Hildburghausen (

IPA IPA commonly refers to: * India pale ale, a style of beer * International Phonetic Alphabet, a system of phonetic notation * Isopropyl alcohol, a chemical compound IPA may also refer to: Organizations International * Insolvency Practitioners A ...

adapted from: ) is a town in

Thuringia Thuringia (; german: Thüringen ), officially the Free State of Thuringia ( ), is a state of central Germany, covering , the sixth smallest of the sixteen German states. It has a population of about 2.1 million. Erfurt is the capital and lar ...

in central

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...

, capital of the district Hildburghausen.

Geography

It is situated in the

Franconia Franconia (german: Franken, ; Franconian dialect: ''Franggn'' ; bar, Frankn) is a region of Germany, characterised by its culture and Franconian dialect (German: ''Fränkisch''). The three administrative regions of Lower, Middle and Upper ...

n part of Thuringia south of the

Thuringian Forest The Thuringian Forest (''Thüringer Wald'' in German), is a mountain range in the southern parts of the German state of Thuringia, running northwest to southeast. Skirting from its southerly source in foothills to a gorge on its north-west side i ...

, in the valley of the

Werra The Werra (), a river in central Germany, is the right-bank headwater of the Weser. "Weser" is a synonym in an old dialect of German. The Werra has its source near Eisfeld in southern Thuringia. After the Werra joins the river Fulda in the ...

river. The town centre is located about south of

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- ...

and northwest of

Coburg Coburg () is a town located on the Itz river in the Upper Franconia region of Bavaria, Germany. Long part of one of the Thuringian states of the Wettin line, it joined Bavaria by popular vote only in 1920. Until the revolution of 1918, it ...

History

The settlement of ''Hilteburgehusin'' was first mentioned in a 1234 deed, when the

Counts of Henneberg The House of Henneberg was a medieval German comital family (''Grafen'') which from the 11th century onwards held large territories in the Duchy of Franconia. Their county was raised to a princely county (''Gefürstete Grafschaft'') in 1310. Up ...

sold it to the Prince-Bishops of Würzburg. Repurchased in 1316, the Henneberg lords vested the citizens with

town privileges Town privileges or borough rights were important features of European towns during most of the second millennium. The city law customary in Central Europe probably dates back to Italian models, which in turn were oriented towards the traditio ...

in 1324 and had city walls erected. In 1353 the estates of Hildburghausen were inherited by the Wettin landgrave Frederick III of Thuringia and upon the 1485

Treaty of Leipzig The Treaty of Leipzig or Partition of Leipzig (German ''Leipziger Teilung'') was signed on 11 November 1485 between Elector Ernest of Saxony and his younger brother Albert III, the sons of Elector Frederick II of Saxony from the House of Wettin ...

became part of the

Ernestine duchies The Ernestine duchies (), also known as the Saxon duchies (, although the Albertine appanage duchies of Weissenfels, Merseburg and Zeitz were also "Saxon duchies" and adjacent to several Ernestine ones), were a group of small states whose num ...

. In 1528 the Hildburghausen citizens turned

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

. The town fell to the newly established Duchy of

Saxe-Coburg Saxe-Coburg (german: Sachsen-Coburg) was a duchy held by the Ernestine branch of the Wettin dynasty in today's Bavaria, Germany. History Ernestine Line When Henry IV, Count of Henneberg – Schleusingen, died in 1347, the possessions of th ...

in 1572 and upon the extinction of the line in 1638 passed to the

Duchy of Saxe-Altenburg Saxe-Altenburg (german: Sachsen-Altenburg, links=no) was one of the Saxon duchies held by the Ernestine branch of the House of Wettin in present-day Thuringia. It was one of the smallest of the German states with an area of 1323 square kilomete ...

. In 1680 it became the residence of the Ernestine dukes of

Saxe-Hildburghausen Saxe-Hildburghausen () was an Ernestine duchy in the southern side of the present State of Thuringia in Germany. It existed from 1680 to 1826 but its name and borders are currently used by the District of Hildburghausen. History After the Duk ...

until its dissolution in 1826, after which it passed to the

Duchy of Saxe-Meiningen Saxe-Meiningen (; german: Sachsen-Meiningen ) was one of the Saxon duchies held by the Ernestine line of the Wettin dynasty, located in the southwest of the present-day German state of Thuringia. Established in 1681, by partition of the Ernesti ...

. The town became part of the new state of Thuringia in 1920.

Notable people

Karoline von Feuchtersleben Baroness, Karoline Henriette Susanne Friederike von Feuchtersleben (full name: Karoline Henriette Susanne Friederike von Feuchtersleben; 12 October 17741842), was a German noblewoman and Lady-in-waiting to Princess Charlotte of Saxe-Hildburghause ...

(17741842) born in Hildburghausen *

Friedrich Dotzauer Justus Johann Friedrich Dotzauer (20 January 1783 – 6 March 1860) was a German cellist and composer. Life Early life and career Dotzauer was born in 1783 in , near Hildburghausen. His father, a pastor, encouraged his interest in music. In ...

(1783–1860) *

Princess Charlotte of Saxe-Hildburghausen Princess Charlotte of Saxe-Hildburghausen (17 June 1787 Hildburghausen – 12 December 1847 Bamberg) was the child of Frederick, Duke of Saxe-Altenburg and his wife, Duchess Charlotte Georgine of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. She was the wife of Prince Pau ...

(1787–1847) *

Princess Louise of Saxe-Hildburghausen , image = Luise von Sachsen-Hildburghausen.jpg , succession = Princess consort of Nassau-Weilburg , reign = 1816 , succession1 = Duchess consort of Nassau , reign1 = 1816—1825 , spouse = , issue = ...

(1794–1825) *

Joseph Meyer (publisher) Joseph Meyer (9 May 1796 - 27 June 1856) was a German industrialist and publisher, most noted for his encyclopaedia, Meyers Konversations-Lexikon. Biography Meyer was born at Gotha, Germany, and was educated as a merchant in Frankfurt am Ma ...

(1796–1856) * Marie of Saxe-Altenburg (1818–1907) * Hans Meyer (geologist) (1858–1929) *

Ronald Weigel Ronald Weigel (born 8 August 1959 in Hildburghausen, Thuringia) is a German athlete and Olympic medal winner. In the 1980s through the middle of the 1990s he represented East Germany (and then Germany after 1990) as one of world's ...

(b. 1959) in Hildburghausen

References

External links

{{Authority control Hildburghausen (district) Duchy of Saxe-Meiningen