Heldburg is a town and a municipality in the district of Hildburghausen, in Thuringia, in central Germany. The municipality was created with effect from 1 January 2019 by the merger of the former municipalities of Bad Colberg-Heldburg, Gompertshausen and Hellingen. It is situated 16 km south of Hildburghausen, and 18 km west of Coburg.
Administrative division
- Albingshausen
- Bad Colberg
- Einöd
- Gellershausen
- Gompertshausen
- Heldburg
- Hellingen
- Holzhausen
- Käßlitz
- Lindenau
- Poppenhausen
- Rieth
- Völkershausen
- Volkmannshausen
History
Heldburg was first mentioned in 837. It lies at the foot of the Heldburg Fortress. In 1374 it passed to the landgraves of Thuringia.[3] Heldburg was granted town rights in 1394.
In 1900, the town had a population of 1,040.[3]
During World War II, on 11 May 1942, the present-day district of Poppenhausen was the site of a massacre of 20 Polish prisoners of the Buchenwald concentration camp, who were publicly hanged by the Gestapo.[4] After the war, the town was part of East Germany.
In 1993 it became part of the municipality Bad Colberg-Heldburg.[5]
References
- ^ Gewählte Bürgermeister - aktuelle Landesübersicht, Freistaat Thüringen, accessed 14 July 2021.
- ^ "Bevölkerung der Gemeinden, erfüllenden Gemeinden und Verwaltungsgemeinschaften in Thüringen Gebietsstand: 31.12.2022" (in German). Thüringer Landesamt für Statistik. June 2023.
- ^ a b Meyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon. Vol. 9. Leipzig und Wien. 1906. p. 132.
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: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ^ Buchenwald. Ausgrenzung und Gewalt 1937 bis 1945 (in German). Bad Berka. 2016. p. 214. ISBN 978-3-9816900-3-3.
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: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ^ Heldburg - Geschichte erleben Archived 2020-08-03 at the Wayback Machine, official website Heldburg