Editing Thuringia (section)

===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.