Meiningen () is a town in the southern part of the German state of Thuringia. It is located in the region of Franconia and has a population of around 26,000 (2024). Meiningen is the capital and the largest town of the Schmalkalden-Meiningen district. From 1680 to 1918, Meiningen was the capital of the Duchy of Saxe-Meiningen and from 1918 to 1920 of the Free State of Saxe-Meiningen.
Meiningen is considered the cultural, judicial and financial centre of southern Thuringia and thus hosts the state theatre, justice center, state archives, bank buildings and many museums. It is economically reliant on mechanical engineering, high-tech industry and tourism. The dialect and language of the inhabitants is East Franconian.
History
Through the Middle Ages
Meiningen originated during the formation of the Frankish Empire in the 6th or 7th century, which established trade routes, river crossings and boundary markers. An intersection of two trade routes and a ford was located at the present-day southern end of the old town near the Werra river.
thumb|left|Meiningen in 1676
Meiningen was first mentioned in 982 (extract certificate: "…in villis Meininga in Meiningermarca…"). The village was first a crown land in the Duchy of Franconia and later a possession of the king. Around the year 1000, construction of the Stadtkirche (town church) began. It was several times expanded and rebuilt over the centuries. German Emperor Henry II donated Meiningen in 1008 to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Würzburg, and for 534 years it remained part of Würzburg. To protect their property, the Bishops of Würzburg built a moated castle (today Schloss Elisabethenburg palace) in the 11th century. In 1153, the plague raged in Meiningen, which was also granted judicial rights (the first town-charter type of rights) that year by the rulers. In 1222, Würzburg and the House of Henneberg fought for possession of Meiningen, while the town suffered extensive damage. Meiningen was first mentioned in 1230 as a Stadt (town) and was granted wide-ranging autonomy in 1344. During this time the citizens built a powerful fortification with a double wall and three moats. From 1239 to 1242 the Friars Minor of the Franciscan Order built a monastery between the castle and the Lower Gate. In 1380, a fire destroyed around a quarter of the town, including the archives of the town council. The town joined together with ten other towns of the Bishopric of Würzburg and participated in 1396-1399 in the "Franconian town war" against the diocese. Würzburg troops besieged Meiningen, until it capitulated in 1399. In an uprising on 10 August 1432, the citizens destroyed the castle (Würzburger Burg or Burg Meiningen). In the years 1443-1455, the town church was enlarged in the Gothic style.
Early modern period
Meiningen had about 2,000 inhabitants in 1450. At the end of the 15th century two devastating fires destroyed almost the whole town. 26 people were killed. The town church was spared from the fire. Bishop Lorenz von Bibra built a new castle from 1509 to 1511. In the town textiles, metal working and trade became more important. In 1542, Meiningen came to the Henneberg family in exchange for the administrative district (Amt) of Mainberg from the Prince-Bishop of Würzburg, Conrad von Bibra. In 1583, with the extinction of the Henneberg family, the town went to the Wettin family. The Wettin family established its seat of transitional government for the County of Henneberg in Meiningen until 1660. The town experienced a great economic boom driven by the fustian- and linen weaving, dyeing and fabric trades, which lasted until the beginning of the 17th century, resulting in faster population increase to about 5,000. For example, in 1614 234 master craftsmen produced 37,312 pieces of cloth that were traded throughout Europe. This period was ended abruptly by the Thirty Years' War in 1634, when Croatian troops plundered the town. In 1641, Swedish troops besieged the town. Meiningen lost thousands of inhabitants to death or expulsion.
Residence of the Duchy of Saxe-Meiningen
thumb|left|Meiningen Bernhardstreet in 1835
Between 1680 and 1918, Meiningen was the capital of the Duchy of Saxe-Meiningen.
thumb|A part of the Justizzentrum (court house)
In July 1945, the town was included in the Soviet occupation zone along with the rest of Thuringia, and thus later became part of the German Democratic Republic (DDR). To accommodate workers for a microelectronics plant, the Robotron Meiningen, the new district of Jerusalem (Meiningen) was created from 1967 to 1983 in the north between Helba and Welkershausen, eventually housing around 6,000 inhabitants. Meiningen was an important center of Die Wende in southern Thuringia in 1989. Among the many events were a total of 25 demonstrations with 1,000-25,000 participants.
After German reunification in 1990, Meiningen became the district town of Schmalkalden-Meiningen. In the Dreißigacker district, new businesses and the new Meiningen Hospital were constructed. In the 1990s, there was a new construction boom in the town, with many houses being renovated and embellished. In July 1994, Chancellor of Germany Helmut Kohl visited the town, Angela Merkel did so in April 2012. The new Justizzentrum (court house) was built in 2000. In 2003, the town was connected to the Bundesautobahn 71. With the opening of the new Kammerspiele in June 2008, the town created another theater venue, underlining its national significance as a cultural town. In 2013, the new industrial area Rohrer Berg near the motorway junction Meiningen-North was created.
Geography and climate
The town is situated in the valley of the Werra river between the Thuringian Forest and the Rhön Mountains. Meiningen lies east of Fulda, south of Erfurt and north of Würzburg, across the former frontier between West and East Germany.
Subdivisions
Meiningen has several subdivisions. The urban districts are town center, North, East, South, Jerusalem (Meiningen), the rural communities are Helba (amalgamated in 1923) and Welkershausen (1936), as Dreißigacker (1990) and Herpf (2010). The former municipalities Henneberg, Wallbach and Walldorf were merged into Meiningen in January 2019, Stepfershausen in December 2019, and Sülzfeld in January 2024.
Meiningen abuts the following municipalities: Wasungen, Utendorf, Kühndorf, Rohr, Thuringia, Ellingshausen, Obermaßfeld-Grimmenthal, Untermaßfeld, Grabfeld, Mellrichstadt (Bavaria), Rhönblick, Rippershausen and Mehmels.
Climate
The relation to the surrounding mountain ranges of the Rhön mountains and the Thuringian Highland deep and sheltered Werra valley and the dense town buildings provide a regional level, for a mild climate in Meiningen. The following values are averages from 1990 until 2012. The average annual temperature is . Temperature extremes since 1960 at Meiningen have ranged from on August 7, 2015, down to on February 12, 2012. The rainfall is 656 millimeters and the sun shines 1,559 hours per year.
Demographics
The town has about 25,000 (2021) inhabitants. Together with neighbouring Untermaßfeld, Obermaßfeld-Grimmenthal, Einhausen, Sülzfeld, Rippershausen, Ritschenhausen, Mellrichstadt, Wasungen and Utendorf, Meiningen forms a small conurbation with a population of about 70,000.
Economy
Agriculture, industry and services
Meiningen offers over 16,400 jobs in around 3,600 small and medium-sized companies, medical facilities, cultural institutions and administrations. The largest employer is the hospital Klinikum Meiningen with nearly 1,000 employees.
Meiningen is a center of electrical engineering and high-tech manufacturing. Numerous companies in that industry (founded here or that have settled here) form a business cluster. This includes the global high-tech enterprise ADVA Optical Networking (ADVA AG).
Meiningen Steam Locomotive Works is the only plant in Western and Central Europe where steam locomotives can be completely repaired and maintained. it also builds new locomotives and repairs historic passenger coaches, diesel locomotives and other railway vehicles. Other companies provide hardware for doors and windows, tools, ovens, electric goods and radiators. In the food industry, there are a wholesale bakery and a meat plant.
Outside of manufacturing, the local savings bank (Sparkasse), municipal services, the theater and museums, the railway company Südthüringenbahn and health facilities are important in the local economy.
Agriculture plays a minor role in Meiningen as the soil is not very fertile. However, the rural districts Herpf and Dreißigacker account for most of the agricultural area (17.6% of the total municipal territory).
Arts and culture
Theatre
thumb|upright=1.35|State Theatre Meiningen
The Staatstheater Meiningen offers musical theatre (opera, operetta, musicals), plays, symphony concerts, puppet shows, ballet and youth theatre. The Meiningen Hoftheater opened on 17 December 1831. It was destroyed in a fire in 1908 and was replaced in 1909 by the current building.