Bad Frankenhausen

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Bad Frankenhausen (Bad Frankenhausen/Kyffhäuser)


Country	Germany
State	Thuringia
District	Kyffhäuserkreis
Population	8,801 source (June 30, 2005)
Area	56.55 km²
Population density	156 /km²
Elevation	132 m
Coordinates	51°21′ N 11°06′ E
Postal code	06567
Area code	034671
Licence plate code	KYF
Mayor	Matthias Strejc (SPD)
Website	Official Homepage

Bad Frankenhausen (officially: Bad Frankenhausen/Kyffhäuser) is a town in Thuringia, Germany. The population was 8.801 in the 2005 census. It is located on an artificial arm of the river Wipper, a tributary of the river Saale.

The castle of Bad Frankenhausen.

1 History
2 Main sights
3 References
4 External links

[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".

[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.

[edit] References

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.