Suhl

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Suhl


Country	Germany
State	Thuringia
District	urban district
Population	43,202 source (2005)
Area	102.7 km²
Population density	423 /km²
Elevation	550 m
Coordinates	50°36′ N 10°42′ E
Postal code	98501-98529
Area code	03681
Licence plate code	SHL
Mayor	Dr. Jens Triebel (crossbench)
Website	stadtsuhl.de

Suhl is a city in Thuringia, Germany. The population as of 2003 was 43,610.

According to a local joke, "Suhl is so close to the edge of the world you can see Zella-Mehlis".

[edit] History

First appearance in 1318. From 1365 the coat of arms shows two hammers indicating the cities most important base of living: metal processing. City rights were granted (confirmed) in 1527.

Suhl was capital of the south-western GDR district "Bezirk Suhl" from 1952 till 1990.

[edit] Weapon Industry

The metal processing of Suhl naturally led, during the Renaissance, to other major local industries, including gunsmithing and armoring. Suhl was a major producer of cannons throughout the seventeenth and subsequent centuries, and Suhl cannons were used by many European powers. A major arms company that was located in Suhl for almost 200 years was J.P. Sauer und Sohn GmbH, producer of hunting rifles, shotguns, and pistols such as the Sauer 38H until moving operations to Eckernförde at the end of WWII.

During the Cold War, the East German national shooting arena was located at Suhl and hosted many top-level competitions including the 1986 ISSF World Championships. Although surpassed in this respect in the unified Germany by the Olympic shooting centre at Munich, Suhl remains an important place to the sport. It hosts Germany's only school for armorers and a well equipped museum of weapons.

Suhl became famous after division for building the Simson moped.