Waltershausen
| coat of arms | Germany map | |
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Coordinates: 50 ° 54 ' N , 10 ° 33' E |
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| Basic data | ||
| State : | Thuringia | |
| County : | Gotha | |
| Height : | 320 m above sea level NHN | |
| Area : | 60.62 km 2 | |
| Residents: | 12,838 (Dec. 31, 2019) | |
| Population density : | 212 inhabitants per km 2 | |
| Postal code : | 99880 | |
| Area code : | 03622 | |
| License plate : | GTH | |
| Community key : | 16 0 67 072 | |
| LOCODE : | DE WTS | |
| City structure: | City and 7 districts | |
City administration address : |
Markt 1, 99880 Waltershausen |
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| Website : | ||
| Mayor : | Michael Brychcy ( CDU ) | |
| Location of the city of Waltershausen in the Gotha district | ||
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Waltershausen is the second largest city in the Gotha district in the Free State of Thuringia ( Germany ). It lies between the Thuringian Basin in the northeast and the Thuringian Forest in the southwest.
geography
Geographical location
Waltershausen lies at the transition from the Thuringian Basin to the Thuringian Forest , which is why Waltershausen is sometimes referred to as the "gateway to the Thuringian Forest". The Große Inselsberg is only a few kilometers away.
City structure
There are seven districts ( Fischbach , Schmerbach , Schwarzhausen , Winterstein , Wahlwinkel , Schnepfenthal and Langenhain ) and one district ( Ibenhain ).
history
The place developed at the intersection of the old salt road from Salzungen to Erfurt and from Eisenach to Saalfeld . In addition, Tenneberg Castle, first mentioned in 1176 (see buildings ), offered protection for the townspeople. Another advantage for the location was the narrow point between the Burgberg and the Ziegenberg, which all traffic had to pass because the forest was very impassable.
The city itself was first mentioned in documents in 1209 under the name "Ulricus, villicius de Waltherißhusin". The city belongs to the county of Mühlburg (mentioned in a document from 1293) and was under the feudal sovereignty of the Archdiocese of Mainz . At that time it was already in possession of the city charter. In 1392 Waltershausen and Tenneberg Castle were designated as personal treasures for the future daughter-in-law of the Thuringian landgrave. In the following years Waltershausen belonged to the Wettin-Ernestine office of Tenneberg , which from 1640 belonged to the Duchy of Saxony-Gotha .
Waltershausen has a tradition as a doll town founded in 1815 . A large number of toy and doll factories were established in the 19th century. The first doll and toy factory was founded by Johann Daniel Kestner in 1816 . The Thuringian Forest Railway was extended to Waltershausen in 1929 and has since connected the city with Bad Tabarz in the southwest and Gotha in the northeast.
In the early 1930s there were nine Jewish families living in Walterhausen , all of whom were robbed of their homeland through emigration and deportation . Only one woman survived the Theresienstadt concentration camp and lived in Eisenach from 1945 . During the Second World War , around 600 prisoners of war and forced labor from numerous countries occupied by Germany had to do forced labor in technical companies, in the Ade factory, in the Thuringian hose weaving mill and other companies. In the Waltershausen cemetery, numerous graves commemorate prisoners of war and forced laborers.
On May 9, 2008, was at the corner of Bremer Street / Quergasse stumbling block of Gunter Demnig for the deported Jewish Klara Felstyner set. She died in the Warsaw Ghetto in 1940 . This stumbling block was followed by five more.
The city of Waltershausen, like all German cities, suffered a large number of fallen soldiers in both world wars.
On February 6, 1945, Waltershausen experienced - like several cities in the region on the same day - a US bomb attack . 12 “Flying Fortresses” B-17G dropped 30 tons (120 pieces) of bombs from a height of 8,000 m around noon. 21 buildings were destroyed and 20 dead were counted.
The industrial production of dolls ended in 1990. Up until 2005, the Waltershausen doll manufacture occasionally produced dolls. These were collector's dolls that meet high aesthetic standards. The doll town only continues to exist as a memory in the city's museum. In building complex under monument protection standing doll factory has become the 2003 commune located Waltershausen.
Religions
There are a total of seven Christian churches and chapels in Waltershausen and all the districts. By far the largest is the Protestant town church . There are also Protestant churches in the districts of Schnepfenthal , Langenhain and Wahlwinkel, and a chapel in the Ibenhain district . There is also a castle chapel at Tenneberg Castle , which used to be Catholic, but is now a Protestant church. A Catholic church was rebuilt in the 20th century. Since 1993, Waltershausen has been the seat of the Evangelical Lutheran Church District (Superintendentur) Waltershausen-Ohrdruf and thus a church administrative center.
Incorporations
On July 1, 1950, Langenhain , Schnepfenthal-Rödichen and Wahlwinkel were incorporated.
On December 31, 2013, the municipality of Emsetal with its districts Fischbach , Schmerbach , Schwarzhausen and Winterstein was incorporated into Waltershausen. Both Mayors Michael Brychcy and Klaus Reissig signed a corresponding contract on January 29, 2013.
Population development
Development of the population (from 1960 December 31) :
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1834 to 1960
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1981 to 1997
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1998 to 2003
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2004 to 2009
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2010 to 2015
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from 2016
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Data source from 1994: Thuringian State Office for Statistics
¹ October 29
² August 31
politics
City Councilor and Mayor
The city council consists of 24 citizens of the city, who were determined by the local elections on May 26, 2019 and are distributed among the individual parties and groups of voters as follows:
| Party / list | Seats | G / V |
|---|---|---|
| CDU | 9 | + 2 |
| List Emsetal | 3 | - 2nd |
| SPD | 3 | + 3 |
| AfD | 3 | + 3 |
| Green | 2 | + 2 |
| FWG BI Waltershausen | 2 | - 2nd |
| Voter group Langenhain | 1 | + 1 |
| FDP | 1 | + 1 |
| SPD / Greens | nk | - 6 |
| The left | nk | - 2nd |
The mayor is also a member of the city council. Michael Brychcy (CDU) has been mayor of Waltershausen since November 1989, he was confirmed in office in 1994, 2000, 2006, 2012 and 2018.
In the districts, elected district mayors and local councils support the work of the administration.
Town twinning
- Bruay-sur-l'Escaut , France ( Nord department ), since 1965
- Korbach , Germany ( Hessen ), since 1990
- Wolbrom , Poland , ( Lesser Poland Voivodeship ), since 2000
There are friendly relationships with:
Culture and sights
Buildings
- Tenneberg Castle was first mentioned in 1176 as the castle of the Thuringian landgraves . Rebuilt several times, it was essentially given its final shape in the early 18th century. After various uses, most of the baroque rooms were lost, but not the ballroom (1719), the baroque staircase (1718) and the palace chapel (1721).
- therein: Heimatmuseum (1929), focus: history of the doll industry. (Start of the German Toy Road )
- Klaustor (first documented mention in 1390), main gate of the old city wall, through which most of the traffic went on the road from Erfurt in the direction of Bad Salzungen . location
- Pottery Tower, built in the early 15th century outside the city wall at the end of the old Eisenacher Strasse. In the Middle Ages, the local potters settled in the area of the tower . location
- Historic town hall from 1441, the second oldest half-timbered town hall in Central Germany , fundamentally restored after 1990. Vaulted cellar with impressive groin and barrel vaults . The first floor served as a ballroom and market hall. The offices of the mayor's office are on the second floor.
- Market square with fountain and the "Muschelminna"
- Salzmann School Schnepfenthal (1791–1793)
- First German gymnasium designed by Johann Christoph Friedrich Guts Muths (1785)
Churches
- City Church (1719–1723) For God's help with the largest baroque organ in Thuringia by Tobias Heinrich Gottfried Trost from 1730
- The small chapel of Our Dear Women is located in the Ibenhain district . The chapel, built in the 14th century, was a popular place of pilgrimage until the Reformation. The church received its present form during a renovation in the 18th century. The chapel, measuring 10 × 6 meters, was equipped in 1802 with a roof turret for the small bell. In February 1945, high-explosive bombs were dropped over Ibenhain, which also damaged the chapel, and 20 people died in the village. location
- In Langenhain there is a (original) church of St. Maria-Magdalena with frescoes from the 13th century. It is the oldest church in the city. The baroque church was built between 1763 and 1768 and was consecrated again on October 8, 2006 after extensive restoration. location
- In Schnepfenthal there is the St. Peter and Paul Church, a slate-clad half-timbered building with a roof turret, which was erected on a stone base and which was consecrated in 1824. location
- The village church of St. Gotthard is in Wahlwinkel . The church in Wahlwinkel was first mentioned in 1401. The present church was consecrated in 1496, the tower was completed in 1505. A special feature inside the church is an early Gothic crypt . The church was structurally renovated (as of 2011). location
- The churches
The town church of Waltershausen
Chapel in Ibenhain
Village church in Langenhain
Church in Schnepfenthal
Church in Wahlwinkel
Sports
There are many sports clubs in Waltershausen. In karate , Bushido Waltershausen's athletes have won numerous titles on a national and international level. In table tennis , Waltershausen is known as the host of tournaments at the state and federal level. Another association is the ZSG Waltershausen with a total of 12 departments.
media
In 2009 the internet radio 0800 Radio Tenneberg - your station for your region with daily broadcasts was launched.
In 2013 the radio station TMR-Radio.de opened new studios in Waltershausen and broadcasts current topics and music.
Regular events
The annual city festival always takes place in mid-June with changing mottos.
Every year at the beginning of September over a weekend there is juggling and market activity at the Medieval Castle Festival.
On the 2nd weekend in Advent, there is always a Christmas market on Walterhausen's market square.
For more than 25 years, the traditional carnival parade of the Carnival gymnasts Waltershausen (KTW) with many associations in the region has been taking place on the Sunday before Rose Monday.
Economy and Infrastructure
traffic
Waltershausen located on the motorway A4 Frankfurt - Dresden and has its own exit ( 41a Waltershausen ). The south of the urban area is affected by the federal highway 88 . Country roads to Friedrichroda , Georgenthal , Gotha , Hörselgau , Teutleben (to the B 7 ) and Langenhain begin in Waltershausen itself .
The city also has a train station on the Fröttstädt - Friedrichroda regional train line ( Friedrichrodaer Bahn , since 1848). In the city there is also a tram line from the train station to the Gleisdreieck with five stops, line 6 of Gothaer Straßenbahn und Thüringerwaldbahn GmbH , of which the city of Waltershausen is a shareholder. At the Gleisdreieck there is a connection to line 4 of this train to Gotha and Bad Tabarz .
Established businesses
A company that is still important in the city today is Multicar Spezialfahrzeuge GmbH , a company with 80 years of tradition that has specialized in the manufacture of compact special transporters and equipment carriers. Multicar vehicles are used today in numerous municipalities as general-purpose small transport vehicles. The manufacturer of towbars Rockinger has a factory and its headquarters in Waltershausen.
From humble beginnings, the important doll industry in Waltershausen developed in the 19th century. The dolls, initially made of papier mâché , were often completed at home with doll clothes and accessories as children's toys and later as dolls in costume as collectibles. The VEB doll factory Biggi Waltershausen emerged from the former doll factories in the GDR . He made the popular Biggi dolls, which were once an export hit in the GDR toy industry.
The manufacture of rubber articles was and is also a major industry. After 1945, VEB Gummiwerke ("Kowalit") emerged from several companies. There were two parts of the city in which various technical rubber goods and small tires were manufactured. After 1990 the company was taken over by Phoenix AG . Some smaller companies in this branch were newly founded and established themselves, e.g. B. Rubber sealing technology Automotive GTA .
Orgelbau Waltershausen GmbH, founded in 1992, is a company with a specific focus on building, restoring and maintaining organs of all sizes.
education
There is a mainstream school and two primary schools. The special school was closed in 2015. The Salzmannschule , a special high school for languages with boarding school, is located in the Schnepfenthal district .
Personalities
sons and daughters of the town
- Petrus Fuldner (Füldner) (d. 1554), ev. Theologian, scholar, pastor from 1540 to 1554 in Waltershausen, friend of Luther and Myconius
- Johann Matthäus Juncker (1629 - around 1703), court advocate, writer, poet of hymns
- Johann Balthasar König (1691–1758), composer and church musician, from 1727 to 1758 municipal Kapellmeister in Frankfurt am Main, family lived in the Tiergarten and in the corner house Borngasse / Brühlgasse (today: Borngasse 17)
- Johann Justinus Gebauer (1710–1772), publisher
- Johann Matthäus Bechstein (1757–1822), natural scientist, forest scientist and ornithologist
- Friedrich von Schlichtegroll (1765–1822), member of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences, philologist, numismatist, antiquarian, author of necrologists and Mozart biographies
- Heinrich Credner (1809–1876), geologist
- Gustav Hempel (1819–1877), publisher
- Pink v. Gerold, b. Henneberg (1829–1907), travel writer
- Eduard Ausfeld (1850–1906), historian
- Friedrich Holbein (1856–1940), painter and graphic artist
- Paul Fridolin Kehr (1860–1944), historian and diplomat, brother of Hans Kehr
- Hans Kehr (1862–1916), founder of the German biliary tract surgery, brother of Paul Fridolin Kehr
- Ernst Wallenburger (1903–1989), painter and graphic artist, was a drawing teacher at the secondary school after 1945
- Hans Erhard Bock (1903-2004), internist
- Gerhard Altenbourg (1926–1989), artist
- Georg P. Salzmann (1929–2013), book collector
- Gunar Ortlepp (1929–2011), journalist
- Martin Gimm (* 1930), university professor, around 1945–1949 also organist in Waltershausen, Ibenhain, Laucha and Schmerbach
- Lorenz G. Löffler (1930-2013), ethnologist
- Carl-Heinz Janson (* 1931), politician (SED)
- Werner Schröter (1933–2018), pediatrician and university professor
- Hansjürgen Tuengerthal (* 1936), lawyer, attorney and specialist author
- Klaus-Michael Bonsack (* 1941), luge rider
- Hartwig Gernandt (* 1943), physicist and polar researcher
- Lilo Grahn (1943–2007), actress
- Gernot Moegelin (* 1943), German real estate entrepreneur and art patron
- Jürgen Fuchs (1947–1977), victim on the inner-German border
- Margit Schumann (1952–2017), luge and Olympic champion
- Alexander Ludwig (* 1984), football player
- Kathleen Lorenz (* 1984), skeleton pilot
Other personalities
- Martin Luther (1483–1546) stayed here on a trip from Eisenach. His brother Georg Luther lived temporarily on the market square
- Johann Drach (Draconites) (1494–1566), reformer and close friend of Luther, 1524–1526 pastor in Waltershausen
- Johann Hattenbach (1624–1700), b. in Schweina, pastor, superintendent, theologian in Waltershausen
- Johann Heinrich Ritter (approx. 1690–1751), ducal. Court painter, designed ceiling paintings in the church and in Tenneberg Castle
- Just Christian Stuß (1725–1788), classical philologist, writer and clergyman, pastor and superintendent in the city
- Christian Gotthilf Salzmann (1744–1811), teacher, founder of the Salzmann School in Waltershausen, lived in the city from 1784
- Johann Christoph Friedrich GutsMuths (1759–1839), educator, founder of gymnastics, lived in Waltershausen from 1797
- Johann Adolph Jacobi (1769–1847), Protestant theologian
- Heinrich Schwerdt (1810–1888), pastor, educator and writer, from 1872 superintendent of the Tenneberg ephorie
- Carl Polack (1812–1882), city physician, home historian
- Victor von Scheffel (1826–1886), poet of the Biedermeier period; the Scheffel linden tree in Ausfeldstrasse and a street were named in his memory
- August Trinius (1851–1919), writer, lived in Waltershausen from around 1880, where the poet Joachim Ringelnatz visited him several times
- Luise Gerbing (1855–1927), local history researcher
- Adele Sandrock (1863–1937), actress, her father Eduard Othello Sandrock (1832–1897) came from Waltershausen, her grandfather Christoph Wilhelm Sandrock was first mayor of the city from 1838 to 1851, Adele lived with her father's sister in 1873/1874 Waltershausen
- Paul Kämpf (1885–1953), politician (SPD), mayor of Waltershausen after the end of the Second World War
- Julius Albert Kühn (1887–1970), writer, grandson of the poet Julius Sturm , had been senior director at the secondary school since 1934
- Maria Uhden (1892–1918), painter, lived from 1900 to 1910 in Waltershausen Am Nicolausthor.
- Walter Grundmann (1906–1976), theologian, pastor in Waltershausen between 1947 and 1954.
- Ernst Schäfer (1910–1992), zoologist, well-known Tibet researcher, grew up in Waltershausen
- Monika Lennartz (* 1938), actress, grew up in Waltershausen.
- Kathrin Schmidt (* 1958), writer , grew up in Waltershausen, winner of the German Book Prize 2009
literature
- Johann Georg Brückner: Historical and diplomatic news from the old Thuringian town of Waltershausen, the Princely Castle Tenneberg and the village of Ibenhayn. Reyher, Gotha 1763 ( digitized version ).
- Sigmar Löffler: History of the City of Waltershausen (Bd.I / 1). From the beginning to the beginning of the 17th century. Erfurt / Waltershausen 2004, ISBN 3-932655-14-1 .
- Sigmar Löffler: History of the City of Waltershausen (Bd.I / 2). From the 17th to the beginning of the 20th century. Erfurt / Waltershausen 2004, ISBN 3-932655-14-1 .
- Sigmar Löffler: History of the City of Waltershausen (vol. II). From the end of the 19th century to the end of the Second World War. Erfurt / Waltershausen 2000, ISBN 3-932655-07-9 .
- Hartmut Mai: Waltershauser saga book. "Look into the land of Tenneberg". Legends, stories and history. Rockstuhl, Bad Langensalza 2006, ISBN 978-3-938997-38-3 .
- Carl Polack: "Waltershausen Chronicle". A contribution to Thuringian history and antiquity. Self-published, Waltershausen 1854.
- Kurt Schmidt, Sigmar Löffler: History of the City of Waltershausen, Vol. I. Waltershausen 1959 ( digitized version ).
- Bruno Kestner: Waltershauser Heimatbilder. Series 1 to 6. Eglingsche Buchdruckerei, Waltershausen 1932–1938.
- Walter Greiner: Wreath of honor from important men and women from Waltershausen. Eglingsche Buchdruckerei, Waltershausen 1935.
- Hans Anhöck: Waltershausen Trilogy. Searching for traces and “Against forgetting”. Rockstuhl, Bad Langensalza 2020, ISBN 978-3-95966-462-2 .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Population of the municipalities from the Thuringian State Office for Statistics ( help on this ).
- ↑ Historical outline of the town history of Waltershausen ( Memento of the original from March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ Lothar Günther: Missions and Fates in the Air War over Southwest Thuringia 1944/45. Wehry-Verlag, Untermaßfeld 2014, ISBN 978-3-9815307-6-6 , p. 323.
- ↑ Waltershausen: Puppentradition In: waltershausen.de , accessed on February 19, 2020.
- ↑ Thüringer Allgemeine: Integration contract for Emsetal has been signed
- ↑ Local elections in Waltershausen 2014. In: wahlen.thueringen.de. Retrieved December 13, 2019 .
- ↑ a b local elections in Waltershausen 2019. In: wahlen.thueringen.de. Retrieved December 13, 2019 .
- ↑ Mayor. In: waltershausen.de. Retrieved December 13, 2019 .
Fischbach | Ibenhain | Langenhain | Schmerbach | Schnepfenthal / Rödichen | Schwarzhausen | Election angle | Waltershausen | Winterstein with the Ruhla ski hut
Bad Tabarz | Bienstädt | Dachwig | Döllstädt | Three of a kind | Emleben | Eschenbergen | Friedrichroda | Friemar | Georgenthal | Gierstädt | Gotha | Großfahner | Manor | Earpiece | Luisenthal | Molschleben | Nesse-Apfelstädt | Nessetal | Emergency life | Ohrdruf | Horse life | Schwabhausen | Sonneborn | Tambach-Dietharz | Tonna | Tröchtelborn | Tüttleben | Waltershausen | Room supra