Schleiz () is a town in the

district A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municip ...

Saale-Orla-Kreis Saale-Orla is a ''Kreis'' (Districts of Germany, district) in the east of Thuringia, Germany. Neighboring districts are (from the north clockwise) the districts Saale-Holzland, Greiz (district), Greiz, the Vogtlandkreis in Saxony, the Bavarian dist ...

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 former municipality Crispendorf was merged into Schleiz in January 2019, and Burgk in December 2019.

Location

Schleiz is in the Thuringian

Vogtland Vogtland (; ) is a region spanning the German states of Bavaria, Saxony and Thuringia and north-western Bohemia in the Czech Republic. It overlaps with and is largely contained within Euroregio Egrensis. The name alludes to the former leadershi ...

area, an area of wooded hills on the borders of

Saxony Saxony, officially the Free State of Saxony, is a landlocked state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia, and Bavaria, as well as the countries of Poland and the Czech Republic. Its capital is Dresden, and ...

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 ...

and the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

. The city is located in a valley with the river Wisenta near the motorway A 9 (

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 ...

–

München Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

Neighboring parishes

Distances calculated as between town centers.

Subdivisions

Schleiz includes the following subdivisions: * Möschlitz * Grochwitz * Oberböhmsdorf * Lössau * Langenbuch * Wüstendittersdorf * Dröswein * Gräfenwarth * Oschitz * Heinrichsruh * Crispendorf * Burgk

History

Schleiz can be traced back to a settlement established about 1200 ("Altstadt") and a separate "Neustadt" that was established next to it. The "Neustadt" had a castle and a city wall. Until 2 December 1482 they were totally separate communities after which they combined to one city. There was a settlement of the

Teutonic Order The Teutonic Order is a religious order (Catholic), Catholic religious institution founded as a military order (religious society), military society in Acre, Israel, Acre, Kingdom of Jerusalem. The Order of Brothers of the German House of Sa ...

here, and for some years previous to 1848 the town was the capital of the small principality of Reuss-Schleiz. In the vicinity a battle was fought, between the French and the Prussians on 9 October 1806. Within the

German Empire The German Empire (),; ; World Book, Inc. ''The World Book dictionary, Volume 1''. World Book, Inc., 2003. p. 572. States that Deutsches Reich translates as "German Realm" and was a former official name of Germany. also referred to as Imperia ...

(1871-1918), Schleiz was part of the

Principality of Reuss-Gera The Principality of Reuss-Gera (), officially called the Principality of the Reuss Junior Line () after 1848, was a sovereign state in modern Germany, ruled by members of the House of Reuss. It was one of the successor states of the Imperial C ...

20th Century

During

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 ...

hundreds of women and men from several nations, including the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

were transported to Schleiz as forced laborers. At least 60 of them died there. The palace was destroyed April 1945.

Climate

Population

Trend of population figures:

Recreation

Schleiz is also the site of the Schleizer Triangle motor racing track. Schleiz Boettger plaque

Notable people

* Johann Friedrich Böttger (1682–1719), alchemist and co-inventor of European porcelain * Heinrich Gottfried Piegler (1797–1849), probably the largest manufacturer of

Döbereiner's lamp Döbereiner's lamp, also called a "tinderbox" ("Feuerzeug"), is a lighter invented in 1823 by the German chemist Johann Wolfgang Döbereiner. The lighter is based on the Fürstenberger lighter (invented in Basel in 1780; in which hydrogen gas ...

s * Richard Barthold (1855-1932), US-american politician * Kurt Holzschuher (1873-1945), owner of the oldest factory in Schleiz (Gebr. Holzschuher) and German politician (DVP) * Theodor Piegler (1904-1991), great-grandson of H.G. Piegler, co-owner of the internationally active metal goods factory for hairdressing articles " Gebr. Piegler" in Nuremberg * Joachim Blechschmidt (1912-1943), German pilot and fighter ace in World War II * Bernhard Klee (born 1936), conductor * Juergen K. Klimpke (born 1963), mayor of the city of Schleiz from 2012-2018, member of political committees of the city of Schleiz, author ("Schleizer Heimathefte"), founding member and longtime chairman of the "Geschichts- und Heimatverein zu Schleiz e.V." and photographer

References

;Attribution *

External links

* http://www.schleiz.de Official web site for Stadt Schleiz. {{Authority control Saale-Orla-Kreis