Apolda () 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 central

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 ...

, the capital of the

Weimarer Land Weimarer Land is a ''Landkreis'' (district) in the east of Thuringia, Germany. Neighboring districts are (from the northeast clockwise) the district Burgenlandkreis in Saxony-Anhalt, the district Saale-Holzland and the district-free city Jena, the ...

district. It is situated in the center of the triangle

Weimar Weimar is a city in the state (Germany), German state of Thuringia, in Central Germany (cultural area), Central Germany between Erfurt to the west and Jena to the east, southwest of Leipzig, north of Nuremberg and west of Dresden. Together w ...

–

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 ...

–

Naumburg Naumburg () is a town in (and the administrative capital of) the district Burgenlandkreis, in the state of Saxony-Anhalt, Central Germany (cultural area), Central Germany. It has a population of around 33,000. The Naumburg Cathedral became a UNES ...

near the river

Ilm Ilm or ILM may refer to: Acronyms * Identity Lifecycle Manager, a Microsoft Server Product * '' I Love Money,'' a TV show on VH1 * Independent Loading Mechanism, a mounting system for CPU sockets * Industrial Light & Magic, an American motion p ...

, c. east by north from

Apolda station Apolda station is a through station on the Halle–Bebra railway in the town of Apolda in the German state of Thuringia. It was opened on 1 April 1890 and Deutsche Bahn assigns it to German railway station categories, category 4. Location The ...

lies on the

Halle–Bebra railway The Halle–Bebra railway, known in German as the Thüringer Bahn ("Thuringian Railway"), is a 210 kilometre-long railway line from Halle, Saxony-Anhalt, Halle (Saale) via Erfurt and Gerstungen to Bebra, mainly in Thuringia. As far as Gerstungen t ...

, which is part of the main line from

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

Frankfurt Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

History

Apolda was first mentioned in 1119. Until 1633 it was seat of a family of nobles, the Vitzthums, which acted relatively independent. Between 1633 and World War I Apolda was property of the

University of Jena The University of Jena, officially the Friedrich Schiller University Jena (, abbreviated FSU, shortened form ''Uni Jena''), is a public research university located in Jena, Thuringia, Germany. The university was established in 1558 and is cou ...

. Nevertheless, from 1691 to 1809 Apolda was part of the Duchy of

Saxe-Weimar Saxe-Weimar () was one of the Saxon duchies held by the Ernestine branch of the Wettin dynasty in present-day Thuringia. The chief town and capital was Weimar. The Weimar branch was the most genealogically senior extant branch of the House of W ...

and from 1809 to 1918 of

Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach () was a 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 to a grand duchy in 1815 by resolutio ...

(after 1815 Grand Duchy). Around 1700, the knitting industry began to grow, so that finally, at the end of the 19th century, Apolda was the wealthiest town of the whole region. On July 12–17, 1945, Apolda issued a set of three of its own postage stamps. They depicted a new sprig growing up out of a tree stump. After

World War II 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 ...

, Thuringia became part of the

German Democratic Republic East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...

. Up to

German reunification German reunification () was the process of re-establishing Germany as a single sovereign state, which began on 9 November 1989 and culminated on 3 October 1990 with the dissolution of the East Germany, German Democratic Republic and the int ...

, Apolda still was famous for its textile industries. Since then, a notable economic decay has taken place.

Main historic sights

It possesses several churches and monuments to the

Dobermann Pinscher The Dobermann is a German breed of medium-large working dog of pinscher type. It was originally bred in Thuringia in about 1890 by Louis Dobermann, a tax collector.

dog breed, which was created in Apolda, and to Christian Zimmermann (1759–1842), who, by introducing the hosiery and cloth manufacture, made Apolda one of the most important places in Germany in these branches of industry. By 1900 it also had had extensive dyeworks, bell foundries, and manufactures of steam engines, boilers, cars and bicycles. After

the majority of these had to be closed down for economical reasons. The largest free hanging bell in the world, the ''Decke Pitter'' of

Cologne Cathedral Cologne Cathedral (, , officially , English: Cathedral Church of Saint Peter) is a cathedral in Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia belonging to the Catholic Church. It is the seat of the Archbishop of Cologne and of the administration of the Archd ...

, was made in Apolda. Apolda also has mineral springs. The most important sights are: * St. Martin's Church (1119), details in Romanesque, Gothic and Baroque style * Town Hall (1558/9), in Renaissance style * Castle (16th/17th century) * Railway viaduct (1845/46) * Lutherkirche (1894) * St. Boniface's Church (1894) * Glocken museum (Bell museum) *

Prager house The Prager-Haus or Bernhard-Prager-Haus is the former home of the Jewish Prager family, situated in Apolda, Thuringia, Germany, in Pragergasse, a narrow alley. The Prager family and the history of Jews in Apolda Bernhard Prager was born on June ...

(1925), a

Holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...

memorial

Architecture

The Zimmermann factory building (1880-1881) was designed by the architect Karl Timmler and is noted for its yellow brick cladding. The Eiermann Building (1906-1907) was designed by the Bauhaus architect

Egon Eiermann Egon Eiermann (29 September 1904 – 19 July 1970) was one of Germany's most prominent architects in the second half of the 20th century. He was also a furniture designer. From 1947, he was Professor for architecture at Technische Hochschule Kar ...

who evangelized about '' Neues Bauen'' in the 1930s. Eiermann converted the existing structure, adding a

roof terrace A terrace is an external, raised, open, flat area in either a landscape (such as a park or garden) near a building, or as a roof terrace on a flat roof. Ground terraces Terraces are used primarily for leisure activity such as sitting, stroll ...

reminiscent of a ship deck.

Mayors

Ernst Stegmann was the long-time mayor of Apolda with 33 years in office (1901-1934).

Twin towns – sister cities

Apolda is twinned with: *

Mark Mark may refer to: In the Bible * Mark the Evangelist (5–68), traditionally ascribed author of the Gospel of Mark * Gospel of Mark, one of the four canonical gospels and one of the three synoptic gospels Currencies * Mark (currency), a currenc ...

, Sweden *

Rapid City Rapid City is the county seat of Pennington County, South Dakota, United States. It is located on the eastern slope of the Black Hills in western South Dakota and was named after Rapid Creek, where the settlement developed. It is the second-mo ...

, United States *

San Miniato San Miniato is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Pisa, in the region of Tuscany, Italy. San Miniato sits at a historically strategic location atop three small hills where it dominates the lower Arno valley, between the valleys of the E ...

, Italy *

Seclin Seclin () is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. It is part of the Métropole Européenne de Lille. Population Notable residents * Adrien Fourmaux, rally driver *André Ayew, Ghana national football team footballer *Séba ...

, France

Notable people

Karl Friedrich Louis Dobermann Karl Friedrich Louis Dobermann (; ; 2 January 1834 – 9 June 1894) was the first breeder of the Dobermann The Dobermann is a German list of dog breeds, breed of medium-large working dog of pinscher type. It was originally bred in Thuringi ...

(1834–1894), first breeder of the

Doberman Pinscher The Dobermann is a German breed of medium-large working dog of pinscher type. It was originally bred in Thuringia in about 1890 by Louis Dobermann, a tax collector.

* Otto Franz Georg Schilling (1911–1973), mathematician * Albert Raisner (1922–2011), musician and TV host *

Klaus Agthe Klaus Erich Agthe (born August 12, 1930, in Niederholzhausen, Province of Saxony, Prussia, Germany) is a German-born businessman and author. Childhood and education Klaus Agthe grew up in Apolda in the province of Thuringia, Germany, went to sc ...

(born 1930), businessman and author * Mike Mohring (born 1971), politician (CDU) * Erich Seidel, ophthalmologist known for Seidel test and Seidel sign

References

Weimarer Land {{WeimarerLand-geo-stub