Schmalkalden () 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 the

Schmalkalden-Meiningen Schmalkalden-Meiningen is a '' Landkreis'' in the southwest of Thuringia, Germany. Its neighboring districts are (from the northwest clockwise) the districts Wartburgkreis, Gotha, Ilm-Kreis, the district-free city Suhl, the district Hildburghaus ...

district, in the southwest of the state of

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. It is on the southern slope of the

Thuringian Forest The Thuringian Forest (''Thüringer Wald'' in German language, German ) is a mountain range in the southern parts of the Germany, German state of Thuringia, running northwest to southeast. Skirting from its southerly source in foothills to a gorg ...

at the Schmalkalde river, a tributary to 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 to ...

. , the town had a population of 20,065.

History

First mentioned in an 874 deed, ''Smalcalta'' in the Frankish duchy of Thuringia received

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 ...

about 1180. When Landgrave Henry Raspe of Thuringia 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 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 ...

Meissen Meissen ( ), is a town of approximately 30,000 about northwest of Dresden and 75 km (46 mi) west of Bautzen on both banks of the Elbe river in the Free State of Saxony, in eastern Germany. Meissen is the home of Meissen porcelain, th ...

. To secure their acquisition the Counts of Henneberg allied with the

Landgraviate of Hesse The Landgraviate of Hesse () was a principality of the Holy Roman Empire. It existed as a single entity from 1264 to 1567, when it was divided among the sons of Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse. History In the early Middle Ages, the territory of He ...

, including the conclusion of an inheritance treaty. In 1360, together with Landgrave Henry II of Hesse they paid off Frederick V, Burgrave of Nuremberg, son of Elisabeth of Henneberg. Schmalkalden De Merian Hassiae

In 1531 the town hall of Schmalkalden was the site of the establishment of the

Schmalkaldic League The Schmalkaldic League (; ; or ) was a military alliance of Lutheranism, Lutheran Prince of the Holy Roman Empire, principalities and cities within the Holy Roman Empire during the mid-16th century. It received its name from the town of Schm ...

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

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 Martin Luther ( ; ; 10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546) was a German priest, Theology, theologian, author, hymnwriter, professor, and former Order of Saint Augustine, Augustinian friar. Luther was the seminal figure of the Reformation, Pr ...

Philipp Melanchthon Philip Melanchthon (born Philipp Schwartzerdt; 16 February 1497 – 19 April 1560) was a German Lutheran reformer, collaborator with Martin Luther, the first systematic theologian of the Protestant Reformation, an intellectual leader of the ...

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 An enclave is a territory that is entirely surrounded by the territory of only one other state or entity. An enclave can be an independent territory or part of a larger one. Enclaves may also exist within territorial waters. ''Enclave'' is s ...

of Hesse, from 1868 on it was part of the

Prussia Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...

n province of

Hesse-Nassau The Province of Hesse-Nassau () was a Provinces of Prussia, province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1868 to 1918, then a province of the Free State of Prussia until 1944. Hesse-Nassau was created as a consequence of the Austro-Prussian War of ...

until it was incorporated into the

Province of Saxony The Province of Saxony (), also known as Prussian Saxony (), was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia and later the Free State of Prussia from 1816 until 1944. Its capital was Magdeburg. It was formed by the merger of various territories ceded ...

in 1944 and in 1945 became part of the State of Thuringia. The town sustained heavy bomb damage in World War II. From 1949 on, with Thuringia, it formed part of

East Germany 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 ...

. After reunification it attained its present political configuration. In July 2018 the former municipality of Springstille was merged into Schmalkalden.

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 * Otto H. Schade, television pioneer, born 27 April 1903, died 28 April 1981 in West Caldwell, New Jersey * Angela Steinmüller, mathematician and

science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

author, born 1941 * Frank Luck, biathlete, born 5 December 1967 * Sven Fischer, biathlete, born 16 April 1971 * Steffi Jacob, skeleton racer, born 30 September 1975 *

Kati Wilhelm Kati Wilhelm (; born 2 August 1976 in Schmalkalden) is a German former professional Biathlon, biathlete. Like most German biathletes she is also a member of the German Armed Forces (''Bundeswehr'') with the rank of master sergeant (''Feldwebel#B ...

, biathlete, born 2 August 1976 * Alexander Wolf, biathlete, born 21 December 1978

International relations

Schmalkalden is twinned with: * Fontaine, Isère, France * Recklinghausen, Germany

Notes

References

* {{Authority control 1583 disestablishments States and territories established in 1247 Schmalkalden-Meiningen