Thüringen

Thüringen, state and historic region of central Germany. It was named for the Thuringians, a Germanic tribe that established a kingdom there in the 5th century ad. Thüringen was founded in 1130 as a landgraviate, land governed by a German count. It was an important principality during the 12th and 13th centuries. The seat of the landgraves was the famous castle of Wartburg, near Eisenach, noted as the site of contests of minnesingers (German poets and musicians of the 12th to the 14th centuries). The old line of landgraves then passed to the house of Wettin, which ruled in the margraviate of Meissen. In the 15th century the house of Wettin also acquired the electoral duchy of Saxony. When the Saxon dominions were partitioned in 1485, most of Thüringen passed to the Ernestine branch of the Wettin house. During the Reformation, in the early 16th century, the Saxon duchies and principalities were separated. They again merged into the state of Thüringen after the end of World War I in 1918. After World War II, which ended in 1945, Thüringen was included in the Soviet Zone. It became a state of East Germany in 1949 but was dissolved in 1952. After German unification in 1990, the state of Thüringen was created. The state is bordered by Saxony (Sachsen), Bavaria, Hessen, Lower Saxony (Niedersachsen), and Saxony-Anhalt. The chief cities of Thüringen are Erfurt and Weimar. Area, 16,172 sq km (6,244). Population 2,373,000 (2004 estimate).