Editing Thuringia (section)

==History==
{{For|the earlier history of the region|Thuringii|Duchy of Thuringia}}
Named after the [[Thuringii]] [[Germanic peoples|Germanic]] tribe who occupied it around AD 300, Thuringia came under [[Franks|Frankish]] domination in the 6th century.

Thuringia became a [[landgraviate]] in 1130 AD. After the extinction of the reigning [[List of rulers of Thuringia#Ludowinger|Ludowingian]] line of counts and landgraves in 1247 and the [[War of the Thuringian Succession]] (1247–1264), the western half became independent under the name of "[[Hesse]]", never to become a part of Thuringia again. Most of the remaining Thuringia came under the rule of the [[House of Wettin|Wettin dynasty]] of the nearby [[Margraviate of Meissen]], the nucleus of the later [[Electorate of Saxony|Electorate]] and [[Kingdom of Saxony]]. With the division of the house of Wettin in 1485, Thuringia went to the senior [[Ernestine and Albertine Wettins|Ernestine]] branch of the family, which subsequently subdivided the area into a number of smaller states, according to the Saxon tradition of dividing inheritance amongst male heirs. These were the "[[Ernestine duchies|Saxon duchies]]", consisting, among others, of the states of [[Saxe-Weimar]], [[Saxe-Eisenach]], [[Saxe-Jena]], [[Saxe-Meiningen]], [[Saxe-Altenburg]], [[Saxe-Coburg]], and [[Saxe-Gotha]].

Thuringia generally accepted the [[Protestant Reformation]], and [[Catholic Church|Roman Catholicism]] was suppressed as early as 1520;{{Citation needed|date=November 2014}} priests who remained loyal to it were driven away and churches and monasteries were largely destroyed, especially during the [[German Peasants' War]] of 1525. In [[Mühlhausen]] and elsewhere, the [[Anabaptists]] found many adherents. [[Thomas Müntzer]], a leader of some non-peaceful groups of this sect, was active in this city. Within the borders of modern Thuringia the Roman Catholic faith only survived in the [[Eichsfeld]] district, which was ruled by the [[Archbishopric of Mainz|Archbishop of Mainz]], and to a small degree in [[Erfurt]] and its immediate vicinity.

===Early modern period===
The modern German [[Flag of Germany|black-red-gold tricolour flag's]] first appearance anywhere in a German-ethnicity [[sovereign state]], within what today comprises Germany, [[Flag of Germany#Principality of Reuss-Greiz|occurred in 1778]] as the state flag of the [[Principality of Reuss-Greiz]], a defunct principality in the modern state's borders.

[[File:Thuringische staaten1890.jpg|thumb|250px|Map of the Thuringian States in 1890]]
Some reordering of the Thuringian states occurred during the [[German Mediatisation]] from 1795 to 1814, and the territory was included within the Napoleonic [[Confederation of the Rhine]] organized in 1806. The 1815 [[Congress of Vienna]] confirmed these changes and the Thuringian states' inclusion in the [[German Confederation]]; the [[Kingdom of Prussia]] also acquired some Thuringian territory and administered it within the [[Province of Saxony]]. The Thuringian duchies which became part of the [[German Empire]] in 1871 during the Prussian-led [[unification of Germany]] were [[Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach]], [[Saxe-Meiningen]], [[Saxe-Altenburg]], [[Saxe-Coburg-Gotha]], [[Schwarzburg-Sondershausen]], [[Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt]] and the two principalities of [[Reuss Elder Line]] and [[Reuss Younger Line]].

===Free State of Thuringia===
{{see also|State of Thuringia (1920–1952)}}
In 1920, after [[World War I]], these small states merged into one state, called the Free State of Thuringia (''Freistaat Thüringen''); only [[Saxe-Coburg]] voted to join [[Bavaria]] instead. [[Weimar]] became the new capital. The [[Coat of arms of Thuringia#State of Thuringia (1920 - 1933)|coat of arms of this new state]] was simpler than those of its predecessors. The ''[[Landtag]]'' of the newly established state first convened in 1920 in Weimar. Its deputies were elected for three years according to [[proportional representation]], with a minimum voting age of 21. Between 1920 and 1932, under the [[Weimar Republic]], [[Thuringian Landtag elections in the Weimar Republic|six ''Landtag'' elections]] were held.

Thuringia was one of the states where the [[Nazi Party]] first gained real political power during the Weimar Republic. [[Wilhelm Frick]] was appointed [[Minister of the Interior]] in the state [[coalition government]] after the [[Nazi Party]] won six deputies to the Thuringian ''Landtag'' in the December 1929 election. In this position, he removed from the Thuringian police force anyone he suspected of being a republican and replaced them with men who were favourable towards the Nazis. He also ensured that, whenever an important position came up within Thuringia, a Nazi was given that post. Following the [[Nazi seizure of power]] in Berlin, the ''Landtag'' was formally abolished as a result of the "[[Law on the Reconstruction of the Reich]]" of 30 January 1934, which replaced the German [[federal system]] with a [[unitary state]]. Thuringia was the location of the [[Buchenwald concentration camp]] with multiple subcamps.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.aussenlager-buchenwald.de/|title=Buchenwald war überall|website=aussenlager-buchenwald.de|access-date=27 June 2024|language=de}}</ref>
 
After being controlled briefly by the US following the end of the [[Second World War]], from July 1945 the state of Thuringia came under the [[Soviet occupation zone]] and was expanded to include parts of Prussian Saxony, such as the areas around [[Erfurt]], [[Mühlhausen]], and [[Nordhausen, Thuringia|Nordhausen]]. Erfurt became the new capital of Thuringia. [[Ostheim]], an exclave of ''[[Landkreis]]'' Eisenach, was ceded to Bavaria.

In 1952, the [[German Democratic Republic]] dissolved its states, and created districts ({{lang|de|[[Administrative division of the German Democratic Republic|Bezirke]]}}) instead. The three districts that shared the former territory of Thuringia were Erfurt, [[Gera]] and [[Suhl]]. [[Altenburg]] Kreis was part of [[Leipzig]] Bezirk.

The present State of Thuringia was recreated with slightly altered borders during [[German reunification]] in 1990.