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Sonneberg (East Franconian regional Sumbarch) is a city in the
Franconian south of Thuringia and the seat of the district of the
same name. It is a medium-sized center and forms a geographically
and economically coherent urban unit with the neighboring Upper
Franconian partner town of Neustadt bei Coburg.
Sonneberg
became known as the “world toy city” - which the German Toy Museum
reminds us of today - and in specialist circles through the
Sonneberg observatory founded in 1925. The Thuringian Slate
Mountains border the city with the Franconian Forest in the east.
“The Sonneberg Castle was also called Sonneberg Castle or the
Haus zu Sonneberg in old documents. In 480 Süne or Süno, Duke of
Franconia, built this castle because of the Thuringian incursions
... “so it says on page 64 in the topography of the Duke of
Saxony-Koburg-Meiningischen share in the Duchy of Koburg from the
year 1781. This not uncritical Representation is based on the story
of the Franks by Abbot Johannes Trithemius from 1514.
Although there are no reliable references from the Franconian
military leader Sunno in the Upper Mainland and the establishment of
a castle as a defense against the invading Thuringians, this refers
to the first settlements in this area as early as the 5th century.
The so-called Cella Antiqua, a monk's cell carved in sandstone
behind the Richtsteig 1 property, which supposedly dates back to the
9th century, is often considered the oldest cultural monument in the
Sonneberg urban area. The only evidence for this interpretation is
an entry in a fiefdom register dated March 13, 1361. Then a lower
nobleman received "kempnatam antiquam et camerum super cellam in
castro Sunneberg" - that is, the old bower and a living room above a
cella in Sonneberg Castle - as a fief. This cella was located within
the walls of the castle, not in the old town where the so-called
Cella Antiqua is located. Also, the word cella in contemporary
parlance does not necessarily mean a single monk cell. The entry
could also refer to a chapel or a small monastery. In this context,
Thomas Schwämmlein points out that a smaller monastic community was
also secured on the Coburg Burgberg from the 13th century. According
to this, there may have been a small monastery at the Sonneberg
Castle, which was called a cella in the fiefdom register. The
so-called Cella Antiqua in the old town of Sonneberg should be
viewed as a much more recent storage room. The cool sandstone cellar
was probably used to store beer, which was allowed to be brewed by
the townspeople from the late Middle Ages. A raised relief cross, as
can be found in the Cella Antiqua, was also to be found in another
cellar in the old town until 1994. There it was probably intended to
implore God's blessing for the beer stored in the sandstone cave.
The name Sonneberg was first mentioned in documents in 1207. It
goes back to the noble family of the Lords of Sonneberg, which is
documented in the 12th and 13th centuries and founded a settlement
below the Sonneberg Castle, which originally consisted of the estate
and two hamlets, the village of "Alt-Rötin, presumed to be in
Herrnau "And the" Stätlein zu Rötin under the Sonneberg Castle ".
The Lords of Sonneberg were ministerials in the service of the Dukes
of Andechs-Meranien, who, as a Bavarian noble family, established a
lordly administration in the region around Sonneberg and Coburg.
After the end of the Duchy of Merania, they acquired extensive
property in the surrounding area and founded the Sonnefeld Monastery
in 1252. This high point of the sex heralded decay in the further
course of the 13th century until 1310 the sex died out in the male
line.
After the Sonnebergs died out, the small lordship fell
to the Counts of Henneberg in 1317. In 1349 the new sovereign, the
regent Jutta von Henneberg, confirmed and extended the municipal
rights of Sonneberg with a document. In 1353, Sonneberg fell to the
Wettins together with the nearby Coburg. The council and mayor held
the lower courts. The town with the Johanniskirche on the road from
Coburg to Saalfeld was walled.
15th century to 19th century
The Catholic parish has belonged to the Diocese of Würzburg since
ancient times. In 1526 the Reformation was introduced in Sonneberg.
The Latin school opened soon after.
After the "Leipzig
division" in 1485, the Coburg (this is how the area to which
Sonneberg belonged was called) came to the Ernestine line of this
house. After Coburg and thus Sonneberg had already been Ernestine
secondary school between 1542 and 1553 under Duke Johann Ernst of
Saxony, this territory was separated from the entire Ernestine state
in 1572, and a principality of Saxony-Coburg was created, jointly
owned by the dukes Johann Casimir and Johann Was ruled seriously. In
1596 both divided this principality into Saxe-Coburg and
Saxe-Eisenach. After the death of Johann Casimir in 1633 briefly
reunited under Johann Ernst, after his death in 1638 it was
transferred to Saxe-Altenburg and in 1672 to Saxe-Gotha. In the
course of the "Gotha partition" in 1680, another principality of
Saxe-Coburg emerged under Duke Albrecht, although it was
considerably smaller than its predecessor.