalden.de
Location of the town of Schmalkalden within Schmalkalden-Meiningen district
Map

Schmalkalden (German pronunciation: [ʃmalˈkaldən]) is a town in the Schmalkalden-Meiningen district, in the southwestern portion of Thuringia state in Germany. It is situated on the southern slope of the Thuringian Forest at the Schmalkalde river, a tributary to the Werra. The present population is about 18,000.

History

First mentioned in a 874 deed, Smalcalta in the Frankish duchy of Thuringia received town privileges about 1180. When Landgrave Henry Raspe died without issue in 1247, it passed to the House of Henneberg-Schleusingen, while the major part of the landgraviate fell to the House of Wettin in Meissen. To secure their acquisation the Counts of Henneberg allied with the Landgraviate of Hesse, including the conclusion of an inheritance treaty. In 1360 they together with Landgrave Henry II of Hesse payed off Frederick V, Burgrave of Nuremberg, son of Elisabeth of Henneberg.

Schmalkalden, Matthäus Merian, Topographia Hassiae, engraving, 1655

In 1531 the town hall of Schmalkalden was the site of the establishment of the Schmalkaldic League by Protestant princes under the lead of Landgrave Philip I of Hesse, in order to protect religious and political interests within their domains. In 1537 the Smalcald Articles were drawn up by Martin Luther, Philipp Melanchthon and other reformers.

When the Counts of Henneberg became extinct in 1583, their share was inherited by William IV, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel. William made the town a residence and had Wilhelmsburg Castle erected, finished in 1590. The Lordship of Schmalkalden remained an exclave of Hesse, from 1868 on it was part of the Prussian province of Hesse-Nassau until it was incorporated into the Free State of Thuringia in 1944.

The town sustained heavy bomb damage in World War II. From 1949 on, with Thuringia, it belonged to East Germany. After reunification, it attained its present political configuration.

St. George Church

Wilhelmsburg

Main sights

• St. George, a late Gothic hall church finished in 1509 with stained glass windows designed by Charles Crodel
• Town hall
• Reformed school
• Lutheran Deanship
• Todenwarth's stone house
• The island and the Salt Bridge
• The Rose Pharmacy
• Luther's house
• The Court of Hessen
• The Liebaug House
• Large stone house
• Weidebrunn Lane 30
• Town fortifications
• The hospital and its chapel
• Wilhelmsburg Castle, the former residence of the Hessian landgraves, built about 1590 in Renaissance style
• Stengel's house
• The cemetery church

Lordship of Schmalkalden
Herrschaft Schmalkalden
State of the Holy Roman Empire
← 1247 – 1583 →
Capital		Schmalkalden
Government		Principality
Historical era		Middle Ages
-	Acquired by Henneberg	1247
-	Joint rule with Hesse	1360
-	To Hesse-Kassel	1583
-	To Thuringia	1944

Notable people

• Christoph Cellarius, scholar, born 22 November 1638, died 4 June 1707 in Halle
• Christian Karl August Ludwig von Massenbach, colonel, born 16 April 1758, died 21 November 1827 at Białokosz
• Karl Wilhelm, choral director, born 5 September 1815, died 26 August 1873 in Schmalkalden
• Frank Luck, biathlete, born 5 December 1967
• Sven Fischer, biathlete, born 16 April 1971
• Steffi Jacob, skeleton racer, born 30 September 1975
• Kati Wilhelm, biathlete, born 2 August 1976
• Alexander Wolf, biathlete, born 21 December 1978

International relations

Main article: List of twin towns and sister cities in Germany

Twin towns — Sister cities

Schmalkalden is twinned with:

• Fontaine, Isère, France
• Recklinghausen, Germany

This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica, Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.

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