Neufang (Sonneberg)

New catch City of Sonneberg Coordinates: 50 ° 22 ′ 33 ″  N , 11 ° 11 ′ 11 ″  E
Height :	584 m
Incorporation :	October 1, 1923
Postal code :	96515
Area code :	03675

Sonneberg observatory

Neufang is a former mountain village on the western edge of the Franconian Forest , which was incorporated into the district town of Sonneberg on October 1, 1923 .

geography

Sonneberg-Neufang is about 250 to 300 meters above the actual urban area on the edge of the mountain plateau. The town center is grouped around the steep main street. There are only a few houses on the steep mountain slopes into the city, so that Neufang has remained a relatively independent district separated from the urban area to this day.

history

The name Neufang means new find and may indicate a quarry or mine . Neufang is the first time in Urbar mention of 1317 as "Nuwenvanch" and is now in the usual local itzgründischen dialect "Neufich". It is located on the so-called Hohen Strasse , one of the medieval trade routes between Nuremberg and Erfurt , which were of great importance for long-distance trade until the early 19th century. Today it only connects Neufang with the Rennsteig as a forest hiking trail . The still existing Alte Neufanger Straße leads from Sonneberg to Hohen Straße to Neufang, which runs along the Glasbach up into the mountains. In the 14th century there was at least one glassworks near Neufang . Because of the barren soil, agriculture was only possible as a sideline. The newcomers earned their living as day laborers in the forest, in the quarry, and with haulage and spy services .

Neufang was one of the first villages in the Sonneberg region, in which wooden toys were manufactured on a large scale at home for the emerging Sonneberg toy trade at the end of the 17th century . In the 18th and 19th centuries, the place developed into a typical homeworker's village with close economic ties to the city of Sonneberg. The residents of Neufang have always belonged to the Sonneberg parish. Until the 1920s, the main routes to Sonneberg were two steep mountain paths, called Kirchsteige, which led over the Stadtberg to the Kleiner Markt and to the church that burned down in 1840 in the Upper Town. The two paths over the Stadtberg remained open to the public until the end of the 1950s, but were then taken over by the private landowners and closed. Because of the arduous routes into the city, a school was built in Neufang in 1750, where children were taught until 1976.

Today the Neufang district can be reached from the city center via a road and is ideal for walks in the woods, hikes and visits to the observatory and the local zoo.

Culture and sights

Observatory

Somewhat remote located on the highest ridges Neufangs to around 640 meters above sea level since 1925, the Sonneberg Observatory . The asteroid (2183) Neufang , discovered in 1959, was named after the district.

Sports

In the winter months Neufang is the starting point for ski hikers and cross-country skiers . There is also a longer alpine downhill route into the Steinach Valley . Until the 1970s, the several kilometers long, sometimes very steep Alte Neufanger Straße was closed to public traffic in winter for sledding and bobsleighing . This tradition contributed to the fact that luge was able to gain a foothold in children and youth sports in Sonneberg . From the Sonneberger Luge School is u. a. Silke Kraushaar from Sonneberg emerged as the most successful athlete at the Olympic Winter Games and World Championships.

Zoo

The zoo in Neufang is home to many animals from the forests and farms. These include native species such as red deer and fallow deer , roe deer , buzzards , donkeys , turkeys and chickens, but also some exotic ones such as the arctic fox. Until a few years ago, the zoo also had a group of monkeys , whose keeping had to be given up due to the unsuitable conditions for their species.

Web links

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

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Federal Agency for Nature Conservation ( Memento of the original from October 4, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.