Gräfenroda

Gräfenroda
Gräfenroda
	Ortsteil of Geratal
	St Lawrence Church
	Coat of arms
	Location of Gräfenroda
	Gräfenroda Gräfenroda
	Coordinates: 50°44′56″N 10°48′44″E
Country	Germany
State	Thuringia
District	Ilm-Kreis
Municipality	Geratal
Area
• Total	23.32 km2 (9.00 sq mi)
Elevation	400 m (1,300 ft)
Population (2017-12-31)
• Total	3,158
• Density	140/km2 (350/sq mi)
Time zone	CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2)
Postal codes	99330
Dialling codes	036205
Vehicle registration	IK
Website	www.graefenroda.de

Gräfenroda is a village and a former municipality in the Ilm-Kreis district, in Thuringia, Germany. Since 1 January 2019, it is part of the municipality Geratal. It was the administrative seat of the former Verwaltungsgemeinschaft Oberes Geratal.

Geography

Wilde Gera bridge of the BAB 71

The municipal area stretches along the valley of the Wilde Gera river and its Lütsche tributary, northeast of the Thuringian Forest mountain range and the Rennsteig ridge. The Lütsche Reservoir built in 1935-38 is located west of the settlement. The municipality has access to the Bundesautobahn 71 near the Rennsteig Tunnel at Gräfenroda junction, about 3 km (1.9 mi) to the southeast.

With a population of about 3200, Gräfenroda is the district's fourth-largest municipality, though without town privileges.

History

Gräfenroda was first mentioned in a 1290 deed, located on an important trade route from Arnstadt to Suhl. From the early 14th century onwards, the local estates were held by the Thuringian noble house of Schwarzburg. From 1640 half of the estates were in possession of the Ernestine dukes of Saxe-Gotha, while the remaining Schwarzenburg parts from 1716 were ruled within the principality of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen. The local population was largely involved in agriculture and forestry, but also in copper, silver and lead mining, as well as in glass production.

Gartenzwerg museum

While in the mid 19th century, numerous people emigrated from the remote area to the United States, the local economy developed in the course of the industrialisation. Gräfenroda station on the Neudietendorf–Ritschenhausen railway line was inaugurated by the Thuringian Railway Company in 1884, followed by a railway line to Gotha in 1892. In the 1870s, two local companies began the industrial production of garden gnomes (German: Gartenzwerge). After their first appearance at the 1898 Leipzig Trade Fair, these figurines became increasingly popular throughout Germany, with Gräfenroda as a centre of manufacturing. Today, a museum examines the history of garden gnomes.

From 1858 Gräfenroda was incorporated into the Ohrdruf district within the duchy of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. It became part of the Free State of Thuringia in 1920.

Politics

Seats in the municipal council (Gemeinderat) upon 2014 local elections:

Christian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU): 7
The Left: 4
Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD): 3
Free Voters: 2

Notable people

Johann Peter Kellner (1705–1772), composer and organist
Johann Christoph Kellner (1736–1803), composer and organist
Hermann Brill (1895–1959), politician

gollark: This is my triple fusion reactor in a compact machine.

gollark: MRF/second is probably doable easily (that's only 50kRF/t) but MRF/tick needs fusion.

gollark: To make fuels you need reactors burning lesser fuels.

gollark: Anyway, it may not ever happen, as my todo list's length can only be expressed as the size of the set of all real numbers.

gollark: That would depend on how lazy I would be when making it.

References

External links

Municipal website (in German)
Garden Gnome Museum on visit-thuringia.com

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