Schlosskirche	Schlossk.	Kräutergarten	Stadtkirche

In the north-eastern part of the Free State of Thuringia is the Saale-Holzland Borough with the car number plate SHK. It comprises the area of the former boroughs Eisenberg, Jena State and Stadtroda. Its prominent traffic junction is the Hermsdorfer Kreuz, it’s geographical and tourist trademarks are the Saaletal (Saale Valley), about which is often sung in folk songs and the well forested East-Saale Holzland. The district town is Eisenberg with 12 000 inhabitants at the same time the biggest town in the Saale-Holzland borough. With respect to transport, Eisenberg is well connected both by the federal motorway (Bundesautobahn) 9 with a direct junction and by the federal road (Bundesstraße) 7. On the B 7, Eisenberg can be reached from the wellknown Zeiß and the university city of Jena, Thuringia. The third biggest city in Thuringia, in twenty-five minute via the well-known potter town of Bürgel. In the opposite direction, the B 7 connects Eisenberg with Thuriniga’s second biggest town of Gera in about the same time. Thuringia’s city of the classics, Weimar, and the state capital Erfurt are situated 45 and 65 kilometre respectively away from Eisenberg. On. 20 th June 1993, Eisenberg founded town twinning with Soissons in France, something which goes back to contacts in 1966.

There are also friendly relationships with the towns of Eisenberg/Lower Palatinate, Menden in Sauerland and Stadthagen near Hanover.

Eisenberg has been the district town since 1952. The palace of Christiansburg was in East German times the council to the borough of Eisenberg, since 1990 the seat of the state council offices of the administrative district of Eisenberg. Eisenberg was able to assert itself in 1994 as district town and seat of the borough council. The palace itself owes its expansive nature and beautifully laid out palace grounds and the baroque palace park to the birth of the dukedom of Saxony-Eisenberg and its only regent, Duke Christian (1653-1707). Christian’s father, Ernst der Fromme (Ernst the Pious), divided up the inheritance of his dukedom Saxony-Gotha-Altenburg amongst his seven sons in 1660. His fifth son Christian as Gotha established ancillary line the dukedom of Eisenberg. It existed from 1680 to 1707. Even if this period may appear to be very short, the historic architectural and cultural results of is have their effect up to the present. Alongside its administrative functions, Eisenberg maintains considerable economic significance in the Saale-Holzland borough. It is characterised both by traditional sectors and industrial settlements which have appeared recently. Eisenberg meat and sausage goods have a good reputation and bear the Thuringia quality label.

Wood processing is represented by a modern furniture factory in which high-quality system furniture is manufactured. Music instrument construction, which since 1823 had made Eisenberg world-famous, continues and is known at home and abroad both for the manufacture of pianos and of cembalos.

Its tradition in the manufacture of bricks is continued today on the Eisenberg plain in the most modern brick and calcareous sandstone works in Europe. The processing construction industry supplies gravel and sand, ready-mix concrete and mortar as well as attractive concrete stones for roads, paths and landscaping. Modern plastic products are produced in Eisenberg for the sanitary sector is as much as high-quality and sophisticated fittings. Eisenberg’s favourable transport situation has played a decisive part in the fact that there, alongside the traditional industrial settlements, highly modern innovative production fields such as the manufacture of optical crystals or processing by means of laser technology have been established.

Since 1990, new commercial areas have been opened up step-by-step. Amongst these are the commercial area >Nord< (North) and, directly at the motorway junction, the industrial area >In der Wiesen< (>In the Countryside<).

Modern Eisenberg has also been marked by the >Waldkrankenhaus< (hospital) existing since 1943 and developed by Dr. Rudolf Elle form a military hospital to a recognised orthopaedic clinic. At present, a new wing is being erected with eight operating theatres, emergency outpatient department and varied work and research rooms. The Rudolf-Elle-Hospital is the borough hospital for internal medicine and surgery as well being the domicile of the chair of orthopaedics of the university clinic of the Friedrich Schiller University in Jena.

For its own population and for guests, the town of Eisenberg maintains a wide range of sporting and recreation facilities of which the indoor swimming-pool, the Sports Centre Schortental with football fields, tennis courts and a shooting range belonging to the local shooting club and several sport halls deserve to be mentioned. Of national significance for the town and its environs is the Eisenberg Mühltal (valley) with its romantic scenery its former mills being used as pensions, restaurants and youth hotels.

Mohrenbrunnen	Stadtmuseum	Rathaus	Schlossgarten

The Town is mentioned officially for the first time on 18 th February 1190 as Isinberc. At that time, the place belonged to the territory of the count of Meißen. Otto der Reiche (Otto the Rich) had a fortress built as outpost against the Slavs, a starting point for the later palace complex around which the so-called >new< town developed. The derivation of the name of the town is disputed up to today. Already in 1171 there is supposed to have been a walled-in town. It is not clear whether the >godfather< of the name was the iron or the ore mining, an iron-bearing mountain, the >hardness of iron< - that is as unconquerable fortress – or whether there was a founder >Iso< . Researchers of place names, however, put the name down to the mined marsh ore (Sorbian >ruda<) just as for the neighbouring Slavic place of Rauda (1219/1324 Ruda).

At any rate it has been established that the ownership relationships often changed through partitions of inheritances, marriages and the chaos of war. The owners of the town were the Count of Meißen, the Elector of Saxony (Wettiner) and rulers of various lines of different dukedoms, Lastly, the town belonged to the western borough of the Dukedom Saxony-Altenburg (1826-1918), later the Thuringia administrative district of Roda and since 1952, Eisenberg has been a district town itself. The long history of the town is just as turbulent. Eisenberg was the seat of a Cistercian monastery which was moved in 1219 by Dietrich den Bedrängten (Dietrich the Troubled) from Zwickau to Eisenberg. It radiated as a spiritual and intellectual centre as far as Apolda and Zwickau and the surrounding towns, and was at the same time a jewel of town education.

After the dissolution of the monastery in 1524, school education became the responsibility of the town Latin school which was housed in 1564 in a building on the market place.

In 1530, the town accommodated the Reformer Martin Luther on his journey to the Augsburg Reichstag (parliament), which finished for him in Coburg, an his fiend Philipp Melanchthon. In 1537 he made another stop in Eisenberg in the course of a journey. Luther could always be sure of enthusiastic followers in the town; in 1524 the wife of the electoral metal worker, Ursula Weida, made up a pamphlet for the reformer. An Philipp Melanchthon corresponded with the town councillor.

In 1687/88 Duke Christian initiated the establishment of the Eisenberg Girls’ Grammar School and thus laid the foundation stone for the later >Gymnasium< which developed into a recognised place of learning. Many of the inhabitants of Eisenberg received the intellectual equipment here for subsequent scientific achievements.

Amongst the great minds who saw the first light of day in Eisenberg was, amongst, others, the most famous German teacher of law in the 18 th century Johann GottliebHeineccius (1681-1741) and his brother Johann Michael, the founder of the scientific study of seals. Karl Christian Friedrich Krause (1781-1832) is also a child of the town. Krause is regarded as being a significant philosopher of the German idealism. Almost forgotten in his own land, his ideas received great recognition in Spain and Latin America. Also the critic of religion and philosopher Bruno Bauer (1809-1882) was born in Eisenberg. The Hegel student and Marx admirer assisted in work on the >Halle Yearbooks for German Science and Culture< published by Arnold Ruge.

Of particular significance for Eisenberg was without doubt Carl Spahn (1803-1865). As an enthusiastic supporter, energetic comrade-in-arms and poet of the revolution of 1848, he took part in the fighting for the Baden fortress of Rastatt. On the wanted is in his own parts, he learnt about the fabrication of cases in his Swiss exile. After he was granted the right to return home on the condition that he desist from all political activity, he established in 1853 the local case production. This developed quickly to an important branch of industry in Eisenberg. Around 1900 there were 250 workers employed in eight such factories.

One of the most famous specialists in Middle Eastern and oriental studies was born in Eisenberg in 1822 – Reinhold Rost. He attended the Eisenberg Grammar School, later the Altenburg Grammar School and studied in Jena. In England he was a director of one of the most significant oriental libraries. The language genius, distinguished with several honorary doctor titles, was regarded during his life-time as the best authority on the Indian language. Reinhold Rost, faithful to his own land as long as he lived, died in London in 1896.

Also the famous copper engraver of the 19 th century, Eduard Büchel, saw the first light of day in Eisenberg in 1835. Trained in the workshop of his father, a bronze and nickel silver factory owner, he worked as an engraver and was active from 1851 in Dresden. Bücher was an honorary member of the Dresden Academy and was made a professor. He died in 1903 at his long-year place of work. At the beginning of the 20 th century, the people of Eisenberg also saw and heard important political personalities. In 1904 August Bebel spoke in the town, in 1908 Rosa Luxemburg. In 1926 two streets were named after them.

Tiergarten	Tiergarten	Mühltal	Freibad

The municipal coat of arms shows in blue on a golden background a golden fortress with a central pewter tower, two lateral towers with red roofs and a closed gatehouse.

Since the middle of the 16 th century Eisenberg has had a >Mohr< has been anchored since about that time in the coats of arms of the towns/cities of Bad Sulza, Coburg and Zwickau. The portrait goes back in its origin to the holy Mauritius. Mauritius, derived from Maurus, Maure(tanien), in German Moritz. The historical personality of Mauritius was the legendary leader of the Thebaeic legion, elite troops of the Roman Empire which had turned as a one to Christianity and refused to pay homage to the Roman Gods. It suffered its martyrdom around 300 at Aganum (today St. Maurice in the Swiss canton of Wallis).

Very soon, Mauritius was worshipped as a saint. His mortal remains were taken as relics to the Magdeburg Dom (cathedral) of St. Mauritius and St. Katharina. At the time of the Ottonians and the Staufer Kaisers, Mauritius became the patron saint. Mauritius churches arose (Bad Sulza) or Moritz churches (Zwickau) or Moritz monasteries (Magdeburg) Noble lineage’s, dioceses and towns included him as a >black< knight in their coats of arms. He was worshipped as the patron saint of the soldiers and certain handicraft occupations – e.g. dyers, cloth makers and smiths. He has also been immortalised on old coins from Eisenberg.

As well-known symbol of the town of Eisenberg, he stands dark-skinned in the >Mohr< Fountain. Created in 1727 from a sandstone block by the Eisenberg sculptor Schellenberg, the >Mohr< was painted and decorated in 1780 by the painter Schildbach. In 1843 it received a sea mussel as a drinking vessel, the fountains were done up again and the >Mohr< was reconstructed artistically by the Eisenberg lithographer Bergner. Eisenberg >Mohr< - symbol of the town sandstone figure by Johann Schellenberg 1727.

www.stadt-eisenberg.de