Concept

Thuringia

Overview

Thuringia (English: ; German: Thüringen [ˈtyːʁɪŋən] officially the Free State of Thuringia, Freistaat Thüringen [ˈfʁaɪʃtaːt ˈtyːʁɪŋən]) is a landlocked state in central Germany. With 2.1 million people, it is 12th-largest by population, and with 16,171 square kilometers, it is 11th-largest in area. It is the country's centermost state.

Erfurt is the capital and largest city. Other cities include Jena, Gera and Weimar. Thuringia is bordered by Bavaria, Hesse, Lower Saxony, Saxony, and Saxony-Anhalt. It has been known as "the green heart of Germany" (das grüne Herz Deutschlands) from the late 19th century due to its broad, dense forest. Most of Thuringia is in the Saale drainage basin, a left-bank tributary of the Elbe.

The Frankish Duchy of Thuringia was established around 631 AD by King Dagobert I. The modern state was established in 1920 by the Weimar Republic through a merger of the Ernestine duchies, save for Saxe-Coburg. After World War II, Thuringia came under the Soviet occupation zone in Allied-occupied Germany, and its borders were reformed, to become contiguous. Thuringia became part of the German Democratic Republic in 1949, but was dissolved in 1952 during administrative reforms, and divided into the Districts of Erfurt, Suhl and Gera. Thuringia was re-established in 1990 following German reunification, slightly re-drawn, and became one of the new states of the Federal Republic of Germany.

Thuringia is home to the Rennsteig, Germany's best-known hiking trail. Its winter resort of Oberhof makes it a well-equipped winter sports destination – half of Germany's 136 Winter Olympic gold medals had been won by Thuringian athletes as of 2014. Thuringia was favoured by or was the birthplace of three key intellectuals and leaders in the arts: Johann Sebastian Bach, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, and Friedrich Schiller. The state is home to the University of Jena, the Ilmenau University of Technology, the University of Erfurt, Bauhaus University of Weimar and the Schmalkalden University of Applied Sciences.

Overview adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0; see the article history for authors).

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The most insignificant Doctor of Philosophy, nay, even the student, has no further use for a complete "system." In the modern state, it is predicated that every citizen is able to pass judgment on all the questions upon which he is called upon to vote; in political economy it is assumed that every consumer is thoroughly acquainted with all commodities, which he has occasion to buy to maintain himself withal, and the…
Friedrich Engels, Landmarks of Scientific Socialism
States what Thuringia is.
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To the Illustrious, High-born Prince and Lord, John Duke of Saxony, Landgrave of Thuringia, Margrave of Meissen, my gracious Lord and Patron. Illustrious, High-born Prince, gracious Lord! My humble duty and my feeble prayer for your Grace always remembered!
Martin Luther, A Treatise on Good Works
Opens on Thuringia; names Thuringia.
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The composition of the different classes of the people which form the groundwork of every political organization was, in Germany, more complicated than in any other country. While in England and France feudalism was entirely destroyed, or, at least, reduced, as in the former country, to a few insignificant forms, by a powerful and wealthy middle class, concentrated in large towns, and particularly in the capital…
Friedrich Engels, Revolution and Counter-Revolution
Close in meaning to Thuringia; the term itself is not named.
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Thuringia

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