Gera

For other uses, see Gera (disambiguation).

Gera
Town
A view of Gera.
Coat of arms
Location of Gera within Thuringia
Country	Germany
State	Thuringia
District	Urban district
Founded	995
Government
• Lord mayor	Norbert Vornehm (SPD)
Area
• Total	151.93 km2 (58.66 sq mi)
Elevation	205 m (673 ft)
Population  (2022-12-31)
• Total	93,634
• Density	620/km2 (1,600/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
Postal codes	07545–07557
Dialling codes	0365, 0336695
Vehicle registration	G
Website	www.gera.de

Gera, the third-largest city in the German state of Thuringia (after Erfurt, the Thuringian capital, and Jena), lies in east Thuringia on the river Weiße Elster (literally the "White Magpie"), approximately 60 kilometres to the south of the city of Leipzig and 80 kilometers to the east of Erfurt. As of 2007 Gera had a population of approximately 102,000.

Geography

Gera lies at a height of between 180 meters (the level of the White Elster river) and 354 m (1,161.42 ft) (when measured at Gera-Falka at the furthest southeastern point). Usually the height above sea level for the city appears as 205 m (672.57 ft) when measured at the market place.

The largest city forest of all the towns of Thuringia, called the City Forest of Gera (Geraer Stadtwald), stands on the western edge of the city. Another forested tract borders on the northwest city boundary. The Zeitzer Forest in Saxony-Anhalt stands just northeast of the city.

History

The place name Gera originally referred to the area of the Elster river valley where the city now stands. The name likely originated before the European migration period - the Slavic people who first settled the area during the 8th century adopted the name. The first known documentary mention of Gera dates from 995.

In 999 Emperor Otto III assigned the "province" of Gera to the Quedlinburg Abbey. In turn, the church assigned the protectorship of this area in 1209 to the Vogts of Weida (in German: Vögte von Weida) who served as its administrators. The settlement of Gera acquired the rights of a city later in the 13th century. At first, the city grew only slowly. In 1450, it was almost totally destroyed during the Saxon Fratricidal War. Through inheritance over the following centuries, Gera eventually became part of the Reuss principalities.

In 1806 Napoleon set up his Imperial Headquarters at Gera during the War of the Fourth Coalition. From here, on October 12, 1806, the French Emperor sent an arrogant and threatening letter to King Frederick William III of Prussia - a letter that led directily to war and to the crushing defeat of Prussia at the Battle of Jena a few days later.

From 1848 to 1918 Gera served as the capital of the Reuss Junior Line principality. With the industrial revolution in the middle of the 19th century, Gera enjoyed rapid growth through its textile industry. Its wealth at that time is still demonstrated by the many city villas built in that era. The Schulenburg mansion designed by the Belgian artist Henry van de Velde is an example. The city became a railway center where many rail lines met — highlighting its importance.

• 
  Schulenburg villa in Gera, designed by Henry van de Velde

In 1920 the city became part of the newly founded state of Thuringia.

Aerial bombing destroyed some parts of the city in 1945.

The city became a part of the newly created District of Gera (Bezirk Gera) in 1952 within the German Democratic Republic (East Germany). After the German reunification in 1990, Gera became part of the restored state of Thuringia — one of three metropolitan centers (Oberzentren) along with Jena and Erfurt. Since 1998, the Vocational Academy of Gera has found its home here, as well as a private school for allied health sciences. The city hosted the biennial federal horticultural show (Bundesgartenschau) in 2007.

Economy and labour

As of 2009 the city economy features the private health sector (SRH Waldklinikum), industrial machinery (Dagro Gera GmbH), communications (DTKS GmbH, Deutsche Telekom AG), security locks (Schloßsicherungen Gera GmbH), optics (POG Präzisionsoptik Gera GmbH), electrical equipment (Electronicon Kondensatoren GmbH), and margarine manufacturing (Othüna). Other companies include a compressor manufacturer (Kompressorenwerk Kaeser), a precision-tool maker (SMK-Präzisionsmechanik), and a subsidiary of the construction company Max Bögl. The e-commerce service provider D+S Europe has a service center in Gera with several hundred workers, and Rittal, a manufacturer of information technology enclosures, recently moved from Bad Köstritz to Gera.

Some industrial branches operating before 1990 no longer have major importance. Sectors that either no longer exist or have been sharply reduced include those in toolmaking (VEB Wema Union), textiles (VEB Modedruck), textile machinery (VEB Textima), electronic equipment (VEB Elektronik Gera). Other industries that had a presence included VEB Carl Zeiss Jena and a brewery. One important industrial branch had been uranium-ore mining in nearby Ronneburg (SDAG Wismut).

The East Thuringia/Gera metropolitan area as a whole has a population of 450,000. This makes Gera a regional commercial center for retail. By 2003, the town had three major retail centers: Gera-Arcaden, Amthor-Passage, and Elster-Forum.

Though the third-largest city in Thuringia, Gera ranks in 7th place in terms of unemployment. The unemployment rate decreased from 15.4% in June 2007 to 14.9% in March 2009.

City organization

Town Hall in the center of the city

The city has 40 different communities, distributed amongst 12 municipal districts as follows:

1. City Center
2. Debschwitz
3. Gera-Langenberg
4. Bieblach-East
5. Bieblach/Tinz
6. Untermhaus
7. Frankentahl
8. Lusan
9. Rubitz/Milbitz/Thieschitz

Main sights

Sights in Gera include:

Otto Dix House

The Museum for Applied Arts in the Ferber House on Greizer Street

• Town Hall (1576, Renaissance)
• Market Square with Simson-fountain
• Osterstein Castle, Gera (largely destroyed 1945)
• City Pharmacy
• Theater (1902)
• Villa Schulenburg, designed by Henry van de Velde
• St. Johannis church (Neo-Gothic)
• St. Salvator church (Baroque with Art Nouveau interior decoration)
• St. Marien church (Late Gothic)
• St. Trinitatis church (Late Gothic)
• Old beer cellars called "Geraer Höhler"
• Zoo Gera (since 1973)

Museums in Gera include:

• City Museum
• Otto Dix House
• Art Galley "Orangerie"
• Museum of Natural History ("Schreiber House", the oldest building in the city), with its adjacent botanical garden, the Botanischer Garten Gera
• Museum for Applied Arts ("Ferber House"), displays collections of Bauhaus ceramics by the artists Otto Lindig und Theodor Bogler; architectural works of Thilo Schoder; and photographs by Aenne Biermann.

In 2007 Gera, together with Ronneburg, is venue of the Bundesgartenschau (the federal horticultural show).

Transportation

In the eastern part of Gera lies the airfield Gera-Leumnitz. The nearest airport is Leipzig-Altenburg (approx. 40 km). The Leipzig-Halle airport, with its with many international destinations, is about 90 km north of Gera.

There is a city tram/bus system run by the GVB (Geraer Verkehrsbetrieb).

International relations

See also: List of twin towns and sister cities in Germany

Gera is twinned with:

Arnhem, Netherlands Fort Wayne, United States Goražde, Bosnia and Herzegovina Kuopio Finland

Nuremberg, Germany Plzeň, Czech Republic Pskov, Russia Rostov-on-Don, Russia

Saint-Denis, France Skierniewice, Poland Sliven, Bulgaria Timişoara, Romania

== Sons and daughters of the town ==

• Johann Heinrich Berger (1657-1732), lawyer
• Elias Gottlob Haussmann * (1695-1774), U.S. artist coler
• Johann Heinrich Gottfried Koch (1703-1775), actor
• Heinrich Gottlob Agatius cloth (1766-1821), Song hosts
• Ernst August Geitner (1783-1852), chemist, botanist and inventor
• Heinrich Gustav Beck (1854-1933), Minister President of Saxony
• Otto Lummer (1860-1925), physicist
• Otto Erler (1872-1943), playwright
• Paul Hundius (* February 2, 1889 in Gera, † September 16, 1918 on the Street on Dover), U-boat captain off the World War I, and give name from U-boat flotilla, "Hundius"
• Otto Dix (1891-1969), painter and graphic artist, a professor on the Coler artist Dresden and Karlsruhe
• Paul Rudolph (1893-1978), politician, provincial minister of Thuringia
• Helene Fleischer, born Lätzsch (1899-1941), communist politician
• Horn, Kurt Fischer (1910-1958), wrestler
• Golan Nahum (1915-1991), an Israeli colonel, commander of the Golani Brigade
• Georg Buschner (1925-2007), coach of the national soccer team of the GDR
• Ursula Arnold (b. 1929), photographer and cinematographer
• Karl-Heinz Pollok (1929-2003), Slavic scholar and founding president of the University of Passau
• Max Frankel (born 1930), journalist, winner of the Pulitzer Prize and a former chief editor of the New York Times
• Bringfried Müller (* 1931), football player and coach
• Helga Königsdorf (b. 1938), mathematician and writer
• Ortleb Rainer (born 1944), politician, Federal Minister
• Michael Krapp (b. 1944), politician, Minister of Culture in Thuringia
• Thilo Sarrazin (born 1945), politician
• Gerhard Hoppe (born 1950), football player

Margitta Pufe * (* 1952), athlete

• Birgit Pohl (born 1954), multiple Paralympic gold medalist and world champion in the sports of disabled sports / athletics (shot put, discus and javelin)
• Wolfgang Tiefensee (b. 1955), politician, mayor of Leipzig, Federal Minister
• Ulrich Junghanns (b. 1956), politician, Minister of Economy and Chairman of CDU Brandenburg
• Marlies Goehr (born 1958), athlete, Olympic champion in 1976 and 1980 with 4x100 m relay, world record holder over 100 meters
• Gerald Mortag (* 1958), track cyclist and cycling coach
• Rolf Schwanitz (b. 1959), politician, Minister of State, Parliamentary State Secretary
• Olaf Ludwig (born 1960), cyclist, 1988 Olympic Champion
• Andreas Dresen (b. 1963), film director
• Heike Drechsler (born 1964), athlete, Olympic champion in 1992 and 2000
• Jens Heppner (born 1964), cyclist
• Hanka Kupfernagel (b. 1974), cyclist
• Yves Poley Dunger Harry (* 1988), journalist (reporter received two prizes for Best 2011), and cameraman
• Bianca Schmidt (* 1990), football player
• Florian Trinks (* 1992), football player

Notable natives

• Johann Heinrich Gottfried Koch, (1705–1775)
• Heinrich Gustav Beck, (1857–1933), Minister-president of Saxony 1914–1918
• Otto Dix (1891–1969), artist
• Rudolf Paul, (1893–1978), President of Thuringia 1945–1947
• Karl Weschke, (1925–2005), painter
• Georg Buschner, (1925–2007), head coach East Germany national football team
• Max Frankel, (born 1930), executive editor, New York Times 1986-1994
• Helga Königsdorf, (born 1938), mathematician and author
• Thilo Sarrazin, (born 1945), German politician
• Marlies Göhr, (born 1958), athlete
• Olaf Ludwig, (born 1960), racing cyclist
• Wolfgang Tiefensee, (born 1955), politician
• Heike Drechsler, (born 1964), Olympic gold medalist long jumper
• Jens Heppner, (born 1964), racing cyclist

References

Notes

External links

• Official website of Gera
• Template:German