Mühlhausen

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Mühlhausen
Altstadt Mühlhausen.JPG
Coat of arms of Mühlhausen
Mühlhausen is located in Germany
Mühlhausen
Coordinates 51°13′0″N 10°27′0″E / 51.216667°N 10.45°E / 51.216667; 10.45
Administration
Country Germany
State Thuringia
District Unstrut-Hainich-Kreis
Lord Mayor Hans-Dieter Dörbaum
Basic statistics
Area 86.34 km2 (33.34 sq mi)
Elevation 216 m  (709 ft)
Population 36,874  (31 December 2006)
 - Density 427 /km2 (1,106 /sq mi)
Other information
Time zone CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2)
Licence plate UH
Postal code 99974
Area code 03601
Website www.muehlhausen.de
Location of the town of Mühlhausen within Unstrut-Hainich-Kreis district
Map

Mühlhausen (official Mühlhausen/Thüringen) is a city in the federal state Thuringia, Germany. It is the capital of the Unstrut-Hainich district, and lies along the river Unstrut. Mühlhausen had c. 37,000 inhabitants in 2006.

Inner view of one of the city's wall gates.

Contents

[edit] History

Mühlhausen is one of the oldest towns in Thuringia. It said to have been fortified in 925, and is first documented in 967 as an Ottonian village. Its early importance is shown by the grant of privileges made to it by the German King Henry the Fowler (876–936), and by the Imperial Diet held here in 1135. Its period of glory was the 13th through the 15th century.

During the Reformation, Mühlhausen became one of the chief seats of the Anabaptists. The radical reformer Thomas Müntzer preached in the Church of Saint Mary in 1525, and was captured in the vicinity and executed in the town.

Johann Sebastian Bach was an organist in the Church of Saint Blaise in 1708 and 1709.

Internal dissensions and injuries received during the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) and the Seven Years' War (1756–1763) reduced Mühlhausen to unimportance. In 1802 it lost its independence and passed to Prussia. In 1807 it was attached to the kingdom of Westphalia, but in 1815 it again became part of the Prussian Province of Saxony.

From 1944 to March 1945, a women's slave labor camp was directly outside Mühlhausen (a branch of the Buchenwald camp). The women were deported in April 1945 to Bergen Belsen.

[edit] Main sights

  • Historic city wall
  • City archives
  • 11 churches
  • National Park Hainich

[edit] Districts

The city of Mühlhausen consists of five districts:

  • Mühlhausen (33,660 inhabitants)
  • Felchta (990 inhabitants)
  • Görmar (1,109 inhabitants)
  • Saalfeld (211 inhabitants)
  • Windeberg (260 inhabitants)

[edit] Notable people

[edit] International relations

[edit] Twin towns — Sister cities

Mühlhausen is twinned with:

[edit] External links