Eisenach is a town in Thuringia, Germany with 42,000 inhabitants, located 50 kilometres west of Erfurt, 70 km southeast of Kassel and 150 km northeast of Frankfurt. It is the main urban centre of western Thuringia and bordering northeastern Hessian regions, situated near the former Inner German border. A major attraction is Wartburg castle, which has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1999.
The Thuringian Forest is a mountain range in the southern parts of the German state of Thuringia, running northwest to southeast. Skirting from its southerly source in foothills to a gorge on its north-west side is the Werra valley. On the other side of the Forest is an upper outcrop of the North German Plain, the Thuringian Basin, which includes the city Erfurt. The south and south-east continuation of the range is the highland often called the Thuringian-Vogtlandian Slate Mountains.
Gotha is a Kreis (district) in western central Thuringia, Germany. Neighboring districts are Unstrut-Hainich-Kreis, Sömmerda, the Kreis-free city Erfurt, Ilm-Kreis, Schmalkalden-Meiningen and the Wartburgkreis.
Schmalkalden-Meiningen is a Landkreis in the southwest of Thuringia, Germany. Its neighboring districts are the districts Wartburgkreis, Gotha, Ilm-Kreis, the district-free city Suhl, the district Hildburghausen, the Bavarian district Rhön-Grabfeld, and the district Fulda in Hesse.
Wartburgkreis is a Kreis (district) in the west of Thuringia, Germany. Neighboring districts are the districts Unstrut-Hainich-Kreis, Gotha, Schmalkalden-Meiningen, and the districts Fulda, Hersfeld-Rotenburg and Werra-Meißner-Kreis in Hesse. The district has 30 municipalities, including Eisenach.
Gotha is the fifth-largest city in Thuringia, Germany, 20 kilometres west of Erfurt and 25 km east of Eisenach with a population of 44,000. The city is the capital of the district of Gotha and was also a residence of the Ernestine Wettins from 1640 until the end of monarchy in Germany in 1918. The House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha originating here spawned many European rulers, including the royal houses of the United Kingdom, Belgium, Portugal and Bulgaria.
Mühlhausen is a town in the north-west of Thuringia, Germany, 5 km north of Niederdorla, the country's geographical centre, 50 km north-west of Erfurt, 65 km east of Kassel and 50 km south-east of Göttingen.
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.
Ohrdruf is a small town in the district of Gotha in the German state of Thuringia. It lies some 30 km southwest of Erfurt at the foot of the northern slope of the Thuringian Forest. The former municipalities Crawinkel, Gräfenhain and Wölfis were merged into Ohrdruf in January 2019.
Oberhof is a town in the Schmalkalden-Meiningen district of Thuringia, Germany. Located in the Thuringian Forest mountain range, it is a winter sports center and health resort. With 1,625 inhabitants, it is visited by 144,000 tourists every year (2016). The town obtained its official city status in 1985.
Schleiz is a town in the district of Saale-Orla-Kreis in Thuringia, Germany. The former municipality Crispendorf was merged into Schleiz in January 2019, and Burgk in December 2019.
Gräfenthal is a town in the district of Saalfeld-Rudolstadt in Thuringia, Germany.
Weißensee is a town in the district of Sömmerda, in Thuringia, Germany. It is situated 6 km northwest of Sömmerda, and 25 km north of Erfurt. The former municipality Herrnschwende was merged into Weißensee in January 2019.
Bad Tabarz is a municipality in the district of Gotha, in Thuringia, Germany. It is a winter sports resort and the terminus of the Thüringerwaldbahn rural tramway.
Emsetal is a former municipality in the district of Gotha, in Thuringia, Germany. It took its name from the river Emse. It consisted of the villages Fischbach, Schmerbach, Schwarzhausen and Winterstein. On 31 December 2013, it was merged into the town Waltershausen.
Lippersdorf-Erdmannsdorf is a municipality in the district Saale-Holzland, in Thuringia, Germany.
The Halle–Bebra railway, known in German as the Thüringer Bahn, is a 210 kilometre-long railway line from Halle (Saale) via Erfurt and Gerstungen to Bebra, mainly in Thuringia. As far as Gerstungen the line originally belonged to the Thuringian Railway Company. From Gerstungen to Bebra, it was owned by the Frederick William Northern Railway (Friedrich-Wilhelms-Nordbahn), named after the Prussian king, Frederick William IV. It is now a two-track, electrified, standard gauge mainline operated by DB Netze. It was opened between 1846 and 1849 and was the first railway line in Thuringia. All types of trains from Regionalbahn to ICE currently run on the line except Interregio-Express. Four of the six largest cities in Thuringia are located on the line.
The Free State of Coburg emerged from the Duchy of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha at the end of the First World War. It existed from November 1918 until its union with the Free State of Bavaria on 1 July 1920.
Gotha I is an electoral constituency represented in the Landtag of Thuringia. It elects one member via first-past-the-post voting. Under the current constituency numbering system, it is designated as constituency 14. It covers the southern part of the district of Gotha.
The Marienglashöhle is a show cave situated in the Thuringian Forest. While it features natural caverns, it primarily consists of cavities resulting from historical gypsum and copper mining activities. It is thus managed and presented as both a cave and a show mine. This geological site is designated as a geological natural monument. Positioned between the towns of Friedrichroda and Bad Tabarz, the Marienglashöhle is easily accessible. Visitors can find a large parking lot along Federal Highway 88, and there is also a Thuringian Forest Railway named after the cave nearby. Guided tours are available to explore the cave, attracting approximately 71,000 visitors annually.
