Suhl () is a city in

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 ...

, located SW of

Erfurt Erfurt () is the capital (political), capital and largest city of the Central Germany (cultural area), Central German state of Thuringia, with a population of around 216,000. It lies in the wide valley of the Gera (river), River Gera, in the so ...

, NE of

Würzburg Würzburg (; Main-Franconian: ) is, after Nuremberg and Fürth, the Franconia#Towns and cities, third-largest city in Franconia located in the north of Bavaria. Würzburg is the administrative seat of the Regierungsbezirk Lower Franconia. It sp ...

and N of

Nuremberg Nuremberg (, ; ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the Franconia#Towns and cities, largest city in Franconia, the List of cities in Bavaria by population, second-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Bav ...

. With its 37,000 inhabitants, it is the smallest of the six urban districts within Thuringia. Together with its northern neighbour-town Zella-Mehlis, Suhl forms the largest urban area in 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 ...

with a population of 46,000. The region around Suhl is marked by up to 1,000-meter-high mountains, including Thuringia's highest peak, the Großer Beerberg (983 m), approximately NE of the city centre. Suhl was first mentioned in 1318 and stayed a small mining and metalworking town, until industrialization broke through in late 19th century and Suhl became a centre of Germany's arms production, specialized on rifles and guns with companies such as Sauer & Sohn. Furthermore, the engineering industry was based in Suhl with Simson, a famous car and moped producer. In 1952, Suhl became one 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 ...

's 14 district capitals, which led to a government-directed period of urban growth and conversion. Its results – a typical 1960s concrete architecture-marked city centre – are defining to the present. With the loss of its administrative and industrial functions, Suhl saw a lasting period of urban decline starting in 1990. Suhl is known for its sportsmen, especially in shooting, winter sports, and volleyball.

History

Middle Ages

Though first appearing in a 1318 deed, several entries in the annals of Fulda Abbey already mentioned a place named ''Sulaha'' between 900 and 1155 AD. The coat of arms from 1365 shows two hammers, indicating the city's most important livelihood: metal processing. The region belonged to the territories held by the Franconian counts of Henneberg since the 11th century. Suhl was located on an important trade route from

Gotha Gotha () is the fifth-largest city in Thuringia, Germany, west of Erfurt and east of Eisenach with a population of 44,000. The city is the capital of the district of Gotha and was also a residence of the Ernestine Wettins from 1640 until the ...

and

Arnstadt Arnstadt () is a town in Ilm-Kreis, Thuringia, Germany, on the river Gera (river), Gera about south of Erfurt, the capital of Thuringia. Arnstadt is one of the oldest towns in Thuringia, and has a well-preserved historic centre with a partially ...

passing the

mountain range at Oberhof and continuing to the Henneberg's residence,

Schleusingen Schleusingen is a town in the Hildburghausen (district), district of Hildburghausen, in Thuringia, Germany. It is situated 10 km north of Hildburghausen, and 12 km southeast of Suhl. Geography The town of Schleusingen in the Henneber ...

Early modern period

From 1500 onwards, the Henneberg lands belonged to the Franconian Circle of the Holy Roman Empire. Suhl has been a ''Flecken'' (small

market town A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village or city. In Britain, small rura ...

) since 1445 and the full municipal rights were granted in 1527, making Suhl one of the youngest cities in present-day Thuringia. Iron ore mining created the basis for the development of Suhl as a centre of

gunsmith A gunsmith is a person who repairs, modifies, designs, or builds guns. The occupation differs from an armorer, who usually replaces only worn parts in standard firearms. Gunsmiths do modifications and changes to a firearm that may require a very ...

trade. The

Reformation The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major Theology, theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the p ...

was introduced in 1544. Several witch-hunts took place in the area from 1553 until the late 17th century. When the Henneberg counts became extinct in 1583, Suhl passed to the Wettin electors 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 ...

, where it remained until 1815. Unlike most of present Thuringia, it didn't belong to the Ernestine line of the Wettins, but to the Albertine cadet branch of

Saxe-Zeitz The Duchy of Saxe-Zeitz () was a territory of the Holy Roman Empire established in 1656–57 as a secundogeniture of the Electorate of Saxony, Electoral Saxon house of House of Wettin. Its capital was Zeitz. The territory fell back to the Wettin ...

from 1660, so that it had been a Saxonian and later Prussian exclave within Thuringia for nearly 300 years. During the 16th century, iron mining and metalworking saw a boom, finished by the

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War, fought primarily in Central Europe between 1618 and 1648, was one of the most destructive conflicts in History of Europe, European history. An estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died from battle, famine ...

, when marauding

Croat The Croats (; , ) are a South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and other neighboring countries in Central Europe, Central and Southeastern Europe who share a common Croatian Cultural heritage, ancest ...

mercenaries under Imperial general Johann Ludwig Hektor von Isolani burnt down the city in 1634. From about 1690, Duke Moritz Wilhelm of Saxe-Zeitz supported the reconstruction of Suhl as a mining town.

Since 1815

The

Congress of Vienna The Congress of Vienna of 1814–1815 was a series of international diplomatic meetings to discuss and agree upon a possible new layout of the European political and constitutional order after the downfall of the French Emperor Napoleon, Napol ...

in 1815 led to the Saxonian loss of Suhl, which became part of the Prussian

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 ...

, where it remained from 1815 to 1944 and again shortly in 1945. Staying an exclave within Ernestine territories, Suhl was part of the

district until the dissolution of Prussia in 1945. The later 19th century brought the connection to the railway in 1882 and the industrialisation of the metalworking business. About 1920, Suhl has been a centre of left-wing revolutionary groups, so that the

Reichswehr ''Reichswehr'' (; ) was the official name of the German armed forces during the Weimar Republic and the first two years of Nazi Germany. After Germany was defeated in World War I, the Imperial German Army () was dissolved in order to be reshaped ...

occupied the city (and the neighbour-town Zella-Mehlis) during the Kapp Putsch and ended the workers uprising. After 1935, the military industry saw another boom, caused by the Nazi armament. About 10,000 forced labourers had to work in the city's arms industry after 1940. The US Army reached Suhl on 3 April 1945 and was replaced by Soviet troops on 1 July 1945. At the same year, Suhl became part of Thuringia, which was replaced by three Bezirks in 1952. Suhl became the capital of the south-western Bezirk Suhl, reaching from

Bad Salzungen Bad Salzungen () is a town in Thuringia, Germany. It is the capital of the Wartburgkreis district. Geography Location Bad Salzungen is situated on the river Werra, east of Tiefenort and south of Eisenach. Divisions In July 2018 the form ...

in the north-west to Sonneberg in the south-east with a population of 550,000. During the GDR period, the upgraded city saw rapid urban growth, which is defining until today. After the German reunification in 1990, Suhl lost its administrative functions when Thuringia was refounded and replaced the Bezirks. Furthermore, the industry collapsed. Both led to a structural crises, which isn't overcome yet. The population of Suhl declined about 35% since 1988.

History of arms production

The metal processing of Suhl naturally led, during the

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

, to other major local industries, including gunsmithing and armoring. Suhl was a major producer of cannons throughout the seventeenth and subsequent centuries, and Suhl cannons were used by many European powers. A major arms company that was located in Suhl for almost 200 years was J.P. Sauer und Sohn GmbH, producer of hunting rifles, shotguns, and pistols, such as the Sauer 38H, until moving operations to Eckernförde at the end of World War II. Other prominent firearms manufacturers in Suhl included: * Simson (also known as BSW and then Gustloff Werke under Nazi rule and Ernst Thälmann Suhl under Communist rule) * Waffenfabrik August Menz, noted for having produced in the 1920s the Liliput pistol, one of the smallest semiautomatic handguns ever made. * C.G. Haenel * The largest manufacturer producing firearms currently in Suhl is Merkel GmbH, which make both rifles and shotguns. During the

Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...

, the East German national

shooting Shooting is the act or process of discharging a projectile from a ranged weapon (such as a gun, bow, crossbow, slingshot, or blowpipe). Even the acts of launching flame, artillery, darts, harpoons, grenades, rockets, and guided missile ...

arena was located at Suhl, and hosted many top-level competitions, including the 1986 ISSF World Championships. Although surpassed in this respect in the unified Germany by the Olympic shooting centre at

Munich 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 ...

, Suhl remains an important place to the sport. It hosts Germany's only school for armorers, and a well equipped museum of weapons.

Geography

Topography and geology

Suhl is located on the south-western edge of the

. To the south-west, the Small Thuringian Forest (some foothills of the Thuringian forest) is situated. The terrain is mountainous to all directions, some important mountains are: the Großer Beerberg (983 m, highest one in Thuringia) in the north-east, the Ringberg (745 m), the Döllberg (760 m), the Friedberg (649 m) and the Adlersberg (859 m) in the east, the Steinsburg (641 m) in the south, the Heiliger Berg (513 m), the Domberg (675 m) and the Berg Bock (709 m) in the north-west as well as the Bocksberg (609 m) and the Hoheloh (526 m) within the city. The centre itself is located in an elevation of 450 m and nearly the complete non-build on part of the municipal territory is forested. There are a few small rivers running through Suhl: The Hasel rises at Friedberg in the south-east and runs westward through Suhl, Heinrichs, Mäbendorf, Dietzhausen and Wichtshausen. The Lauter rises on the southern slope of Großer Beerberg mountain and runs through Goldlauter, Lauter and the city centre, before it joins the Hasel behind the station. The Mühlwasser rises on the western slope of Großer Beerberg and runs southward through the northern city parts before it joins the Lauter at the northern city centre. Suhl sits on the southern edge of the ''Suhler Scholle,'' an upthrust

granite Granite ( ) is a coarse-grained (phanerite, phaneritic) intrusive rock, intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly coo ...

complex that is streaked by numerous dikes. This is part of the Ruhla-Schleusingen Horst that defines the southwest side of the

. The southwest side of the ''Suhler Scholle'' abuts horizontal

sedimentary Sedimentary rocks are types of rock formed by the cementation of sediments—i.e. particles made of minerals (geological detritus) or organic matter (biological detritus)—that have been accumulated or deposited at Earth's surface. Sedime ...

layers,

Buntsandstein The Buntsandstein (German for ''coloured'' or ''colourful sandstone'') or Bunter sandstone is a lithostratigraphy, lithostratigraphic and allostratigraphy, allostratigraphic unit (a sequence of rock strata) in the Subsurface (geology), subsurface ...

(

sandstone Sandstone is a Clastic rock#Sedimentary clastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of grain size, sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate mineral, silicate grains, Cementation (geology), cemented together by another mineral. Sand ...

from the

Triassic The Triassic ( ; sometimes symbolized 🝈) is a geologic period and system which spans 50.5 million years from the end of the Permian Period 251.902 million years ago ( Mya), to the beginning of the Jurassic Period 201.4 Mya. The Triassic is t ...

period) over

Zechstein The Zechstein ( German either from ''mine stone'' or ''tough stone'') is a unit of sedimentary rock layers of Late Permian ( Lopingian) age located in the European Permian Basin which stretches from the east coast of England to northern Poland. T ...

(

evaporite An evaporite () is a water- soluble sedimentary mineral deposit that results from concentration and crystallization by evaporation from an aqueous solution. There are two types of evaporite deposits: marine, which can also be described as oce ...

deposits from the

Permian The Permian ( ) is a geologic period and System (stratigraphy), stratigraphic system which spans 47 million years, from the end of the Carboniferous Period million years ago (Mya), to the beginning of the Triassic Period 251.902 Mya. It is the s ...

period). The

of the ''Suhler Scholle'' is capped with

sediments and

igneous Igneous rock ( ), or magmatic rock, is one of the three main rock types, the others being sedimentary and metamorphic. Igneous rocks are formed through the cooling and solidification of magma or lava. The magma can be derived from partial ...

deposits. The higher hills to the northeast are part of the '' Beerberg Scholle'', an irregularly cracked mass of quartz porphyry from the later Permian period. A band of

iron ore Iron ores are rocks and minerals from which metallic iron can be economically extracted. The ores are usually rich in iron oxides and vary in color from dark grey, bright yellow, or deep purple to rusty red. The iron is usually found in the f ...

s follows the fault dividing the ''Suhler Scholle'' from the sedimentary rocks to the southwest, while the

copper Copper is a chemical element; it has symbol Cu (from Latin ) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkish-orang ...

and

silver Silver is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag () and atomic number 47. A soft, whitish-gray, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, and reflectivity of any metal. ...

deposits are to the northeast in the Permian deposits above the ''Suhler Scholle.'' Southeast of town, there is a significant

uranium Uranium is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol U and atomic number 92. It is a silvery-grey metal in the actinide series of the periodic table. A uranium atom has 92 protons and 92 electrons, of which 6 are valence electrons. Ura ...

deposit in the ''Buntsandstein''. Suhl pano

Administrative division

Suhl abuts the following municipalities: Geratal, Elgersburg and Ilmenau within

Ilm-Kreis Ilm-Kreis is a district in Thuringia, Germany. It is bounded by (from the north and clockwise) the city of Erfurt Erfurt () is the capital (political), capital and largest city of the Central Germany (cultural area), Central German state of Th ...

district in the north-east, Nahetal-Waldau, Sankt Kilian, Eichenberg, Grub, Oberstadt and Schmeheim within Hildburghausen district in the south, Dillstädt and Schwarza in the west as well as Benshausen and Zella-Mehlis in the north within Schmalkalden-Meiningen district. Some villages were incorporated during the 20th and 21st century to form the present-day districts of Suhl: * Albrechts (incorporated in 1994) * Dietzhausen (1994) * Gehlberg (2019) * Goldlauter (1979) * Heidersbach (1979) * Heinrichs (1936) * Mäbendorf (1979) * Neundorf (also: ''Suhler Neundorf'', 1936) * Schmiedefeld am Rennsteig (2019) * Vesser (1994) * Wichtshausen (1994)

Cityscape

Suhl's cityscape is marked by the lack of flat ground to build on, which is why the city's morphology appears picked and incoherent. The city centre developed during the Middle Ages around the Marktplatz and the Steinweg (as main street) next to the confluence of ''Lauter'' and ''Rimbach'' river. Later, the city grew to the east and south to the bordering hills and valleys. After World War II, Suhl became the capital of one of the 14 Bezirks in the GDR in 1952. During the following decades, the city doubled its population, many Plattenbau settlements developed at the periphery and the centre got largely converted. The old town around Friedrich-König-Straße was demolished during the 1960s, as were the quarters east of Topfmarkt later. They were rebuilt with contemporary concrete architecture and Plattenbau buildings. The new city centre with all the important public buildings was developed around Friedrich-König-Straße, even with large-scale high-rise buildings. After the reunification, the population shrank heavily, leading to high vacancy rates. The government reacted to this by demolishing some of the Plattenbau settlements at the periphery; some buildings stood only for 20 years. Compared with other East German cities, the fight against vacancy was simpler in Suhl, because vacancy was concentrated at the periphery and not in the city centre (as in the most older cities in East Germany), which made it easy to demolish and renature the areas. A larger problem is vacancy in shops in the city centre, because the retail sector in Suhl has also been in a crisis for many years.

Demographics

¹ Census The area around Suhl was settled during the later Middle Ages, nevertheless, Suhl stayed a village resp. small town of 1,000 to 2,000 inhabitants during this period. The growth of proto-industrial manufacturing businesses in 17th and 18th century led to a first increase of population up to 6,000 around 1800. During the following decades, the industrial revolution in other German regions led to an economic crisis in Suhl, because of the bad traffic conditions for exporting products. Nevertheless, the population grew further to 10,000 in the 1880s, as the city got finally connected to the railway. Compared to other upcoming cities in Germany, the growth of population stayed slight until 1935, as Suhl counted 15,000 inhabitants. Then, the arm production for World War II brought an economic boom to Suhl and a growth of population up to 26,000 in 1940, which stayed the same until the early 1960s. Between 1960 and 1988, the population grew up to 56,000, forced by the government's expansion of Suhl as a capital of one of the 14 Bezirks in GDR. After the reunification in 1990, the city lost its administrative and economic functions, which led to an extreme decline in population. It shrank to 48,000 in 2000 and 36,000 in 2012. With a decline of more than 35% since 1988, Suhl is among the heaviest shrinking cities in Germany. The average decrease of population between 2009 and 2012 was approximately 1.68% p. a, which is faster than in bordering rural regions. Suburbanization played only a small role in Suhl. It occurred after the reunification for a short time in the 1990s, but most of the suburban areas were situated within the administrative city borders. During the 1990s and the 2000s, many inhabitants left Suhl to search a better life in west Germany or other major east German cities like

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 ...

Leipzig Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...

. The birth deficit, caused by the high average age of the population, is becoming a bigger problem because there is no immigration to compensate it yet. Urban planning activities to tear down unused flats led to a relatively low vacancy rate of 8% (according to 2011 EU census), compared with a loss in population of more than 35% since 1988. The birth deficit was 207 in 2012, this is −5.8 per 1,000 inhabitants (Thuringian average: −4.5; national average: −2.4). The net migration rate was −11.5 per 1,000 inhabitants in 2012 (Thuringian average: −0.8; national average: +4.6). The most important target regions of Suhl migrants are other Thuringian regions like Erfurt, Jena and Eisenach same as the western German conurbations. Like other eastern German cities, Suhl has only a small amount of foreign population: around 1.5% are non-Germans by citizenship and overall 3.9% are migrants (according to 2011 EU census). Differing from the national average, the biggest groups of migrants in Suhl are

Russians Russians ( ) are an East Slavs, East Slavic ethnic group native to Eastern Europe. Their mother tongue is Russian language, Russian, the most spoken Slavic languages, Slavic language. The majority of Russians adhere to Eastern Orthodox Church ...

and

Vietnamese people The Vietnamese people (, ) or the Kinh people (), also known as the Viet people or the Viets, are a Southeast Asian ethnic group native to modern-day northern Vietnam and Dongxing, Guangxi, southern China who speak Vietnamese language, Viet ...

. During recent years, the economic situation of the city improved: the unemployment rate declined from 16% in 2006 to 7% in 2013, which is one of the lowest rates among Thuringia's major cities. Due to the official atheism in former GDR, most of the population is non-religious. 12.6% are members of the Evangelical Church in Central Germany and 2.5% are Catholics (according to 2011 EU census).

Politics

The first freely elected mayor after German reunification was Martin Kummer of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), who served from 1990 to 2006. He was succeeded by

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

Jens Triebel from 2006 to 2018. André Knapp of the CDU was elected in 2018, and has since served as mayor. The most recent mayoral election was held on 26 May 2024, and the results were as follows: ! colspan=2, Candidate ! Party ! Votes ! % , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, André Knapp , align=left, Christian Democratic Union , 13,572 , 82.1 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Steffen Hartwig , align=left, The Left , 2,958 , 17.9 , - ! colspan=3, Valid votes ! 16,530 ! 95.8 , - ! colspan=3, Invalid votes ! 726 ! 4.2 , - ! colspan=3, Total ! 17,256 ! 100.0 , - ! colspan=3, Electorate/voter turnout ! 30,226 ! 57.1 , - , colspan=5, Source
Wahlen in Thüringen
The most recent city council election was held on 26 May 2024, and the results were as follows: ! colspan=2, Party ! Lead candidate ! Votes ! % ! +/- ! Seats ! +/- , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Christian Democratic Union (CDU) , align=left, André Knapp , 18,541 , 37.2 , 7.7 , 13 , 2 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left,

Alternative for Germany Alternative for Germany (, AfD, ) is a Far-right politics in Germany (1945–present), far-right,Far-right: * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Right-wing populism, right-wing populist and National conservatism, national-conservative p ...

(AfD) , align=left, Henry Kraus , 11,825 , 23.8 , 11.7 , 9 , 5 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Free Voters (FW) , align=left, Jens Triebel , 5,717 , 11.5 , 7.8 , 4 , 3 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, The Left (Die Linke) , align=left, Philipp Weltzien , 5,352 , 10.8 , 7.5 , 4 , 3 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Social Democratic Party (SPD) , align=left, Annette Nagel , 3,014 , 6.1 , 5.8 , 2 , 2 , - , , align=left, Citizens for Suhl (BfS) , align=left, Michael Brüßler , 2,357 , 4.7 , New , 2 , New , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Alliance 90/The Greens (Grüne) , align=left, Bernhard Hofmeier , 1,810 , 3.6 , 2.1 , 1 , 1 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Free Democratic Party (FDP) , align=left, Andreas Schmidt , 1,161 , 2.3 , 1.0 , 1 , 0 , - ! colspan=3, Valid votes ! 49,777 ! 100.0 ! ! ! , - ! colspan=3, Invalid balltos ! 539 ! 3.1 ! ! ! , - ! colspan=3, Total ballots ! 17,339 ! 100.0 ! ! 36 ! ±0 , - ! colspan=3, Electorate/voter turnout ! 30,226 ! 57.4 ! 2.7 ! ! , - , colspan=8, Source
Wahlen in Thüringen

Economy and infrastructure

Agriculture, industry and services

Agriculture plays no role in Suhl, only 17% of the municipal territory are in agricultural use. The soil isn't very fertile and the climate is harsh, the most cultivated strains are maize and rapeseed, furthermore there is cattle farming on some areas. On the other hand, 63% of the territory are forest, so that wood production plays a role in Suhl. Suhl's industry has always been based on metalworking. In the past, the city was a leading arms producer in Germany and the vehicle production was another pillar of the local industry. After the reunification in 1990, the industry collapsed and the most factories got closed. Important companies of today are ''CDA'', a producer of data replication media, ''Zimbo'', a meat producer, ''Gramss'', an industrial bakery, ''Paragon'', a car parts supplier, and ''Merkel'', the last remained arms producer in Suhl. In 2012, there were 27 companies in industrial production with more than 20 workers employing 2,000 persons and generating a turnover of €295 million. Services in Suhl are including the typical regional supply (like retail, hospital, cinema etc.) and some preserved administrative functions over the surrounding districts like the Industrie- und Handelskammer and the regional centres of Arbeitsagentur and Rentenversicherung. Furthermore, tourism plays a role because of the beautiful landscape around. In 2012, there were 93,000 hotel guests having 245,000 overnight stays in Suhl.

Transport

Suhl connected to the railway quite late, because of its hilly terrain. The Neudietendorf–Ritschenhausen railway through the city was opened in 1882 (southern direction to

) and in 1884 (northern direction to

). It was one of only few main mountain railways in

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, ...

with the large, long Brandleite Tunnel north of the city. Later, this railway became an important link between

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 ...

and south-western Germany, until the inner-German border cut it off in 1949. Since that time, there is only regional traffic on the line (except a short time in 1990s with long-distance trains). The express train runs every two hours to Erfurt in the north and Würzburg in the south, where connections to long-distance trains are given. Furthermore, there are local trains to Erfurt and Meiningen, running also every two hours, so that there is overall a connection once an hour in both directions. Another railway to

was opened in 1911 and closed in 1997. With a gradient of nearly 7%, it was one of the steepest regular railways in Germany. Stations in Suhl besides the main station are located in Heinrichs and Dietzhausen, whereas the Stations Suhler Neundorf and Friedberg at the Schleusingen line are abandoned. Suhl is situated at the junction of

Bundesautobahn 71 is an Autobahn in Germany. It connects the A 38 and Erfurt to the A 70 near Schweinfurt. A further northern extension to the A 14 near Plötzkau has been proposed by the state government of Sachsen-Anhalt.Bundesautobahn 73 (Suhl–Nuremberg). Both got opened during the 2000s and host some impressive bridges and tunnels around Suhl, like the Rennsteig Tunnel in the north and the 82 m high ''Haseltalbrücke'' at Heinrichs district. A

Bundesstraße ''Bundesstraße'' (, ), abbreviated ''B'', is the denotation for German and Austrian national highways. Germany Germany's ''Bundesstraßen'' network has a total length of about 40,000 km. German ''Bundesstraßen'' are labelled with re ...

through Suhl was the Bundesstraße 247 from

in the north to

in the south. It was annulled after the opening of both Autobahns and is now a secondary road. Other important secondary roads run to Meiningen in the west and Ilmenau in the east. Biking is getting more and more popular since the construction of quality cycle tracks began in the 1990s. For tourism serve the ''Hasel track'' from Suhl 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 ...

valley near Meiningen. Furthermore, there are some mountainbiking tracks within the Thuringian Forest. Public transport is carried out by a bus line network connecting the city centre with the outskirts, Zella-Mehlis and neighbouring villages. A trolleybus system was planned during the late 1980s, but not realized after the reunification.

Education

There is only one Gymnasium school left in Suhl, after others were closed due to the decline of the number of children after 1990.

Culture

There are some museums and other cultural institutions in Suhl: * The ''Waffenmuseum'' at Friedrich-König-Straße shows an exhibition about the history of arms production in Suhl. * The ''Fahrzeugmuseum'' at Kongresszentrum hosts an exhibition of vehicles produced by Simson. * The ''Galerie im Atrium'' at Kongresszentrum shows temporary exhibitions of art. * The ''Sternwarte Suhl'' is the city's

observatory An observatory is a location used for observing terrestrial, marine, or celestial events. Astronomy, climatology/meteorology, geophysics, oceanography and volcanology are examples of disciplines for which observatories have been constructed. Th ...

at Hoheloh hill, south-west of the city centre. * The ''Tierpark Suhl'' is the zoological garden of the city at Carl-Fiedler-Straße on the eastern city border. * The municipal orchestra, founded in 1953 and based in the ''Kulturhaus'' at Friedrich-König-Straße was closed in 2009.

Sights

The most significant sights in Suhl are: * St. Mary's Church is the evangelical main parish church of Suhl, built between 1753 and 1756 in late-Baroque style * The Holy Cross Church is the second evangelical parish church at Steinweg, built between 1731 and 1739 in Baroque style. * The Holy Cross Chapel behind the eponymous church is one of the oldest buildings in Suhl, established in 1618 Gothic style. * The town hall at Marktplatz was built between 1812 and 1817 and modified in 1913 to Neo-Baroque style. * The ''Malzhaus'' at Friedrich-König-Straße was built around 1650 and hosts the ''Waffenmusuem'' today. * The ''Kulturhaus'' at Friedrich-König-Straße was built in 1957 in Neo-Classicist style and demolished in 2013. Only the façade and the lobby remained. * Some buildings of the former Simson factory between the Heinrichs and Mäbendorf districts in

Bauhaus The Staatliches Bauhaus (), commonly known as the , was a German art school operational from 1919 to 1933 that combined Decorative arts, crafts and the fine arts.Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 4th edn., ...

-modern architecture of 1920s and 1930s remained. * The new municipal library at Bahnhofstraße was built in 2004 in form of a glass cube. * Some older buildings remained in the district of ''Heinrichs'' (including the church, town hall and some picturesque timber-framed houses) west of the city centre.

Image gallery

Marienkirche Suhl Pano-3.jpg, St. Mary's Church Thuringia Suhl asv2020-07 img19 Cross Church.jpg, Holy Cross Church Suhl-Kreuzkapelle.jpg, Holy Cross Chapel Thuringia Suhl asv2020-07 img08 Town hall.jpg, Town hall Thuringia Suhl asv2020-07 img20 PlDerDtEinheit.jpg, Malzhaus hosting the arms museum Thuringia Suhl asv2020-07 img22 PlDerDtEinheit.jpg, Kulturhaus Heinrichs-Rathaus1.jpg, Town hall of Heinrichs district

Twin towns – sister cities

Suhl is twinned with: *

České Budějovice České Budějovice (; ) is a city in the South Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 97,000 inhabitants. The city is located in the valley of the Vltava River, at its confluence with the Malše. České Budějovice is the largest ...

, Czech Republic *

Bègles Bègles (; Gascon language, Gascon: ''Begla'') is a Communes of France, commune in the Gironde Departments of France, department in southwestern France. It is a suburb of the city of Bordeaux and is adjacent to it on the south. Bègles station h ...

, France *

Kaluga Kaluga (, ) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative center of Kaluga Oblast, Russia. It stands on the Oka River southwest of Moscow. Its population was 337,058 at the 2021 census. Kaluga's most famous residen ...

, Russia *

Lahti Lahti (; ) is a city in Finland and the regional capital of Päijät-Häme. It is located in the Finnish Lakeland. The population of Lahti is approximately , while the Lahti sub-region, sub-region has a population of approximately . It is the mo ...

, Finland *

Leszno Leszno (, , ) is a historic city in western Poland, seat of Leszno County within the Greater Poland Voivodeship. It is the seventh-largest city in the province with an estimated population of 62,200, as of 2021. Leszno is a former residential cit ...

, Poland *

Smolyan Smolyan () is a List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, town and ski resort in the south of Bulgaria near the border with Greece. It is the administrative and industrial centre of the Smolyan Province. The town is built along the narrow valley of t ...

, Bulgaria *

, Germany In October 2024 the city council voted to turn down a request from the Ukrainian city of Podilsk.https://www.mdr.de/nachrichten/thueringen/sued-thueringen/suhl/absage-staedtepartnerschaft-ukraine-podilsk-100.html

Notable people

* Friedrich Wilhelm Adami (1816–1889), journalist * Christoph Bach (1613–1661), composer * Georg Christoph Bach (1642–1697), composer, progenitor of the Frankish Bach-line, from 1661 to 1668 cantor and schoolmaster in Heinrichs in Suhl * Wilhelm Cuno (1876–1933), politician and businessman, German chancellor 1922–1923 * Claus Peter Flor (born 1953), conductor * Paul Greifzu (1902–1952), racing driver and racecar constructor *

Corinna Harfouch Corinna Harfouch (; ; born 16 October 1954) is a German actress. Early life and education Harfouch was born in Suhl, East Germany, the daughter of the teacher Wolfgang Meffert and his wife Marianne (née Kleber). She worked as a nurse and stu ...

(born 1954), actress * Sandra Hüller (born 1978), actress * Johann Peter Kellner (1705–1772), composer and organ builder * Friedrich Koenig (1774–1833), contributed as an inventor of the flatbed press a decisive contribution to the development of the printing industry and worked for some time in Suhl * André Lange (born 1973), bobsledder, multiple Olympic and world champion * Hugo Schmeisser (1884–1953), developer of infantry weapons *

Louis Schmeisser Louis Schmeisser (5 February 1848, Zöllnitz – 23 March 1917) was one of the best-known weapon technical designers of Europe. He is associated with the development and production of the Bergmann machine guns used during the World War I, Firs ...

(1848–1917), weapon technical designer * Moses Simson (1808–1868) and Lob Simson (1806–1862), founders of the Simson works

References

External links

Official website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Suhl Towns in Thuringia Urban districts of Thuringia