Sonneberg (district)

This article is about the district or county in Thuringia. For its county town, see Sonneberg. For the hill of the same name, see Sonneberg (hill).
Sonneberg
District
Country  Germany
State Thuringia
Capital Sonneberg
Area
 • Total 433 km2 (167 sq mi)
Population (31 December 2015)[1]
 • Total 56,818
 • Density 130/km2 (340/sq mi)
Time zone CET (UTC+1)
 • Summer (DST) CEST (UTC+2)
Vehicle registration SON, NH
Website www.landkreis-sonneberg.de

Sonneberg is a Kreis (district) in the south of Thuringia, Germany. Neighboring districts are (from the west clockwise) the districts Hildburghausen, Saalfeld-Rudolstadt, and the Bavarian districts Kronach and Coburg.

History

The district was created in 1868 when districts were introduced in Saxe-Meiningen. In 1952, parts of the district were split off into a newly created district Neuhaus am Rennweg. In 1994, Neuhaus am Rennweg was dissolved and the district Sonneberg regained its original size.

Geography

The district is located on the southern slopes of the mountains of the Thuringian Forest. The land descends from the more than 800m tall hills (the highest elevation is the 863m high Bleßberg) down to the lower plains Sonneberger Unterland and Schalkauer Platte. The Dreistromstein near Siegmundsburg near Neuhaus am Rennweg marks the intersection of three watersheds that drain into the rivers Rhine, Weser, and Elbe.

Coat of arms

The coat of arms shows symbols of the historic states which make up the territory of the district. In the top left field is the lion as symbol of the county of Meißen. In the top right field is the symbol of the Lords of Sonneberg, which includes sheep shears. The bottom left field displays the symbol of the Counts of Schaumberg-Rauenstein, and the bottom right field shows the coat of arms of Saxony.

Towns and municipalities

Towns Municipalities
  1. Lauscha
  2. Neuhaus am Rennweg
  3. Schalkau
  4. Sonneberg
  5. Steinach
  1. Bachfeld
  2. Föritz
  3. Frankenblick
  4. Goldisthal
  5. Judenbach
  6. Neuhaus-Schierschnitz

References

  1. ↑ "Bevölkerung der Gemeinden, Gemeinschaftsfreie Gemeinde, erfüllende/beauftragende Gemeinden, Verwaltungsgemeinschaft/Mitgliedsgemeinden in Thüringen". Thüringer Landesamt für Statistik (in German). July 2016.

Coordinates: 50°25′N 11°10′E / 50.42°N 11.17°E / 50.42; 11.17

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 6/22/2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.