Bad Berka

Bad Berka
Bad Berka
	Bad Berka
	; Coat of arms
	; Coat of arms
	Bad Berka Location of Bad Berka within Weimarer Land district
	Coordinates: 50°54′0″N 11°16′51″E / 50.90000°N 11.28083°ECoordinates: 50°54′0″N 11°16′51″E / 50.90000°N 11.28083°E
Country	Germany
State	Thuringia
District	Weimarer Land
Government
• Mayor	Thomas Liebetrau
Area
• Total	55.27 km2 (21.34 sq mi)
Elevation	275 m (902 ft)
Population (2017-12-31)[1]
• Total	7,559
• Density	140/km2 (350/sq mi)
Time zone	CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2)
Postal codes	99438
Dialling codes	036458
Vehicle registration	AP
Website	Bad Berka

Bad Berka ( ) is a German city, situated in the south of Weimar region in the state of Thuringia. With its almost 8,000 inhabitants Bad Berka is the second biggest city in Weimarer Land district (after Apolda, 23,000). The river flowing through the city, which is embedded in new red sandstone, is called Ilm. Since 1 December 2008, the city has incorporated the former municipality of Gutendorf.

Bad Berka is a spa town with an iron-rich spring and Kneipp facilities. In 2002 the award of "State Recognised Spa with Mineral Spring Health Facility" was given to the city. In order to treat tuberculosis, a clinic was erected in 1952. This was the beginning of the main economic sector of the city. Bad Berka's Zentralklinik has since gained a reputation as a center of medicinal expertise far beyond the boundaries of Germany. Its foundation can be traced back to 1898. In addition, there was a rehabilitation clinic built after the fall of the Berlin Wall. The "Median-Klinik" consists of two buildings, which were opened in 1994 and 1997.

Because of its vicinity to the cultural capital Weimar and association with numerous historical figures, Bad Berka is also popular among tourists. Between 1812 and 1828 Goethe visited his friend Heinrich Friedrich Schütz several times. He was also involved in the plans of the spa. Therefore, Bad Barka is called "Das Goethebad im Grünen" (Goethe spa in greenery), as well. Bad Berka is surrounded by spruce and beech forest.

Other bigger cities in the vicinity are Jena (20 km (12 mi) north-east), Erfurt (20 km (12 mi) north-west) and Weimar (12 km (7 mi) north).

History

In 1251, a Cistercian nunnery was founded at Bad Berka, and the sulphur bath spa was established in 1813.

Within the German Empire (1871-1918), Bad Berka was part of the Grand Duchy of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach.

In 1945, bombing targets of the Oil Campaign of World War II were the Bad Berka oil plant,^[2] oil storage,^[3] and underground forced labor plant.^[4]

The annual Party.San Open Air music festival was first held in 1996.

Bad Berka Town hall

Sons and daughters of the town

Otto Fries (1849-1905), politician National Liberal Party (Germany), member of Reichstag
Hugo Günther (1891-1954), party functionary (SPD/KPD/KPO/SED) and insurance director
Hans Carl Nipperdey (1895-1968), law professor, first president of the Federal Labour Court
Hartmut Griesmayr (born 1945), screenwriter and director

People who are connected to the town

Dietrich Georg von Kieser in 1858

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832), writer, stayed there as a visitor and bathing guest
Jakob Michael Reinhold Lenz (1751-1792), poet of Sturm und Drang, wrote several works here
Dietrich Georg von Kieser (1779-1862), medical doctor, worked as a physician in Berka
Adolf Brütt (1855-1939), sculptor, worked in Weimar and Bad Berka, since 1928 honorary citizen of the city
Hans Gerhard Gräf (1864-1942), Goethe researcher, investigated the relationship between Goethe and Bad Berka
Martin Hellberg (1905-1999), author, actor and director, worked and lived in Bad Berka
Wolfgang Blochwitz (1941-2005), football player, active among others for Carl Zeiss Jena, died in Bad Berka
Albrecht Schröter (born 1955), educator and social scientist, Mayor of Jena from 2006 to 2018, worked as a speaker at ThILLM in Bad Berka from 1996 to 2000
Henry Augustus Siebrecht, florist, "Father of Fifth Avenue"

Town twinning

Bad Berka is twinned with:

Żabno, Poland
Solesmes, Nord, France

References

↑ "Bevölkerung der Gemeinden, Gemeinschaftsfreie Gemeinde, erfüllende/beauftragende Gemeinden, Verwaltungsgemeinschaft/Mitgliedsgemeinden in Thüringen". Thüringer Landesamt für Statistik (in German). September 2018.
↑ McKillop, Jack. "March 1945". Combat Chronology of the USAAF. Archived from the original on 2 June 2013. Retrieved 7 April 2009.
↑ "2nd Lt. Donald A. Jones". 100th Bomb Group (Heavy): The Bloody Hundredth. 100THBG.COM. Archived from the original on 6 January 2009. Retrieved 7 April 2009.
↑ Aroneanu, Eugène; Whissen, Thomas (1996). Inside the Concentration Camps. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 148. ISBN 978-0-275-95446-8. Retrieved 7 April 2009.

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[1] "Bevölkerung der Gemeinden, Gemeinschaftsfreie Gemeinde, erfüllende/beauftragende Gemeinden, Verwaltungsgemeinschaft/Mitgliedsgemeinden in Thüringen". Thüringer Landesamt für Statistik (in German). September 2018.

[McKillop-2] McKillop, Jack. "March 1945". Combat Chronology of the USAAF. Archived from the original on 2 June 2013. Retrieved 7 April 2009.

[3] "2nd Lt. Donald A. Jones". 100th Bomb Group (Heavy): The Bloody Hundredth. 100THBG.COM. Archived from the original on 6 January 2009. Retrieved 7 April 2009.

[4] Aroneanu, Eugène; Whissen, Thomas (1996). Inside the Concentration Camps. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 148. ISBN 978-0-275-95446-8. Retrieved 7 April 2009.