THURINGIA (Germ. Thüringen), a territorial term without modern political significance, designates, strictly speaking, only that district in Upper Saxony that is bounded by the Werra, the Harz Mountains, the Saale, and the Thuringian Forest; but in common parlance it is frequently used as equivalent to the Thuringian states, i.e., the group of small duchies and principalities lying between Prussia, Hesse-Nassau, Bavaria, and the kingdom of Saxony. The name is derived, with great probability, from that of the Hermunduri, a branch of the great Suevic family; and the ancient Thuringians, a heathen tribe first mentioned in the 5th century by Vegetius Renatus, are believed to be the descendants of that Teutonic people. The Thuringians seem at one time to have occupied territories stretching from the Elbe not far from Hamburg to the Danube at Ratisbon; but about 531 their empire was overthrown by the united Franks and Saxons. The north part of their lands fell to the Saxons, and was known for some time as the North Thuringian gau; the district to the south of the Thuringian Forest was called Franconia after its conquerors; and the name Thuringia was restricted almost to the narrow limits to which it now properly applies. The advance of the Sorbs to the east bank of the Saale about the middle of the 7 th century made the limitation still more exact. Thuringia remained under Frankish dominion, and various Frankish counts ruled in the different “gaus” into which it was divided. Christianity, if not introduced, was confirmed in this district by the British Boniface; a bishopric was founded at Erfurt; and under Charlemagne the Thuringian mark was the base of active operations against the heathen Sorbs. In 839 the title of duke of Thuringia (ducatus Toñngubae) appears; but ...that of landgrave seems to have superseded it; neither dignity implied sovereignty over the whole district. Otto the Illustrious, duke of Saxony (880), added Thuringia to his duchy, but the union was not permanent. About the beginning of the 12th century Louis the Springer, builder of the Wartburg, rose to eminence among the Thuringian nobles; and about 1130 his son, also Louis, was appointed landgrave by the emperor Lothair I. Thuringia now began to be a united land under one prince; and the landgraves, who acquired the Saxon palatinate on the fall of Henry the Lion of Saxony in 1180, rose to considerable power. The last landgrave of this line was Henry Raspe (1242-1247), brother and successor of Louis the Saint. His death was followed by a devastating war of succession between his niece Sophia, duchess of Brabant, and Henry the Illustrions, margrave of Meissen (1221-1288), whose mother Jutta was a Thuringian princess. Peace was finally established in 1263: Sophia received Hesse, and Henry took the rest of Thuringia, the general history of which thenceforth merged in that cf Meissen, and later of Saxony, although it maintained its separate name. Thuringia was included in the administrative circle of Upper Saxony (see vol. xxi. p. 352, note 3). For its subsequent fate, and the rise of the present Thuringian states, see under Saxony (vol. xxi. pp. 353 sqf.
The most striking natural feature of Thuringia is the Thuringian Forest (ThüringerweM), a range or system of hills, extending in an irregular line from the neighbourhood of Eisenach in the northwest to the Lobensteiner Kulm on the Bavarian frontier on the south-east, and forming the southern boundary of Thuringia, separating it from Franconia. On the south-east it is continued directly by the Frankenwald Mountains to the Fichtelgebirge, which is in immediate connexion with the Erzgebirge, while on the north-east it approaches the Harz Mountains, and thus takes its place in the great Sudetic chain of central Germany. The length of the Thuringian chain is 70 miles, and its breadth varies from 8 to 25 miles. It nowhere rises into peaks, and only a few of its rounded summits reach the height of 3000 feet; the successive hills melt into each other in gentle undulations, forming a continuous and easily traced comb, and only the north-west slopes are precipitous, and seamed with winding gorges. This mountainrange encloses many charming and romantic valleys and glens; the most prominent feature of its picturesque scenery is formed by the fine forests, chiefly of pines and firs, which clothe most of the hills. The north-west part of the system is the loftier and the more densely wooded, as well as the more beautiful; the highest summits here are the Grosser Beerberg (3225 feet), Schneekopf (3179), and the Inselberg (2957), all in the duchy of Gotha. The southeast part of the Thuringian Forest is the more populous and industrial; the chief summits are the Kieferle (2851 feet) at Stein-heid, the Blessberg (2834 feet) near Schalkau, the Wurzelberg (2746 feet) near Oelze, and the Wetzstein (2719) near Lehesten. The crest of the Thuringian Forest, from the Werra to the Saale, is traversed by the Rennsteig or Rainsteig, a broad path of unknown antiquity, though it is believed to be referred to in a letter of Pope Gregory III. dated 738. The name means probably “frontierpath”; and the path marks in fact the boundary between Thuringia and Franconia. It may be also regarded as part of the boundaryline between North and South Germany, for dialect, customs, local names and costume are different on the two sides.
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