THURINGIA
- Alex P
- Oct 9, 2025
- 2 min read
Thuringia: the birthplace of Goethe and Schiller... Art lovers and romantics alike are simply obliged to visit the place where world-changing creative ideas were born.
THURNINGIA: THE MOST INTERESTING
Thuringia (Thüringen) is a state in the center of the country, sometimes called the "Green Heart of Germany." It also has an official name: the Free State of Thuringia. Sounds good!
The calling card of Thuringia is, above all, Weimar.
This is not just a city, but a pilgrimage destination for lovers of literature, history, and art, where you can experience the legacy of the great classics of German culture: the house museums of Johann Goethe, Friedrich Schiller, and Franz Liszt, the church where Johann Sebastian Bach played... Weimar is a city you can explore for hours. It will not only tell you about the past but also give you a sense of how great ideas become eternal.
But outdoor enthusiasts won't be bored either – the mountains of the Thuringian Forest provide the backdrop for Germany's most beautiful hiking trail, the Rennsteig, which is 169 km long.
THURNINGIA: HISTORY OF THE COAT OF ARMS
The oldest surviving color depiction of the original Thuringian coat of arms is that of Count Conrad of the Ludovingian line, who lived in the 13th century. The origin of this unique lion coloring is unknown. There are many theories, but we'll accept the simplest one: the count just liked it.
It's worth noting that such unusual colors inspired interesting creative impulses, especially among the ardent southern peoples, as evidenced by the interpretation of the coat of arms by a 16th-century Spanish heraldist.
Despite its long history, Thuringia as a single entity first appeared on the map of Germany in 1920 as a result of the unification of eight previously independent German principalities: Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, Saxe-Meiningen, Saxe-Altenburg, Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, Schwarzburg-Sondershausen, Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Reuss of the senior and junior lines... phew, calculation complete!
If, when choosing a new joint coat of arms, they had simply combined the coats of arms of all eight principalities, the result would certainly have been garish and unreadable. Therefore, a decision was made to simplify and depict everything as stars. "Why seven stars?" the observant reader might ask. It depends on how you count the Principality of Reuss — one or two. We hasten to reassure the reader in advance: the current coat of arms again has eight stars.
THURNINGIA: THE FUN FACTS
Beginning in 1933, the stars suddenly disappeared: apparently their shape was deemed politically unreliable. Instead, the Thuringian lion obediently and loyally holds the symbol of the Third Reich in its paw.
Political loyalties are always polar, so after 1945, the radical red color and stars were quickly returned to the coat of arms, but the crown was taken away.
The current coat of arms was adopted in 1991. To everyone's satisfaction, everything finally fell into place: the lion, the colours, the crown, and the stars.
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