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Bad Frankenhausen (officially: Bad Frankenhausen/Kyffhäuser) is a town in Thuringia, Germany. It is located on an artificial arm of the river Wipper, a tributary of the river Saale.
[edit] History
Frankenhausen was first attested as a Frankish settlement in the 9th century. It became a free town in 1282. In 1525, it was the location of one of the last great battles of the German Peasants' War, when the insurgent peasants under Thomas Münzer were defeated by the allied princes of Saxony and Hesse. Between 1599 and 1918 the town was the capital of the principality of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt.
Because of the influence Emperor Frederick Barbarossa had on the town, it is nicknamed a "Barbarossa town".
On 1 December 2007, the former municipality Esperstedt was incorporated by Bad Frankenhausen.
[edit] Main sights
- The town houses a famous museum in memory of the battle of 1525, featuring a monumental panorama painting by the German painter Werner Tübke (created 1989).
- There is a Renaissance castle, the former residence of the princes of Schwarzburg.
- The Upper Church, built in the 14th century, is known for its spire, which precariously inclines to the side.
- On the Kyffhäuser mountain near the town is the site of the Kyffhäuser Monument, a monumental site of commemoration of German national unity built between 1890 and 1896.
- The church of Our Dear Ladies has a 14th century bell tower which leans at 4.5°[1]
[edit] Twin town
[edit] References
- ^ Sunday Telegraph (U.K. newspaper) Number 2,406: 22nd July 2007
- Deutscher Städteatlas; Band: IV; 2 Teilband. Acta Collegii Historiae Urbanae Societatis Historicorum Internationalis - Serie C. Im Auftrag des Kuratoriums für vergleichende Städtegeschichte e. V. und mit Unterstützung der Deutschen Forschungsgemeinschaft, hrsg. von Heinz Stoob †, Wilfried Ehbrecht, Jürgen Lafrenz und Peter Johannek. Stadtmappe Bad Frankenhausen, Author: Heinz Stoob. ISBN 3-89115-032-6; Dortmund-Altenbeken, 1989.
[edit] External links
Germany
