Thuringe

The Thuringe ( German Thüringen in ), officially called the republic of Thuringe ( Freistaat Thüringen ), is one of the Länder in the center of the Germany of 16.200 km 2 for 2,3 million inhabitants. Capital: Erfurt.

Geography

Thuringe is located at the center of Germany and is bordered (starting from the north and in the direction of the needles of a watch) by the länders of Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, Saxony, Bavaria and Hesse.

Its maximum extension of north to the south east of 160 km and its maximum extension East-West is of 198 km.

Thuringe, the " green heart of Allemagne" , is In particular rich in Forêt S. in south-west, is located the Forêt of Thuringe ( Thüringer Wald ), a range of hills which extends from Eisenach to Sonneberg. At the north of the forest of Thuringe a plate is located. In the North-West there is a small portion of the mountains Harz. Other solid masses of hills are located in Thuringe, it are: the Rhön, Dün, Kyffhäuser and the Hainich. The oriental party is in general in plain.

The principal rivers of Thuringe are: The Saale which run in these low parts of the south towards north, the Ilm, the Werra, the Unstrut and the Elster Blanc.

The highest point of Thuringe is Großer Beerberg which culminates with 982,9 meters; the point low is at 114 meters close to Wiehe.

Demography

Cities

History

Prehistory

One notes traces of settlement of Thuringe as of 350.000 before JC. A skeleton of homo sapiens going back to 200.000 before JC was found close to Weimar.

First mention of the name of Thuringe

Thuringe bears the name of the Thuringes which occupied its territory about the 2nd century. Passed under franque domination about the 6th century, it formed starting from 1130 a Landgraviat of the Germanic Roman Holy roman Empire.

The Middle Ages

Following the extinction of the counts (landgraves) of Thuringe in 1247, with the death of Henri Raspon, and after the exit of the war of succession of Thuringe (1247 - 1264), the Western part became independent under the name of Hesse. The remainder of Thuringe was allocated to the margraves of Meissen, the Maison of Wettin, and was thus the core of the third Duché of Saxony and of the Royaume of Saxony. When the house of Wettin was divided into branches ernestine and albertine in 1485, Thuringe returned to the first, and was subdivided thereafter in multiple microphone-States because of the tradition saxone to divide the heritage between the male heirs: one calls these States the Saxon Duchés . Most important were the states of Saxony-Weimar, Saxony-Eisenach, Saxony-Iéna, Saxony-Meiningen, Saxony-Altenbourg, Saxony-Cobourg, and Saxony-Gotha. Thuringe did not become whereas a simple geographical concept.

The Reform

During the reform, Thuringe became Protestant. The catholic faith was abolished in 1520: the priests were expelled and the destroyed monasteries. The Anabaptistes recruited in the area of Mulhausen where Thomas Munzer was active, the founder of this sect. Only the district of Eichsfeld, controlled by the archbishop of Mainz, remained catholic, like, with a less degree, the city and the neighborhoods of Erfurt.

The 19th century

The 20th century

In 1920, under the Weimar Republic, these States amalgamated in only one State, called Thuringe, with for capital Weimar. Only the Saxony-Cobourg preferred to vote its fastening with the Bavaria.

In 1937, the concentration camp of Buchenwald was open close to Weimar.

During the Second world war Thuringe underwent many damage in particular the towns of Iéna and Nordhausen which was severely bombarded. Even if the Americans reached Thuringe the first in April 1945, the Land of Thuringe were thereafter starting from July 1945 occupied by the Soviet troops, which attached part of the Prussian Saxony to him (Erfurt, Mühlhausen, and Nordhausen). Erfurt became the new capital. The first elections of the Parliament of Thuringe took place in 1946.

In 1949, the German Democratic republic east creates, Thuringe is attached there. In 1952, the German Democratic republic dissolves the Länder, which were replaced by districts ( Bezirke ). The districts of Erfurt, Managed and Suhl divided Thuringe. The border with the Bavaria in the south constituted then, during the Cold war, part of the Iron curtain, particularly quite visible with the museum of the Wall of Mödlareuth.

The Land of Thuringe was restored, in almost identical borders, at the time of the German reunification of 1990. In 1993, Thuringe obtained a new constitution and took the name of Freistadt Thuringen (free State of Thuringe).

Administration

The administrative organization of the Land of Thuringe is regulated by the Constitution of the free state of Thuringe of 1993. According to this constitution, Thuringe is a Land of the the Federal Republic of Germany. It is a rule of law which is democratic, social and which must protect the natural bases from the human life (Article 44). Article 45 of the constitution affirms that all the capacities of the Land emanate from the people and that the people express his will through elections, of plebiscites, and Référendum S.

Legislative power

The Legislative power belongs to the Parliament of the Land of Thuringe ( Landtag ). In the broad sense of an active participation of the population with the legislative power through a Referendum. The Parliament is renewed every five years by Scrutin proportional plurinominal. Currently 88 deputies sit at the Landtag .

Economy

Since the reunification, the economy of Thuringe began in a modernization process. If the unemployment rate of Thuringe is in reduction, there remains very high (he passed from 15,5% of the active population in 2002 to 14,5% in September 2006). Thuringe has a strong growth rate, its two principal industrial sectors are auto industry and electronics; moreover it presents many industrial successes in certain growth industries. Nevertheless the more traditional sectors preserve a considerable weight in the saving in Land of Thuringe. The principal economic zone is around Erfurt but the companies also concentrates in Jena and Eisenach, even if there exists a good distribution on all the territory.

Dynamic companies of point

Since Carl Zeiss and Otto Schott, Thuringe, and in particular the town of Iéna, are with the point of European and world optical industry. The company Jenoptik, whose seat is located at Iéna, has an international width today. The Carl Zeiss company is also points some in the field of optics.

The persistence of traditional industries

An important primary sector

In 2005, Thuringe counted 5124 farms (+ 1% compared to 2003) with a total surface cultivated of approximately 800.000 hectares (+ 0,5%). The intermediate size of the exploitations of 156 hectares was distributed as follows: less than 10 hectares (49% of the exploitations), between 10 and 100 hectares (29% of the exploitations), between 100 and 1000 hectares (17% of the exploitations), more than 1000 hectares (5% of the exploitations). For reference in France, the useful agricultural Surface average of the French exploitations was of 75 hectares in 2005.

In 2005,22 500 people worked in the farms and 4600 people were employed there in a seasonal way. Many farms counts only one person in addition. The Middle Age of the agricultural workers was 45,5 years (this age being in constant increase these last years). 89 pourcents of agricultural surfaces are Fermage S.

The principal cultures in Thuringe are the cereal cultures, the cultures of plants for the manufacture of plant oil, the Légumineuse S, the fodder cultures. The breeding is also present in Thuringe with the breedings Ovin S, Bovin S, Porcin S and of Volaille S as well as the production of milk even if the latter remains relatively little developed.

The biological exploitations also take a place of more important and their number progresses quickly (+ 15% in 2 years). The Organic farming being in addition developed more in Länder of old East Germany than in those of the old West Germany.

Principal employers of Thuringe

Education and research

Higher education

Thuringe has 9 establishments of higher education:

the university Friedrich Schiller of Iéna.
the university of Erfurt.
the Bauhaus university of Weimar.
the technological university of Ilmenau.
Fachhochschule de Iéna, Erfurt, Schmalkalden and Nordhausen.
the university of music Franz Liszt of Weimar.

Culture

Thuringe is in the middle of many fields of the German and European culture. The town of Weimar always has a considerable cultural radiation, cradle of the classicism of Weimar ( Weimarer Klassik ), it was the center of the Bauhaus and the first German constitution was born there.

Famous personalities

Personalities among most famous of the European culture marked Thuringe. Martin Luther found refuge with the Château of Wartbourg and began there the translation of the New Testament in German. Goethe, the German great writer, father of famous the Faust, resided at it more than fifty years and met another monument of the literature there, the poet Friedrich Schiller.

In 2004, the Land of Thuringe has a capacity of reception of approximately 68000 beds and annually accommodates 2,9 million visitors for a total of 8,1 million nights. The duration of average stay was 2,9 days. The majority of the tourists were originating in Germany but nevertheless 190.000 nonGerman visitors were counted. Among the foreign tourists one found initially of the Netherlanders (30% of the total), then the Swiss ones, Austrians, Americans (the USA), of the English and the French (approximately 10.000 visitors for the latter).

The gravitational area of Thuringe was the Forêt of Thuringe (zone of biathlon) followed valley of Saale (camp-site, cultural tourism with Weimar and Iéna).

Fauna and Flora

Approximately 1500 kinds of plants push in Thuringe. The Forêt of Thuringe is an emblem of the area and the nickname of " was worth to him; Deutschlands grünes Herz". The principal gasoline which composes it is the spruce but one finds also fir trees Douglas, Mélèze S and Hêtre S. the forest of Thuringe suffered and continuous to suffer from atmospheric pollution in particular because of the Acid rains.

The range of hill of Hainich is of particular environmental interest which explains the creation of the national nature reserve of Hainich in 1997. One finds there the vastest forest null and void of Germany, which presents a very large variety of beeches but also of the Frêne S, maple S, Tilleul S and rare service-trees torminals. The fauna of the park is composed of a common European fauna, one finds there for example Chevreuil S, Blaireau X, Grenouille S, Crapaud S or of the Sanglier S. But one finds also bald people mouse or wildcats. More than 180 species of birds live in Hainich (wood warblers, finches of the trees, peaks épeiches) but also of very many species of butterflies and insects.

Sport

See too

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