Rudolstadt

Last updated

Rudolstadt
RudolstadtBlickVonDerHeidecksburg.jpg
Wappen Rudolstadt.svg
Location of Rudolstadt within Saalfeld-Rudolstadt district
Rudolstadt in SLF.pngAllendorfKaulsdorfRohrbachSchwarzburg
Germany adm location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Rudolstadt
Thuringia location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Rudolstadt
Coordinates: 50°43′1″N11°19′39″E / 50.71694°N 11.32750°E / 50.71694; 11.32750
Country Germany
State Thuringia
District Saalfeld-Rudolstadt
Subdivisions12
Government
   Mayor (202430) Jörg Reichl [1]
Area
  Total135.17 km2 (52.19 sq mi)
Elevation
195 m (640 ft)
Population
 (2022-12-31) [2]
  Total24,749
  Density180/km2 (470/sq mi)
Time zone UTC+01:00 (CET)
  Summer (DST) UTC+02:00 (CEST)
Postal codes
07407
Dialling codes 03672
Vehicle registration SLF, RU
Website www.rudolstadt.de

Rudolstadt is a town in the German federal state Thuringia, within the Thuringian Forest, to the southwest, and to Jena and Weimar to the north.

Contents

The former capital of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, the town is built along the River Saale inside a wide valley surrounded by woods. Rudolstadt was founded in 776 and has had municipal law since 1326. The town's landmark is the Castle Heidecksburg which is enthroned on a hill above the old town. The former municipality Remda-Teichel was merged into Rudolstadt in January 2019.

Rudolstadt was once well known because of the Anchor Stone Blocks of the Toy Company Richter and porcelain factories, beginning with the establishment of the Volkstedt porcelain manufacture in 1762.

History

Early history

There is archeological evidence of a hill fort on the Weinberg in Oberpreilipp from the time of the late Urnfield culture and the early Iron Age. [3] A Celtic settlement followed the Germanic one and the affiliation with the Duchy of Thuringia. From the 6th century onwards, archeological records suggest Slavic settlement in the area.

The first documented mention of the place-name was in 776 as Rudolfestat (Rudolf's settlement) as a gift from Charlemagne to Hersfeld Abbey [4]

After 1990

In 1994 the Neonazi and police-informant Tino Brandt (NPD) founded the Neonazi-Gang „Thüringer Heimatschutz“ (THS, Thuringian homeland protection) in Rudolstadt. The structure of 170 right-wing extremists was an SA-style street gang. The THS gave rise to the Nazi terrorist group National Socialist Underground (NSU), which murdered a total of ten people over a period of 10 years. [5] [6]

Historical population

Population graph of Rudolstadt from 1834 to 2016 Einwohnerentwicklung von Rudolstadt.svg
Population graph of Rudolstadt from 1834 to 2016

Number of Inhabitants (from 1960 as of 31 December, unless otherwise indicated):

1834 to 1960

  • 1834: 5,929
  • 1890: 11,398
  • 1925: 15,711
  • 1933: 16,863
  • 1939: 19,331
  • 1946: 22,100 1
  • 1950: 28,234 2
  • 1960: 27,678

1970 to 1997

  • 1970: 31,683
  • 1981: 31,547
  • 1984: 32,232
  • 1985: 32,408
  • 1994: 29,118
  • 1995: 28,691
  • 1996: 28,438
  • 1997: 28,521

1998 to 2005

  • 1998: 28,241
  • 1999: 27,996
  • 2000: 27,528
  • 2001: 26,940
  • 2002: 26,549
  • 2003: 26,010
  • 2004: 25,793
  • 2005: 25,397

2006 to 2013

  • 2006: 25,131
  • 2007: 24,650
  • 2008: 24,285
  • 2009: 24,033
  • 2010: 23,762
  • 2011: 23,998
  • 2012: 22,811
  • 2013: 22,739

since 2014

  • 2014: 22,667
  • 2015: 22,855
  • 2016: 22,704
  • 2017: 22,560
  • 2018: 22,283
Data since 1994: Thuringian Statistical Office

1 29 October
2 31 August

Culture

Rudolstadt is twinned with Letterkenny, County Donegal, Ireland. [7]

The Rudolstadt Festival (formerly TFF, Tanz&FolkFest) takes place annually on the first full July weekend. [8]

Economy

The headquarters of the EPC Group, a global engineering and construction company, are in Rudolstadt.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saale</span> River in Germany

The Saale, also known as the Saxon Saale and Thuringian Saale, is a river in Germany and a left-bank tributary of the Elbe. It is not to be confused with the smaller Franconian Saale, a right-bank tributary of the Main, or the Saale in Lower Saxony, a tributary of the Leine.

Ilm-Kreis is a district in Thuringia, Germany. It is bounded by the city of Erfurt, the districts of Weimarer Land, Saalfeld-Rudolstadt and Hildburghausen, the city of Suhl, and the districts of Schmalkalden-Meiningen and Gotha. It is named after the river Ilm, flowing through the district.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bad Blankenburg</span> Town in Thuringia, Germany

Bad Blankenburg is a spa town in the district of Saalfeld-Rudolstadt, in Thuringia, Germany. It is situated 6 km southwest of Rudolstadt, and 37 km southeast of Erfurt. It is most famous for being the location of the first kindergarten of Friedrich Wilhelm August Fröbel, in 1837.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saalfeld</span> Town in Thuringia, Germany

Saalfeld is a town in Germany, capital of the Saalfeld-Rudolstadt district of Thuringia. It is best known internationally as the ancestral seat of the Saxe-Coburg and Gotha branch of the Saxon House of Wettin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arnstadt</span> Town in Thuringia, Germany

Arnstadt is a town in Ilm-Kreis, Thuringia, Germany, on the river Gera about 20 kilometres (12 mi) south of Erfurt, the capital of Thuringia. Arnstadt is one of the oldest towns in Thuringia, and has a well-preserved historic centre with a partially preserved town wall. The town is nicknamed Das Tor zum Thüringer Wald because of its location on the northern edge of that forest. Arnstadt has a population of approximately 27,000.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Schwarzburg (municipality)</span> Municipality in Saalfeld-Rudolstadt district, Thuringia, Germany

Schwarzburg is a municipality in the valley of the Schwarza in the district Saalfeld-Rudolstadt in Thuringia, in central Germany.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ilmenau</span> Town in Thuringia, Germany

Ilmenau is a town in Thuringia, central Germany. It is the largest town within the Ilm district with a population of 38,600, while the district capital is Arnstadt. Ilmenau is located approximately 33 km south of Erfurt and 135 km north of Nuremberg within the Ilm valley at the northern edge of the Thuringian Forest at an elevation of 500 metres.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pößneck</span> Town in Thuringia, Germany

Pößneck is a town in the Saale-Orla-Kreis district, in Thuringia, Germany. It is situated 19 km east of Rudolstadt, and 26 km south of Jena.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bad Frankenhausen</span> Town in Thuringia, Germany

Bad Frankenhausen is a spa town in the German state of Thuringia. It is located at the southern slope of the Kyffhäuser mountain range, on an artificial arm of the Wipper river, a tributary of the Unstrut. Because of the nearby Kyffhäuser monument dedicated to Emperor Frederick Barbarossa, it is nicknamed Barbarossastadt. The municipality includes the villages of Seehausen, Udersleben, Esperstedt and Ichstedt and Ringleben.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gräfenthal</span> Town in Thuringia, Germany

Gräfenthal is a town in the district of Saalfeld-Rudolstadt in Thuringia, Germany.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leutenberg</span> Town in Thuringia, Germany

Leutenberg is a town in the district of Saalfeld-Rudolstadt, in Thuringia, Germany. It is situated in the Thuringian Forest, 18 km (11 mi) southeast of Saalfeld.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stadtilm</span> Town in Thuringia, Germany

Stadtilm is a town in the Ilm-Kreis district, in Thuringia, Germany. It is situated on the river Ilm, 15 km northeast of Ilmenau, and 11 km southeast of Arnstadt. In July 2018 the former municipality of Ilmtal was merged into Stadtilm.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jenalöbnitz</span> Municipality in Thuringia, Germany

Jenalöbnitz is a municipality in the district Saale-Holzland, in Thuringia, Germany.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hohenwarte</span> Municipality in Thuringia, Germany

Hohenwarte is a municipality in the district Saalfeld-Rudolstadt, in Thuringia, Germany.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lichte</span> Ortsteil of Neuhaus am Rennweg in Thuringia, Germany

Lichte is a village and a former municipality in the district of Sonneberg in Thuringia, Germany, close to the Thuringian Rennsteig. Formerly in the district Saalfeld-Rudolstadt, it is part of the town Neuhaus am Rennweg since January 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Friedensburg Castle</span>

Friedensburg Castle is an early 16th-century castle overlooking the valley of the Sormitz at Leutenberg in southeast Thuringia, Germany. It was formerly the residence of the Counts of Schwarzburg-Leutenberg and today is a dermatological medical facility.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Uwe Mundlos</span> German neo-Nazi murderer (1973–2011)

Uwe Mundlos was a German neo-Nazi, right-wing terrorist and serial killer. Together with Uwe Böhnhardt and Beate Zschäpe, he formed the nucleus of the terrorist group National Socialist Underground (NSU), which was responsible for 10 murders, 43 attempted murders, 3 explosive attacks, and 15 bank robberies in Germany between 1998 and 2011. He died after a bank robbery led to his discovery by police, presumably by suicide.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frederick Charles, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt</span> Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt

Prince Frederick Charles of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt was a German Natural History collector, and from 1790 until his death the reigning Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt.

The Thuringian Counts' War, or Thuringian Counts' Feud was a conflict between several ancient aristocratic families and the House of Wettin for supremacy in Thuringia. The war lasted from 1342 to 1346. The conflict is also called by various other names in English sources including War of the Thuringian Counts and Thuringian Comital War.

Helmut Roewer is a German lawyer and author. He served between 1994 and 2000 as president of the regional office for protection of the constitution in Thuringia. This is a state-level security agency. Controversy in respect of his time in office has persisted, although he himself robustly rejects most of the criticisms of his decisions made at that time.

References

  1. Gewählte Bürgermeister - aktuelle Landesübersicht, Freistaat Thüringen. Retrieved 25 June 2024.
  2. "Bevölkerung der Gemeinden, erfüllenden Gemeinden und Verwaltungsgemeinschaften in Thüringen Gebietsstand: 31.12.2022" (in German). Thüringer Landesamt für Statistik. June 2023.
  3. Michael Köhler: Thüringer Burgen und befestigte vor- und frühgeschichtliche Wohnplätze. Jenzig-Verlag Köhler, Jena 2001, ISBN   3-910141-43-9. p. 270.
  4. Wolfgang Kahl, Hansjürgen Müllerott (2002), Die Vor- und Frühgeschichte Rudolstadts mit den Annalen von 775–786 bis 1503 und einem Exkurs aus der Geschichte Saalfelds (in German), Arnstadt: Thüringer-Chronik-Verlag H. E. Müllerott, p. 128, ISBN   3-910132-73-1
  5. "NSU-Prozess: Der Gandhi von Rudolstadt". stuttgarter-nachrichten.de (in German). Retrieved 14 July 2023.
  6. Enzian, Heike (4 October 2021). "NSU-Aufarbeitung: Den Dialog hinaus in die Stadt tragen". www.otz.de (in German). Retrieved 14 July 2023.
  7. "Donegal Councillor Ian McGarvey immortalised in wine". Donegal News . 29 March 2019. Archived from the original on 30 March 2019.
  8. Official website of TFF.Rudolstadt Archived 2006-02-04 at the Wayback Machine