Förtha

Förtha community Gerstungen Coordinates: 50 ° 56 ′ 22 ″  N , 10 ° 14 ′ 13 ″  E
Height :	262  (250-280)  m above sea level NN
Area :	8.2 km²
Incorporation :	January 1, 1996
Incorporated into:	Marksuhl
Postal code :	99834
Area code :	036925
Location of Förtha in Thuringia
View from the south over the locality of Förtha

Förtha is a district of the Gerstungen municipality in the Wartburg district in Thuringia .

location

The district of Förtha is located in the western part of the Thuringian Forest in the Elte valley , about three kilometers north of the town of Marksuhl and about 14 kilometers (as the crow flies ) from the district town of Bad Salzungen . The Epichnellen district to the east also belongs to the Förtha location . The total area of ​​the district Förtha with Eppichnellen is 8.20 km².

history

Förtha was first mentioned in a document in 1239.

War memorial and Anger in Förtha, on the right the sacristy of the church, in the background the parish hall

At the Förtha stop

According to local tradition, the place Förtha was created at a ford over the Elte . The course of the Altstraße, which runs from Frankfurt via Vacha and Marksuhl to Eisenach, can still be documented in the terrain by numerous ravines. Above the village, an artificial hill marks the location of a small hilltop castle on Burghahn . According to Köhler, there was a small medieval fortification on the site of the Förtha churchyard in the western part of the village. The church tower still has narrow slit-like windows and so still indicates that he was ready to defend himself. The route, known locally as Alte Frankfurter Strasse , passed the Grüner Jäger inn and crossed the Rennsteig at the Vachaer Stein . In this area north of the village of Förtha, numerous pits for the extraction of copper ore have been built since the 15th century. The ores were initially smelted at the smelters in Stedtfeld and Neuenhof and Attchenbach near Eckardtshausen. Mining continued in the Epichnellen district until the 1950s.

In 1383 the von Brandenstein family sold their property in Vherde to the Michaeliskloster Jena . In 1447 the Lords of Herda had extensive possessions in Furtte . From 1517 the place is called Fordt in Eisenach documents and Fortte from 1529 .

In 1879, based on the census of 1875, statistical information on the location was published for the first time. This year Förtha had 73 houses with 382 inhabitants. The size of the field was 417.0 hectares of which courtyards and gardens 5.8 hectares, meadows 49.8 hectares, arable land 151.9 hectares. Forest 104.8 hectares, ponds, streams and rivers 0.14 hectares, on paths, drifts , Wasteland and orchards accounted for 104.4 hectares. The livestock of the place: 13 horses, 184 cattle, 159 sheep, 108 pigs and 44 goats also 19 beehives.

On April 5, 1945 there were heavy defensive battles in the Förtha area against the advancing US Army , which was then able to occupy the place in the late afternoon. 14 German dead are in the Förtha cemetery, others are probably buried in the central cemetery near Hötzelsroda .

traffic

Road traffic

The place Förtha is on the federal highway 84 (section Eisenach - Marksuhl), the provincial road 1020 (section Förtha - Oberellen) and the provincial road 3020 (section Förtha - Wolfsburg-Unkeroda ).

Rail transport

There are stops of the Werra Railway in Förtha, Marksuhl and Ettenhausen an der Suhl . There is a connection to the Intercity and ICE network of Deutsche Bahn in Eisenach. After the Berlin Wall was erected, the GDR built a single-track bypass line, the Förtha – Gerstungen line , in 1961/62 , which branched off the Werrabahn at Förtha and flowed east of Gerstungen into the Thuringian Railway . After reunification, this temporary facility was closed. To the northeast of the village, the Werra Railway crosses the Förthaer Tunnel .

Transportation

The following bus routes run by the Verkehrsgemeinschaft Wartburgregion (VGW) operate to Förtha :

line	Route	operator
110	Eisenach - Förtha - Marksuhl - Vacha - Geisa - Tann (Rhön) "Rhönkurier"	Wartburgmobil transport company
117	Eisenach - Förtha - Unterellen - Lauchröden	Wartburgmobil transport company
118	Eisenach - Förtha - Eckardtshausen	Wartburgmobil transport company
119	Eisenach - Förtha - Marksuhl - Kupersuhl	Wartburgmobil transport company
180	Eisenach - Förtha - Gerstungen - Großensee	Traffic Werra OHG
183	Eisenach - Eckardtshausen - Förtha - Gerstungen	Traffic Werra OHG

Attractions

The most striking attraction of Förtha is the oldest preserved building in the village, the Förtha Church from 1430.

Personalities

• Günter Möller (1934–2008), Lieutenant General of the Ministry for State Security (MfS) and head of the Management and Training Department

literature

• Erich Winter: The village settlements of the Eisenacher Land between Werra, Hainich and Thuringian Forest . Jena 1932, p. 78 .

Individual evidence

1. ^ Wolfgang Kahl : First mention of Thuringian cities and villages , Rockstuhl Bad-Langensalza publishing house, 5th edition ISBN 978-3-86777-202-0 , p. 76
2. ↑ Michael Köhler: Thuringian castles and fortified prehistoric and early historical living spaces. Jenzig-Verlag, 2001, ISBN 3-910141-43-9 , pp. 101/102.
3. ^ C. Kronfeld: Regional studies of the Grand Duchy of Saxony-Weimar-Eisenach . Second part. Weimar 1879. p. 47.
4. ^ Rainer Lämmerhirt: The fight for the Werra line in April 1945 . Rockstuhl Verlag, Bad Langensalza 2005. ISBN 3-937135-64-2 . Pp. 76-77
5. ^ Gerd Bergmann, Otto Mayer: The railway in the Wartburgland. Expansion and reconstruction of the route network . In: Eisenacher Tourismus Information (ed.): Eisenacher writings on local history . Issue 35. Druck- und Verlagshaus Frisch, Eisenach 1987, p. 47- .

Web links

Commons : Förtha  - collection of images, videos and audio files