Freistaat Thüringen

Also known as the Free state of Thuringia the capital is Erfurt. It is located in the center of Germany. Thurigen is quite small with being 6,243.7 square miles; which is a bit bigger than Connecticut (5,544 square miles). The state according to wikipedia.com has "2.29 million inhabitants, making it the sixth smallest by area and the fifth smallest by population of Germany's sixteen states."



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Luftbild_Erfurter_Rathaus.jpg

 Erfurt

http://wernshausen.netfirms.com/ThuringenFlag.jpg

State flag.
Thuringen was named after the Thuringii tribe who occupied it  ca. AD 300. From what I gathered from various sites and what I understand that Thuringen became a landgraviate. "The title refers to a count who had feudal duty directly to the Holy Roman Emperor... Landgrave occasionally continued in use as the subsidiary title of such nobility as the Grand Duke of Saxy-Weimer, who functioned as the Landgrave of Thuringia in the first decade of the 20th century, but the title fell into disuse after World War 1." (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Landgrave)

One special attribute in Thuringen is the Thuringen Forest. This is a state forest which is about 75 miles long and 22 miles wide. It is home of the Wartburg castle outside Eisenach (where Martin Luther stayed for some time in exile) The Rennsteig is a famous hiking path in the Thuringen forest.





Sites

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thuringia#History
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thuringian_Forest
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