History of the city of Meiningen
This article deals with the history of the city of Meiningen in southern Thuringia .
Before the first mention
The first traces of settlement in the Meiningen urban area were found in 2015 during an archaeological excavation in the middle of the old town district of Töpfemarkt. Evidence of the Cord Ceramic Culture (2800–2200 BC) was found here from the end of the Neolithic . In the gravel of a flood- protected flood terrace of the Werra near a ford , post pits from residential houses, ceramic remains and stone tools from the Neolithic age were discovered under medieval foundation walls .
In the Bronze and Iron Ages , the grave field and the Werra valley in the Meiningen area were densely populated by Celts . Among other things, early Celtic settlements near Untermaßfeld (1970) and on the grounds of the English Garden in Meiningen (1861) were found. From the turn of the times to the 4th century, the Werra valley was practically uninhabited.
It was not until the 5th century that Germanic tribes settled here, whose settlements had the typical endings “-ungen” or “-ingen”. The origin of the name Meiningen can be traced back to these Germanic tribes. In the early Middle Ages , the upper Werra valley around Meiningen belonged to the eastern part of the Franconian Empire known as Austrasia . After 900 it was part of the Grabfeld Gau in the newly formed Duchy of Franconia .
Meiningen was probably created in the 6th or 7th century in the course of the formation of the Franconian Empire, which was pursued with the creation of trade routes , river crossings and border marks . An intersection of two such trade routes and a ford was at today's southern end of the old town on the Werra (The area is identical to the settlement from the Neolithic Age, see above.). One of these trade routes was the so-called Hohe Straße , which led from the Gotha area via Schmalkalden and Meiningen to Würzburg. The other road came via Rohr and the "Hohe Maas" from the Erfurt area. Further fords through the Werra existed in the area of what later became known as the “Untere lawn”, today's Volkshausplatz, and south of today's Elisabethenburg Castle , where previously there was a moated castle from the 11th century. In 2012, during construction work, wooden pile foundations from a time long before the castle was discovered. Furthermore, in 2011 archaeological excavations in the south of the old town found regular graves from the early Middle Ages (around the 8th century).
The emergence of Meiningen at the latest in the 7th century can be traced back to the establishment of a Franconian royal court at this place, the Germanic origin of the name, due to new archaeological finds and the documented function as the main place and namesake of the Meininger Mark (Meiningermarca) , an administrative unit in the Gau Grabfeld of the Franconian Empire.
First mention and Middle Ages
Emperor Otto II handed over his royal estate "Meiningen in der Meininger Mark" (original writing: ... in villis Meininga in Meiningermarca ...) to the monastery "Peterskirche" in Aschaffenburg on October 1st, 982 in Capua . According to current knowledge, the Königsgut and the village of Meiningen with the parish church " St. Martin " were located near a ford through the Werra in what is now the south of the old town. A few years later Meiningen fell back to the empire under Emperor Otto III. back as royal property. In addition to the main town of a mark, a subordinate administrative unit in the Grabfeld district, Meiningen was also the seat of a tithe .
Around 1000 the construction of a church began, which still exists today after many renovations as the town church of St. Mary (first documented mention in 1008). With the growing population, ever-growing trade and location of a decade, the had to consult regularly to pay their taxes, the farmers in the area, was built next to the church soon a market that over the next decades into a market town developed.
As compensation for the loss of territory due to the establishment of the diocese of Bamberg handed 1008 King Henry II. The Bishopric of Würzburg Meiningen among other places than fiefdom ( "... in Vico opinions ..."). The Bishopric of that of the bishops of the diocese Würzburg as princes ruled territory, Meiningen belonged now 534 years long with a few brief interruptions. In 1033, during a visit , Bishop Bruno arranged for the church, which had previously existed in a simple form, to be expanded. In 1058 Bishop Adalbero gave Meiningen to the Polish Queen Richeza by exchange , but after her death in 1063 it came back into possession of the diocese. During this time the parish rights passed from the Church of St. Martin to the Church of St. Mary. In 1067 there was a great famine in the village due to bad harvests. In 1153 the plague raged in Meiningen, the place was also awarded the first town charter by the sovereign with jurisdiction , but was not yet designated as a town according to previous established knowledge.
In the 11th century who built the Würzburg to protect market settlement as Wasserburg the Meiningen at the site of today's castle Elisabethenburg that is mentioned in documents for the first time 1,168th Episcopal castle men in that epoch included Gumbert von Meiningen (1168), Berthold von M. (1206) and Otto von M. (1240). At that time, Meiningen consisted mainly of single-storey half - timbered houses . It was inhabited by craftsmen, arable farmers and the castle men with their entourage. In 1175 a lightning strike set the town hall on fire, as a result of which part of the village burned down. Another famine was reported in 1191, when wolves invaded the city and in the camp of Emperor Henry VI. that he pitched in Meiningen for a short time, tore up provisions cattle.
In attempting the würzburgische exclave Meiningen, the northernmost city of the Bishopric of Würzburg, the sphere of the county Henneberg incorporate, 1222 the city suffered during military conflicts between the Bishop Otto I. Würzburg and the Count Poppo VII. Severity of Henneberg destruction.
The development towards the city and the late Middle Ages
In 1230 Meiningen was first mentioned in a document as a city ( civitas ). This document contains a judicial decision in which Count Poppo VII had to waive all claimed rights to the city of Meiningen. The exact year of the city's appointment is unfortunately no longer known, but this was probably between 1200 and 1230. The first coat of arms contained a city wall crowned by three towers with an open gate into which a bridge leads. The bridge was later replaced by the image of a bishop with a miter . During this time the citizens began to fortify the city. Already protected by the Werra in the west, the first three water ditches fed by the river were built, which surrounded the urban area in the south, east and north. Meiningen was completely surrounded by water. This was followed by the construction of a double city wall with a kennel , around 20 defense towers and the gate towers Oberes Tor and Unteres Tor. Later the Upper and Lower Landwehr was built upstream to the south and north of the city, crossing the valley . To date, two of the moats are almost complete as bleaching ditches and parts of the land defense have been preserved.
On the previously undeveloped area between the market, the castle and the lower gate, the city laid out a street grid that was completely built up by the end of the 13th century. From 1232 to 1243 monks laid four well pipes to supply fresh water to the city. From 1239 to 1242, Minorites of the Franciscan Order built the Franciscan Monastery of Meiningen between the castle and the Lower Gate . The monastery church was consecrated on May 15, 1242. In 1276 the first major expansion of the town church was completed with the construction of the western front and two towers of the same height. In 1277 an earthquake with several aftershocks shook the Meiningen area. While the church of St. Martin with a cemetery outside the city wall remained, around 1300 the original settlement around this church became deserted . In 1300 Meiningen concluded a friendship contract with the city of Mühlhausen , in which a Meiningen city court can be proven. In order to counter the regular flooding in the city, the citizens raised the level of the streets by around one meter at the beginning of the 14th century. The floor inside the church was also raised almost a meter.
At the request of the Würzburg bishop and sovereign Otto II. , On October 19, 1344, Emperor Ludwig IV (the Bavarian) in Würzburg granted the city of Meiningen the rights of the free imperial city of Schweinfurt (“after the vleizziger prayer of the real Otten bishop of Wirtzburg siner and sins stiftes stat Meiningen vnd ... the burgers all who lined up and gave it the habit […] of ours and the empire stat Swynfurt vnd ... the burgers have the same [...] there ”). These extended city rights meant that the citizens of Meiningen had extensive autonomy vis-à-vis the sovereign. The urban bourgeoisie was able to gain in importance and economic power. In 1347 a plague epidemic hit the city, killing many residents. The Jews were blamed for the epidemic, they were arrested on April 10, 1349 and their synagogue was destroyed. On July 17, 1349, on the orders of the bishop, all Jews were killed on the lower lawn. In 1380 a city fire destroyed around a quarter of the city, including the council archive, whereby valuable documents were irretrievably lost. In 1384 the citizens of Meiningen erected an atonement chapel on the square of the razed synagogue as a sign of repentance for the persecution of the Jews in 1349 .
In the course of the following decades Meiningen rebelled again and again against the increasing taxes and curtailment of rights against Bishop Gerhard von Schwarzburg . The city joined forces with ten other cities of the Würzburg bishopric to form the Eleven Cities Association and took part in the "Franconian City War" against the diocese from 1396–1399. In 1399 Meiningen, besieged by the Würzburg troops, surrendered, as did the town of Ebern , while the other towns continued to defy the episcopal troops. The city war ended in January 1400 at the Battle of Bergtheim with the defeat of the rebels, mostly citizens of Würzburg, against episcopal troops. The bishop then curtailed even more rights of all cities. In 1406 Bishop Johann I pledged the town and office of Meiningen to the gentlemen " von der Tann ". Because of discrepancies, Bishop Johann II took back the town and office by military force in 1418. In a civil uprising on August 10, 1432, the Meininger destroyed the Würzburg castle and expelled the castle men, as they incurred the anger of the citizens through attacks on the population. In 1434, Bishop Johann II transferred the town of Meiningen to the County of Henneberg as a pledge of debt , which Bishop Rudolf II did not redeem until 1495.
At the end of the 15th century, two devastating city fires destroyed almost the entire city. The fire of March 28, 1475 destroyed around three quarters of Meiningen. 26 people were killed. On May 28, 1478, the previously spared urban area burned down. The Meininger were able to save the town church and individual town houses.
Economic boom at the beginning of modern times
In the 15th century, the textile industry, brewing, metalworking and trade gained in importance and ensured a gradual economic boom in Meiningen. From 1509 to 1511 , Bishop Lorenz von Bibra had a new castle built on the site of the castle that was destroyed in 1432 . In the Peasants' War of 1525, the town joined the Bildhäuser Haufen peasant army , which was later defeated by princely troops at the Battle of Meiningen near Drei 30acker . Thereupon Meiningen was punished with sanctions and executions of citizens and the pastor. The city also lost the independence it had achieved over the centuries, in which the diocese put an episcopal authority in place of the municipal council.
In 1542, the town and the Meiningen office were swapped with the Mainberg office to the neighboring Counts of Henneberg . In 1544 the Reformation was introduced in Meiningen like in the whole of the Henneberger Land . After the Henneberg Counts died out in 1583, Meiningen and the county came to the Wettin Duchy of Saxony , whose Ernestine and Albertine lines initially administered the county together. The Wettins chose Meiningen as the seat of the Henneberg government .
Meiningen achieved a great economic boom through the barchent and linen weaving, dyeing and fabric trade, which lasted until the beginning of the 17th century and let the population rise to almost 5,000. In 1614, for example, 234 master craftsmen produced 37,312 cloths that were traded all over Europe. This heyday was ended abruptly by the Thirty Years' War , as a result of which the city was plundered several times and the population was halved due to the chaos of war. In 1634 Meiningen survived this period relatively unscathed by the extortion of 3000 thalers, despite looting and some pillage by the Croats under the general Isolani . The insolvent neighboring towns, however, were set on fire. Most recently, Meiningen owed its strong city fortifications, built over centuries, that it resisted attacks by Swedish troops in 1641. Martinskirche, on the other hand, was destroyed and rebuilt in 1658.
Meiningen was hit by the persecution of witches from 1600 to 1692 . 94 women and 19 men from the city and the surrounding area got into witch trials , 59 women and four men were executed. Further witch hunts took place in the districts of Drei 30 , Herpf and Welkershausen .
In 1660 Meiningen came to the Duchy of Saxony-Altenburg and thus became finally Ernestine . In 1672 the city changed to the Duchy of Saxony-Gotha . In 1673, Duke Ernst I arranged for the city fortifications to be reinforced with forts and drawbridges in front of the city gates .
Meiningen as the capital and residence city
After several inheritance divisions in the Duchy of Saxony-Gotha, the Duchy of Saxony-Meiningen was formed under Duke Bernhard I in 1680 , which expanded several times until it was dissolved in 1918. Meiningen became the capital and residence . In 1682 construction began on the Elisabethenburg residential palace in place of the Würzburg castle. Of this only the so-called Bibra building remained as the north wing. In 1690 the duke founded the court chapel , and in 1692 the palace park was initially laid out as a Renaissance garden.
Since the reign of Bernhard's grandchildren, the dukes, enlightened and liberal, both religiously and politically, strived for the well-being of their country and attached importance to being close to the people. Under the protection of Duchess Charlotte Amalie von Sachsen-Meiningen, the Freemason Lodge Charlotte was founded on September 29, 1773 for the three carnations . This opened the first teacher training college in Thuringia in 1776. From 1778 to 1782 Duke Georg I had parts of the city fortifications with the Upper Gate demolished and from 1782 the English Garden laid out. Also in 1782, Friedrich Schiller was a guest at the “Zum Braunen Hirsch” inn during his escape from Württemberg, before he traveled on to Bauerbach , where he found asylum with Henriette von Woliehen.
At the end of October 1813, the Russian army with 70,000 soldiers and 2,300 officers camped under Tsar Alexander during his campaign against Napoleon in and around Meiningen. The Tsar had his accommodation in the “Zum Braunen Hirsch” inn, which also served as the headquarters of the Prussian army that had been drawn along . The Tsar was accompanied by the Meiningen general and wing adjutant Ludwig von Wolhaben , who was serving in the Russian army at the time. As a friend and guest at the court of Duchess Louise Eleonore , Tsar Alexander refrained from symbolically handing over the keys to the city.
The monastery complex and the lower gate tower were torn down in 1817. Duchess Louise Eleonore had the Bernhardinum grammar school built there from 1817 to 1821 . In 1829 the Duchy of Saxony-Meiningen received a new constitution in which, among other things, the formation of the Meiningen Landtag was established through the unification of the previous estates. The Landtag moved into the newly built landscape building on the market in 1932. In 1831, Duke Bernhard II opened the first Meiningen court theater , built by the court architect Carl Theodor Ottmer . From 1849 the city developed through the founding of the Herzogliche Landeskreditanstalt (1849), the Mitteldeutsche Creditbank (1856), the Deutsche Hypothekenbank (1862), the Bank für Thüringen (1905), some local private banks such as the BM Strupp bank and branches outside of Germany Banks, including the Reichsbank (1903), became one of the most important financial centers in Germany. Meiningen was connected to the German rail network as early as 1858 with the opening of the Werra Railway. After the war between Prussia and Austria in 1866, Duke Bernhard II, who was on the side of the Austrians, had to abdicate in order to save the duchy from being taken over by the victorious Prussians. His son Hereditary Prince Georg became his successor as Duke Georg . With the construction of the main barracks in 1867 and the north barracks in 1895, Meiningen distinguished itself as a garrison town. The 2nd Thuringian Infantry Regiment No. 32 was stationed in both barracks .
In 1868 the duchy was divided into districts and Meiningen became one of four district towns. The art-loving Duke George II. Reformed and his wife Baroness Helene von Heldburg and director Ludwig Chronegk the director's theater and went into the cultural history of this important theater reform. From 1874 to 1890, the “ Meininger ” ensemble of the court theater gave numerous guest performances throughout Europe.
A devastating city fire on September 5, 1874 destroyed around a third of the buildings in the city center, including the town hall and the state parliament building. The reconstruction was carried out with the support of donations from many German cities in the classicist style, which gave Meiningen a new Wilhelminian- style district that still shapes the cityscape today . As a reminder, the coats of arms of the 14 largest donor cities were attached to the facade of the bank for Thuringia built in 1908 , and two streets were named Berlin and Leipzig. In addition to the town hall, the “Erbprinz” hotel, the imperial post office and the state parliament building were newly built . Also in 1874, with the inauguration of the Bavarian railway station, the railway line Schweinfurt – Meiningen operated by the Bavarian State Railroad began operations. The new railway line brought about major topographical changes in the southern station area and made it necessary to build a 100-meter-long road tunnel.
The ducal house was able to prevent the industrialization of Meiningen for the sake of a clean royal seat. Nevertheless, the number of inhabitants doubled between 1870 and 1910 and the city grew far beyond its medieval borders. In the north, west and east, extensive new residential areas, residential areas and some commercial areas were created, and large representative administrative and cultural buildings were built around the city center.
In 1880, Duke Georg II brought the conductor and composer Hans von Bülow to Meiningen, who developed the Meiningen court orchestra into a top European orchestra that gave concerts all over Europe until 1914. The Deutsche Hypothekenbank (1899) and the Bank für Thüringen (1908) built new, impressive bank buildings on Leipziger Strasse. In March 1908 the traditional court theater burned down. The new house, built by the architect Karl Behlert , was opened in December 1909. In the following years, the Struppsche Villa (1909), the New Citizens School (1911/1914 Prince Friedrich School / today Powder Lawn School) and the Schützenhaus Hall (1913 / today Volkshaussaal) were built as buildings that still shape the cityscape today. In 1914 the main workshop of the Prussian State Railroad , later RAW (Reichsbahnausbesserungswerk) and today's Meiningen steam locomotive works , started its work. On June 25, 1914, Georg II, not only the most important Duke of Saxony-Meiningen, died, but also the most important son of the city of Meiningen.
After the abdication of Duke Bernhard III. and the resignation of the cabinet as a result of the November Revolution in 1918, Meiningen became the capital of the Free State of Saxony-Meiningen , the successor state to the Duchy of Saxony-Meiningen. In 1919, the director of the Meiningen court theater, Franz Ulbrich , founded the Academy of Dramatic Art . In 1920 the Free State of Saxony-Meiningen became one of the seven founding states in the State of Thuringia and Meiningen became a district town .
1920 to 1952
Weimar Republic
The Meininger Theater developed into an expressionist stage in the early 1920s , on which a number of avant-garde writers and dramatists premiered their plays. With Helba , the first incorporation of a place into Meiningen took place in 1923. In the same year the Thuringian State Archives Meiningen was founded. On October 13, 1923 there was a serious incident between the people of Meiningen and the Reichswehr during the Meiningen Blood Night , which claimed three lives and five seriously injured.
In 1927 a commercial airfield was built on the Rohrer Berg with the Meiningen airfield , which belonged to the German airline network and was served by the Nordbayrische Verkehrsflug GmbH Fürth . In 1931 Adolf Hitler visited the city for an election rally. A major event in the history of the city was the landing of the airship LZ 127 “Graf Zeppelin” on October 11, 1931 at Meiningen airfield, which was attended by around 100,000 onlookers.
Mainly from the Meiningen RAW workers, an association of people developed between 1919 and 1933, which built the Bakuninhütte (from 1925) and since then has again influenced political and cultural life in Meiningen.
National Socialism and World War II
During the Nazi era , one of the persecuted opponents of the regime in Meiningen was the communist and Jewish woman Bella Aul, who is now remembered by a plaque on her former home in Bella-Aul-Strasse. In 1936 Welkershausen was incorporated. When the Wehrmacht was rearmamented by the Nazi regime , the Barbarakaserne and Drachenberg barracks were rebuilt. The 74th Artillery Regiment and the 2nd Rifle Regiment of the Wehrmacht moved there. The Meiningen synagogue was looted and devastated during the November pogrom in 1938 and demolished in 1939. A memorial erected on their former location in 1988 commemorates them and the Jewish community. At the “Judenhaus” on Sachsenstrasse 5/6 a plaque commemorates the Jews who were housed there before their deportation. On July 9, 1939, the LZ 130 made another zeppelin landing on the airfield.
During the Second World War , Meiningen developed into a city of the Red Cross with numerous hospitals that could treat up to 1,600 wounded . The National Socialists deployed around 2,100 prisoners of war , military internees and forced laborers in several factories in the city . In the park cemetery there are graves of numerous victims of forced labor from several nations, for whom a memorial was erected there in 1958.
From August 1943 to 1945, the Drachenberg barracks housed part of the OKW Wehrmacht Information Center (WASt) department with 1400 employees, which was relocated here due to the constant air raids on Berlin . The other part was housed in Saalfeld . From April 6, 1944, the military district command IX set up the prisoner -of- war camp Stalag IX C (b), which served as a military hospital, for western allied aircraft crews on the grounds of the rifle house. Here the Wehrmacht interned mainly British and American pilots and officers with officers who suffered wounds during combat and shooting down until liberation by US troops.
→ Main article : Air raids on Meiningen
During the war, the city was hit by two major air raids on Meiningen , as well as isolated bombs . The heaviest bombardment was carried out by the 1st Air Division of the 8th Air Force as part of Operation Clarion on February 23, 1945 with 49 B-17 bombers . They dropped 147.5 tons of bombs, killing 208 people and totally destroying 251 houses and farm buildings, and another 440 buildings were badly damaged. The second major attack in March 1945 destroyed the Gustloff factory and some residential buildings in the north of the city. The stated primary targets of all attacks were transport facilities and the Reichsbahn repair shop, which, however, was not bombed.
On March 27, 1945 Fritz Sauckel was in Meiningen and declared the city a fortress. To combat commander Colonel Rudel Dorff was appointed, who published on April 1, one day command as a leaflet, instituted a Versprengtensammelstelle and his command post at the Palais " Helen pin instituted". At that time, around 2000 German and Hungarian soldiers were available to Rudelsdorff. Meiningen was no longer an open city. On April 2, 1945, the 11th Panzer Division of the United States Army under Colonel Virgil Bell approached the city from Fulda. Knowing about the numerous Wehrmacht units still existing in Meiningen and the goal of reaching the Rennsteig quickly, the units split up at Herpf , circumvented the city north and south, reunited at Zella-Mehlis and thus surrounded Meiningen. There was a little skirmish at Stillhof in the south of the city. The entire "Tank Reconnaissance Training Unit No. 9" stationed in Meiningen used a gap south of the city that was created by the rapid advance of the Americans to move towards Bavaria. Colonel Rudelsdorff also withdrew part of his command post in view of the hopeless situation.
End of war and post-war period
On April 5, units of the 11th US Armored Division, coming from Zella-Mehlis, advanced to Meiningen. Colonel Bell divided his units into two task forces, which advanced into the city via Reichsstrasse 280 and Helba and via the "Rohrer Berg". After low-flying attacks , some bombs and a short battle in the east of the city with Hungarian and German troops, they took the city. These fighting also resulted in civilian casualties. A delegation under the First Mayor Friedrich Sorge soon ended the fighting, hoisting white flags on the church towers, initiating the capitulation of the city and thus preventing further destruction of Meiningen. A bomber squadron that had already been requested to fight the resistance was able to turn off again. The city delegation handed the city over to Colonel Bell after his tanks advanced into the market. A special unit of the US Army took over the OKW department "WASt" on the Drachenberg, which was shortly afterwards inspected by the commander in chief of the allied armed forces Eisenhower . The Americans continued the WAst from April 23 to July 1, 1945, and then moved most of the files to Fürstenhagen . After Friedrich Sorge was arrested, the Americans appointed Werner Heinrich von Hacht as mayor on April 12, 1945 .
On June 2, 1945, the Landestheater Meiningen was one of the first theaters in Germany to resume its performance with a dance show for American soldiers. On June 7, 1945, Gerhart Hauptmann's “ The Sunken Bell ” was a fairy tale drama. At the beginning of July the US Army left Meiningen and on July 6, 1945 the first units of the Red Army moved into the city as an occupying force . They moved into the main barracks and the barracks. The remainder of the Wehrmacht information center in the Drachenberg barracks, which only managed documents for Eastern Europe, continued to work under the new occupiers until 1946. The border police then moved in here. On May 9, 1948, the Max Reger Archive was opened in Elisabethenburg Palace , which houses the composer's artistic and personal estate. In 1948, the state of Thuringia accommodated a police station in the Drachenberg barracks . The 13th VP readiness “Magnus Poser” , which existed until 1990, emerged from it.
GDR time
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A decisive event for everyday life in Meiningen was the closure of the road and rail connections to Lower Franconia, only a few kilometers away , as a result of the establishment of the inner-German border . For many Meiningen citizens, this meant a major change in their lives, as they lost jobs, sales markets or trade connections. Numerous Meiningers then left their city for West Germany in the next few years, the population quickly fell from almost 26,000 in 1948 to around 23,000 in 1951.
From 1952 to 1990 Meiningen belonged to the district of Suhl as a district town . Walter Ulbricht personally prevented the already decided plan to set up Meiningen as a district town because of its ideal conditions . He justified this with the past as a residence and too low a proportion of workers in the population. Due to the living space destroyed in the war and a slowly growing population caused by the sharp rise in the number of births, many residential buildings were overcrowded, and their apartments often had to be shared by two to three tenants. As a result, workers' housing cooperatives built new residential areas in Bodenweg in the north and on Drachenberg in the east of the city by the mid-1960s . During these years, with the formation of several large companies, the city became increasingly industrialized. In the course of the construction of a plant for microelectronics , the Robotron , the new Jerusalem district with around 6,000 inhabitants was built in the north between the districts of Helba and Welkershausen with prefabricated buildings from 1967 to 1983 . Nevertheless, urban stagnation prevailed at this time, the infrastructure was neglected and apart from a few schools and a cinema no new public buildings were built. Furthermore, valuable historical building fabric was left to decay. Many vacant lots, caused by emergency demolitions, prove this in today's cityscape. The air pollution rose favored by the valley due to rising auto and industrial emissions and the use of lignite as fuel steadily. In 1988, with the help of Franz Josef Strauss, a town partnership with Neu-Ulm in Bavaria could be started.
From 1982 to 1990 the town church and the evangelical parish hall were a meeting point for the participants in the peace prayers and Monday groups . The prayers for peace were held monthly in the beginning and every Tuesday from September 1989 in the town church. In the fall of 1989, the town church developed into the most important place for the political change in what is now southern Thuringia . Thousands of people could only take part in the prayer for peace with the help of loudspeakers in the market because of the overcrowded church. From October 24, 1989 to the beginning of 1990, after the prayers for peace, a total of 25 peaceful demonstrations (see Monday demonstration ) through downtown Meiningen with up to 25,000 participants followed. Burning candles were carried out of the church and brought to state institutions such as the MfS , SED district leadership or the newspaper “Free Word”, where they were deposited thousands of times. During the peace prayer on November 7th, the overcrowded church received the news that the GDR government had resigned. On November 10, 1989 at around 3 a.m., the Eußenhausen – Meiningen border crossing on the B 19 was opened for GDR citizens and the connection to the neighboring town of Mellrichstadt was re-established. On May 29, 1990, the first democratically elected city parliament began its legislative period with a prayer for peace in the city church.
From 1990 to 2010
On October 3rd, 1990 Meiningen became part of the re-founded Thuringia . On October 1, 1990 the incorporation of Drei 30acker took place . With the withdrawal of the Russian troops in 1991, the time as a garrison town came to an end and the Meiningen city council then declared Meiningen a “city of peace”. At the beginning of the 1990s, the city lost thousands of industrial jobs due to the liquidation of numerous companies such as Toy Electronics, Ruhla-Uhren and Welton and continued severe job cuts in the Reichsbahn repair shop , in Robotron Meiningen and other companies.
With the creation of the 30 hectare industrial area in 1991, the city laid the foundation for economic recovery, where more than 3000 new jobs were created by 2012. In the 1990s Meiningen became an important city of art and culture again, which it was until the 1950s. There has been a friendship agreement with Obertshausen in Hesse since 1991 , which was converted into a permanent town twinning in 2007. During the regional reform in Thuringia in 1994, Meiningen retained the status of a district town in the newly formed district of Schmalkalden-Meiningen . Federal Chancellor Helmut Kohl visited the city in August 1994 and stayed at the Hotel Sächsischer Hof .
The city experienced an urban boom since the mid-1990s. New large buildings such as the Meiningen Clinic (1995), the architecturally award - winning Multihalle (1998), the Justice Center and the Bundesbank branch (both in 2000), as well as large residential complexes, were built. Historic buildings and entire streets, abandoned to decay in the GDR, have been privately restored. New residential areas were established in the east of the city and in Drei 30acker. With the construction of the A71 in 2003, the city received a direct connection to the German motorway network. In October 2005 Meiningen hosted the Thuringian Day festival . New town twinning was concluded in 2006 with Bussy-Saint-Georges near Paris in France and in 2007 with Obertshausen (Hesse). With the opening of the Neue Kammerspiele in June 2008, the city created another theater venue, thereby underlining its supra-regional importance as a cultural city.
Since 2010
By mutual agreement, the western town of Herpf was incorporated on December 1, 2010 and the urban area increased by around 18 km². In 2010/2011 a general renovation of the Meininger Theater took place, including the enlargement of the stage building and bringing it up to date with the latest stage technology. On June 30, 2011 Meiningen had 21,527 inhabitants. In 2012/13 the city had the Rohrer Berg industrial area built near the Meiningen-Nord motorway junction with the aim of reducing the job deficit that has existed since the 1990s with an improved offer for new settlements. In April 2012, Chancellor Angela Merkel visited the city at an election rally. Since May 4, 2012 there has been another town partnership with the municipality of Meiningen (Vorarlberg) in Austria of the same name . In 2014 the steam locomotive plant celebrated its 100th anniversary and the fire brigade its 150th anniversary. The listed Volkshaussaal , which has been vacant since the 1990s, was renovated from 2016 and reopened in 2018. The west side of the market square, which was destroyed as a result of the Second World War, was closed again in 2017 with a new residential and commercial building and the urban unity was restored. In 2018, the city signed contracts with the neighboring communities of Walldorf , Wallbach , Henneberg and Stepfershausen on a voluntary basis to integrate them into the city of Meiningen, which took place on January 1, 2019 and December 31, 2019 (Stepfershausen). On June 1, 2020 Meiningen had 25,158 inhabitants.
See also
- List of honorary citizens of Meiningen
- List of Mayors of Meiningen
- List of personalities of the city of Meiningen
- Turn in Meiningen
literature
- Staatliche Museen Meiningen (Ed.): Südthüringer Forschungen , Issue 17, Meiningen 1982.
- Ingrid Reissland: Monuments of the inner city , Kulturbund der DDR, 1982.
- Reissland / Heinritz: Meiningen views , Staatliche Museen Meiningen (today Meiningen museums ), 1982.
- Ramona Schäfer: Memories of Meiningen , Sutton-Verlag, Erfurt 1999, ISBN 3-89702-101-3 .
- Wilhelm Pocher: White flags over Meiningen - Writings on the history of the town of Meiningen, issue 5 , Meiningen town archive 2000.
- Kuratorium Meiningen (Ed.): Lexicon on the history of the city of Meiningen , Bielsteinverlag, Meiningen 2008, ISBN 978-3-9809504-4-2 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ www.archaeologie-online.de excavations on Schwabenberg / Töpfemarkt in Meiningen.
- ↑ www.thueringen.de State Office for Monument Preservation and Archeology.
- ^ Mathias Seidel, Thuringian State Office for the Preservation of Monuments and Archeology: The pot market - attractive since the Neolithic Age . Official journal of the city of Meiningen, edition 8/2017.
- ↑ a b Staatliche Museen Meiningen / Bernd W. Bahn: Südthüringer Forschungen, Issue 17, Section: Meiningen before the first documentary mention , 1982.
- ^ William R. Shepherd : Frankenreich 481-814 , Historical Atlas, Henry Holt and Company, New York 1911.
- ↑ Excerpt from the first mentioning document from 982 - Meiningen City Archives.
- ↑ Meininger Document Book No. 3–5; Reg. Thur. I No. 614, 616, 618 - Meiningen City Archives.
- ↑ Mon. Boica XXXVII No. 205; Reg. Thur. II No. 2194 - Meiningen City Archives.
- ↑ Monumenta Boica XLI No. 32 - Meiningen City Archives ( digitized version ).
- ↑ Staatliche Museen Meiningen / Rolf Hübner: Südthüringer Forschungen, No. 17, section: The development of the Meiningen textile industry , 1982.
- ↑ Kai Lehmann : Innocent. Hunting of witches south of the Thuringian Forest, over 500 researched cases from the 16th and 17th centuries , Untermaßfeld 2012, pp. 208–240.
- ^ Meininger Mediengesellschaft : Meininger Heimatklänge , edition 7/1992.
- ^ Alfred von Wolzüge : Memoirs of the royal Prussian general of the infantry Ludwig Freiherrn von Wolzüge , Leipzig 1851.
- ^ A b Rüdiger Overmans: German military losses in World War II, Oldenbourg-Verlag 2004, p. 325/326.
- ^ Roger A. Freeman: Mighty Eighth War Diary , operational documentation of the 8th Air Force of the USAAF.
- ^ Reissland: February 23, 1945 - bombing raid , Meininger Tageblatt, February 22, 1997.
- ^ A b Wilhelm Pocher: White flags over Meiningen , writings on Meiningen town history, volume 5, Meiningen town archive, 2000.
- ↑ Hansjörg Tretropp, officer of the WAst, in FW Meininger Tageblatt, edition of February 27, 2015.
- ↑ Population figures according to the Meiningen city archive.
- ↑ a b Horst Strohbusch: The light came from the church - The turning point in Meiningen 1989–1990 , Meiningen 1999.
- ^ Lexicon on the history of the city of Meiningen, Bielsteinverlag, Meiningen 2008, p. 235.
- ^ Thuringian State Office for Statistics (TLS).