Айзенах: История и современность тюрингского города

Town in Thuringia, Germany

Eisenach is a town in Thuringia, Germany with 42,000 inhabitants, located west of Erfurt, southeast of Kassel and northeast of Frankfurt. It is the main urban centre of western Thuringia and bordering northeastern Hessian regions, situated near the former Inner German border. A major attraction is Wartburg castle, which has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1999. Eisenach was an early capital of Thuringia in the 12th and 13th centuries. St. Elizabeth lived at the court of the Ludowingians here between 1211 and 1228. Later, Martin Luther came to Eisenach and translated the Bible into German. In 1685, Johann Sebastian Bach was born here. During the early modern period, Eisenach was a residence of the Ernestine Wettins and was visited by numerous representatives of Weimar classicism like Johann Wolfgang Goethe.

Eisenach's origin and early history is unknown. An 8th century Frankish settlement near Petersberg hill is regarded as the nucleus of Eisenach. However, there are no written sources about that early period. According to legend, Louis the Springer began in 1067 to establish Wartburg castle above the settlement. In preparation for World War II, new barracks were established in Eisenach and the car industry started the production of military equipment. After 1940, around 4,000 forced labourers (most of them from the Soviet Union) were pressed to work in the town's factories, where some of them died due to the bad working conditions. Postwar, the managing director of the BMW aircraft engine works, Dr Schaaf, told the Fedden Mission there were as many as 11,000 working in the town, 4,500 in a plant inside a hillside turning out BMW 132 engines and parts for the 801, the rest in town. The bombings during the war destroyed about 2,000 housing units and big parts of the car factories, as well as some historic buildings in the town centre, which were rebuilt soon after the war. The US Army arrived in Eisenach on 6 April 1945, but the Soviets took over control of the town on 1 July 1945, making it Communism's westernmost major town. Eisenach was part of the GDR after 1949. The Inner German border ran only ten kilometres west of Eisenach and was closed in 1952, cutting off parts of Eisenach's traditional hinterland. The location near the border inhibited the further development during the next 40 years and the population declined through that period. Nevertheless, Eisenach remained an important industrial location. The BMW car factory was socialized and under the new name EMW produced the Wartburg, the so called "Mercedes of the East". The deteriorating condition of many historic houses led to a housing shortage during the 1970s. The government fought this by demolishing some historic quarters (e. g. at Jakobstraße) and rebuilding them with Plattenbau settlements. The biggest Plattenbau district was built at the northern periphery of Eisenach between 1978 and 1985 with nearly 4,000 housing units. In 1975, the tramway system was discontinued. After German reunification in 1990, the economic situation changed. The car factory was taken over by Opel, whereas many other factories were closed. On the other hand, Eisenach moved from the inner German border to the centre of the reunified country. Tourism saw significant growth and the Wartburg castle was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1999. Nevertheless, the financial situation of Eisenach remained difficult, unemployment stayed above average and car production suffered from the business problems of Opel.

Eisenach is situated at the northern edge of the Thuringian Forest, at an elevation of about 220 m. The terrain is hilly, to the south also mountainous (up to 460 m of elevation), with the central Hörsel valley crossing the town in east western direction. The Nesse river enters the Hörsel river in Eisenach after forming a valley through the spur of the Hörselberg mountains in the eastern municipal territory. The northern territory around the Neunkirchen, Stregda and Hötzelsroda districts is relatively flat and in agricultural use. Approximately west of the town centre runs the wide Werra valley, where the Hörsel river enters this bigger river near Hörschel district. The southern municipal territory is covered with forest, same as some smaller parts north of the Hörsel river. The Hainich mountains begin north east of Eisenach.

Eisenach has a humid continental climate (Dfb) or an oceanic climate (Cfb) according to the Köppen climate classification system. Summers are warm and sometimes humid, winters are relatively cold. The town's topography creates a microclimate with mostly adequate air circulation along the west eastern valley which made Eisenach a resort at the end of the 19th century. Annual precipitation is with moderate rainfall throughout the year. Light snowfall mainly occurs from December through February, but snow cover does not usually remain for long in the inner town valley.

Eisenach has always been one of the larger towns in Thuringia with 4,000 to 5,000 inhabitants during the Middle Ages. By 1800, the population rose to 8,000 and further to 10,000 as industrialisation started around 1850. In 1875, the town had 16,000 inhabitants, 30,000 in 1900, 43,000 in 1925 and more than 50,000 in 1940, as the peak was reached. Like the most other east German mid sized towns, Eisenach has had a shrinking population since 1950. It declined to 48,000 in 1990, 44,000 in 2000 and 42,000 in 2012. During the last few years (2009–2012), the annual change was 0.12%. Suburbanization played only a small role in Eisenach. It occurred after reunification for a short time in the 1990s, but most of the suburban areas are situated within the administrative town borders. The birth deficit was 240 in 2012, or 5.7 per 1,000 inhabitants (Thuringian average: 4.5; national average: 2.4). The net migration rate was +6.5 per 1,000 inhabitants in 2012 (Thuringian average: 0.8; national average: +4.6). The most important regions of origin of people who have moved to Eisenach are rural areas of Thuringia as well as foreign countries like Poland, Russia, Ukraine, Hungary, Serbia, Romania and Bulgaria. Like in other eastern German cities, only a small share of Eisenach's population is foreign: circa 2.3% are non Germans by citizenship and overall 4.9% are classified as "migrants" (according to the 2011 EU census). Differing from the national average, the biggest groups of migrants in Eisenach are Vietnamese, Russians and Ukrainians. Due to the official atheism of the former German Democratic Republic, most of the population is non religious: 23.0% are members of the Evangelical Church in Central Germany and 4.4% are Catholics (according to the 2011 EU census).

The region around Eisenach is the part of Thuringia with the strongest economic base. Of those employees, 3,000 work for just two companies (Opel and Bosch), underlining the dependence of Eisenach on the automotive industry. Services in Eisenach are focused on tourism with 166,000 overnight visitors spending a total of 311,000 nights in hotels in 2012. In addition, there are large numbers of (mostly German) one day visitors. Eisenach also provides services to the region (retail, hospitals, theatres, cinemas etc.). During recent years, the economic situation of the town improved: the unemployment rate declined from 17% in 2005 to 9% in 2013.

Eisenach is connected by the Thuringian Railway to Erfurt and Halle/Leipzig to the east and to Kassel and Frankfurt to the west. Furthermore, there is the Werra Railway, a former main line railway between north and south Germany from Eisenach via Meiningen to Eisfeld, which since the division of Germany after World War II has served only for regional transport. At the former inner German border, it is still interrupted between Eisfeld and Coburg, but rebuilding is in discussion. Eisenach station is a stop of all long distance trains from Frankfurt to Leipzig/Dresden, running once an hour. Local trains, also once an hour, start in Eisenach to Halle via Erfurt, to Sonneberg via Meiningen and Eisfeld and to Bebra via Gerstungen. Freight transport is important at Eisenach's Opel factory which has its own terminal. Further local passenger stations are Eisenach West, Eisenach Opelwerk and Hörschel. Eisenach is located on the Bundesautobahn 4 from Frankfurt in the west to Erfurt and Dresden in the east. Since 2010, the Autobahn has been moved to a new route farther away from the town to protect the residents from noise and air pollution. Moreover, it was not possible to expand the old route because of the mountainous topography. After 2010, parts of the old route became a town highway, whereas other parts were renaturalized. A second Autobahn between Eisenach and Kassel is in construction (Bundesautobahn 44). There are four Bundesstraßen connecting Eisenach: The Bundesstraße 7 runs to Kassel in the north west, whereas its eastern branch to Gotha was annulled in 2010. The Bundesstraße 19 leads to Meiningen in the south, the Bundesstraße 84 to Bad Langensalza in the north east and to Fulda via Vacha in the south west and the Bundesstraße 88 is a connection to Ilmenau in the south east. Furthermore, there are two important secondary roads to Mühlhausen via Mihla in the north and to Herleshausen in the west through the Hörsel valley. Downtown traffic is concentrated on Rennbahn street, which often leads to congestion due to a large number of commuters and the town's narrow topography. The next local airports are the Erfurt Weimar Airport, about to the east and the Kassel Calden Airport, roughly to the north west. Both offer service to tourist destinations. The next major international airport is Frankfurt Airport, circa to the south west. Kindel Airfield, east of Eisenach, is a former Soviet military base, today used for private aviation. Biking is getting more and more popular since the construction of quality cycle tracks began in the 1990s. Long distance trails include the Werra trail, the Rennsteig trail and the Radweg Thüringer Städtekette ("Thuringian town string trail"). These all connect points of touristic interest, the first along the Werra valley from the Thuringian Forest to the Weser river in Hann. Münden, the second through the Thuringian Forest along its crest to the Saale river near Hof and the third follows near the medieval Via Regia from the Werra valley/Eisenach via Gotha, Erfurt and Weimar to Altenburg. Public transport in Eisenach is by a bus network servicing the downtown areas as well as the neighbouring towns and villages. The three line tramway system of Eisenach was in operation between 1897 and 1975.

After reunification, the educational system was reformed. Eisenach currently has six state run and one Protestant primary schools. There are two types of secondary school in Germany. The gymnasium prepares students for higher education at a university and students graduate after a total of 12 or 13 years of education with an Abitur. There are two public and one evangelical gymnasium in Eisenach named after personalities of the cities history:
Elisabeth Gymnasium (named after St. Elisabeth. This public gymnasium is partner school for the handball project of the local ThSV Eisenach handball club which is one of clubs playing in Germany's first league (Handball Bundesliga). Students can specialise in science, languages or music & art and are offered an intense course in economics & law in year 11 and 12). Ernst Abbe Gymnasium (named after Ernst Abbe. This public gymnasium offers specialisations in science and languages and offers its student a MINT math, IT, science, technology certificate, similar to a degree in STEM fields. Luther Gymnasium (named after Martin Luther. In addition to its religious focus, this Protestant gymnasium offers specialisations in science and languages. Career guidance and a diaconal internship are part of year 11 and 12). Another form of secondary school is the Realschule where students graduate after a total of ten years of education. There are four public and one free sponsored Realschulen in Eisenach. In addition, there is one Waldorf school where education spans from primary school to gymnasium. In 1998, the Berufsakademie Eisenach was founded. The roughly 600 students can obtain a bachelor's degree there, either in economics or in technics.

ThSV Eisenach is a professional handball club that plays in the second division.