Gräfenthal is a town

Town

A town is a human settlement larger than a village but smaller than a city. The size a settlement must be in order to be called a "town" varies considerably in different parts of the world, so that, for example, many American "small towns" seem to British people to be no more than villages, while...

 in the district of Saalfeld-Rudolstadt

Saalfeld-Rudolstadt

Saalfeld-Rudolstadt is a Kreis in the south of Thuringia, Germany. Neighboring districts are the districts Weimarer Land, Saale-Holzland, Saale-Orla, the district Kronach in Bavaria, and the districts Sonneberg, Hildburghausen and Ilm-Kreis.-History:The district dates back to the Landratsamt...

 in Thuringia

Thuringia

The Free State of Thuringia is a state of Germany, located in the central part of the country.It has an area of and 2.29 million inhabitants, making it the sixth smallest by area and the fifth smallest by population of Germany's sixteen states....

, Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

.

Geography

Gräfenthal is located in the southern Thüringer Schiefergebirge, a low mountain range south-eastern of the better known Thuringian Forest

Thuringian Forest

The Thuringian Forest running northwest to southeast, forms a continuous stretch of ancient rounded mountains posing ample difficulties in transit routing save through a few navigable passes in the southern reaches of the German state of Thuringia. It is about long and wide...

. Mountains in this region rise up to 800 meters above sea level

Sea level

Mean sea level is a measure of the average height of the ocean's surface ; used as a standard in reckoning land elevation...

 and are usually wooded with spruce trees. 20km north-eastern of Gräfenthal lies district town Saalfeld.

Neighboring municipalities (clockwise, starting northwards) are: Reichmannsdorf

Reichmannsdorf

Reichmannsdorf is a municipality in the district Saalfeld-Rudolstadt, in Thuringia, Germany.It belongs to the municipal association Lichtetal am Rennsteig, which consists of the municipalities Lichte, Piesau, Reichmannsdorf, and Schmiedefeld.-References:...

, Probstzella

Probstzella

Probstzella is a municipality in the district Saalfeld-Rudolstadt, in Thuringia, Germany.-History:Between 1945 and 1990 Probstzella station served as East German inner German border crossing for rail transport...

, Ludwigsstadt

Ludwigsstadt

Ludwigsstadt is a municipality in the district of Kronach, in the Upper Franconian region of Bavaria, Germany. It is situated at the state's northern border in the Franconian Forest mountain range, north of Kronach, and south of Saalfeld in Thuringia, the only Bavarian municipality north of the...

, Tettau, Oberland am Rennsteig

Oberland am Rennsteig

Oberland am Rennsteig is a municipality in the Sonneberg district of Thuringia, Germany....

, Piesau

Piesau

Piesau is a municipality in the district Saalfeld-Rudolstadt, in Thuringia, Germany close to the Thuringian Rennsteig.It has a glass-factory and is known as glass-maker-village. The first time glass was made in Piesau was in 1622. Up until today glass is the main reason of existence in Piesau. Carl...

, Lichte

Lichte

thumb|220px|Wallendorfer Porcelain Manufacture, Oct. 2006thumb|220px|[[Leibis-Lichte Dam]], 102.5 m highLichte is a municipality in the district of Saalfeld-Rudolstadt in Thuringia, Germany, close to the Thuringian Rennsteig.- Geography :...

, Schmiedefeld

Gräfenthal has 8 subdivisions:

• Buchbach
• Creunitz
• Gebersdorf
• Gräfenthal
• Großneundorf
• Lichtenhain
• Lippelsdorf
• Sommersdorf

History

In 1288 the town was first mentioned. It was for much of its early history under various Ernestine

Ernestine duchies

The Ernestine duchies, also called the Saxon duchies , were a changing number of small states largely located in the present German state of Thuringia, governed by dukes of the Ernestine line of the House of Wettin.-Overview:The...

 princelings.

Buildings

• Castle Wespenstein
• Grenz- und Heimatmuseum Gräfenthal
• Town church, with restored Art Nouveau
  Art Nouveau
  Art Nouveau is an international philosophy and style of art, architecture and applied art—especially the decorative arts—that were most popular during 1890–1910. The name "Art Nouveau" is French for "new art"...
  
   mural paintings.
• Railway viaduct

Economy and infrastructure

Erstwhile mining

Mining

Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the earth, from an ore body, vein or seam. The term also includes the removal of soil. Materials recovered by mining include base metals, precious metals, iron, uranium, coal, diamonds, limestone, oil shale, rock...

 and the location at the route for commerce between Nuremberg

Nuremberg

Nuremberg[p] is a city in the German state of Bavaria, in the administrative region of Middle Franconia. Situated on the Pegnitz river and the Rhine–Main–Danube Canal, it is located about north of Munich and is Franconia's largest city. The population is 505,664...

 and Leipzig

Leipzig

Leipzig Leipzig has always been a trade city, situated during the time of the Holy Roman Empire at the intersection of the Via Regia and Via Imperii, two important trade routes. At one time, Leipzig was one of the major European centres of learning and culture in fields such as music and publishing...

 were important economical factors. Mainly iron

Iron

Iron is a chemical element with the symbol Fe and atomic number 26. It is a metal in the first transition series. It is the most common element forming the planet Earth as a whole, forming much of Earth's outer and inner core. It is the fourth most common element in the Earth's crust...

, slate

Slate

Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. The result is a foliated rock in which the foliation may not correspond to the original sedimentary layering...

 and alum

Alum

Alum is both a specific chemical compound and a class of chemical compounds. The specific compound is the hydrated potassium aluminium sulfate with the formula KAl2.12H2O. The wider class of compounds known as alums have the related empirical formula, AB2.12H2O.-Chemical properties:Alums are...

 had been mined. During the 20th century Gräfenthal was well known for its porcelain products. From the formerly three manufacturies only one is still in existence. Today a plastics factory is the main employer.

Gräfenthal lies on the road between Neuhaus am Rennweg

Neuhaus am Rennweg

Neuhaus am Rennweg is a town in the district of Sonneberg, in Thuringia, Germany. It is situated in the Thuringian Forest, 17 km north of Sonneberg, and 22 km southwest of Saalfeld.-References:...

 and Probstzella

Probstzella

Probstzella is a municipality in the district Saalfeld-Rudolstadt, in Thuringia, Germany.-History:Between 1945 and 1990 Probstzella station served as East German inner German border crossing for rail transport...

. Further roads lead to surrounding municipalities. The town used to be connected to the railway-system up until the line section between Sonneberg

Sonneberg

Sonneberg is a town in Thuringia, Germany, which is seat of the district Sonneberg.It has long been a centre of toy making and is still well known for this...

 and Probstzella

Probstzella

Probstzella is a municipality in the district Saalfeld-Rudolstadt, in Thuringia, Germany.-History:Between 1945 and 1990 Probstzella station served as East German inner German border crossing for rail transport...

became disused due to lacking profitability.