Sonneberg

This article is about the town in Thuringia. For the hill of the same name, see Sonneberg (hill). For district, see Sonneberg (district).
Sonneberg

Coat of arms
Sonneberg

Coordinates: 50°21′N 11°10′E / 50.350°N 11.167°E / 50.350; 11.167Coordinates: 50°21′N 11°10′E / 50.350°N 11.167°E / 50.350; 11.167
Country Germany
State Thuringia
District Sonneberg
Government
  Mayor Dr.Heiko Voigt (CDU)
Area
  Total 84.86 km2 (32.76 sq mi)
Population (2015-12-31)[1]
  Total 23,736
  Density 280/km2 (720/sq mi)
Time zone CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2)
Postal codes 96501–96515
Dialling codes 03675
Vehicle registration SON
Website www.sonneberg.de

Sonneberg is a town in Thuringia, Germany, which is seat of the district Sonneberg. It has long been a centre of toy making and is still well known for this. It is the home of PIKO, a model railway manufacturer which became one of the few such enterprises in the Warsaw Pact countries and as such supplied model trains depicting railway stock of all the Soviet bloc countries. Sonneberg is home to the German Toy Museum ("Deutsches Spielzeugmuseum").

In divided post-war Germany, Sonneberg found itself 'unnaturally' cut off from its large neighbouring town of Coburg and could only face north economically. It was served by an unnaturally winding railway route and thus became somewhat isolated from the rest of East Germany. Its station is classified as a Hauptbahnhof ("central station") and is served by the Coburg–Sonneberg line.

Subdivisions

The town Sonneberg consists of the following subdivisions:

  • Bettelhecken
  • Hönbach
  • Hüttensteinach
  • Köppelsdorf
  • Malmerz
  • Mürschnitz
  • Neufang
  • Oberlind
  • Obere Stadt
  • Steinbach
  • Untere Stadt
  • Unterlind
  • Wehd
  • Wolkenrasen

Since 31 December 2013, when the former municipality Oberland am Rennsteig was merged into Sonneberg, the following villages also form part of Sonneberg: Haselbach, Eschenthal, Hasenthal, Hüttengrund and Spechtsbrunn.

Number of inhabitants

1829-1981

  • 1829: 3.028
  • 1895: 12.167
  • 1905: 15.003
  • 1946: 21.534
  • 1950: 30.182
  • 1960: 28.936
  • 1981: 28.733

1984-1999

  • 1984: 28.440
  • 1994: 25.880
  • 1995: 25.481
  • 1996: 25.297
  • 1997: 25.151
  • 1998: 24.951
  • 1999: 24.892

2000-2006

  • 2000: 24.837
  • 2001: 24.690
  • 2002: 24.582
  • 2003: 24.246
  • 2004: 24.026
  • 2005: 23.805
  • 2006: 23.681

2007-2013

  • 2007: 23.252
  • 2008: 22.807
  • 2009: 22.529
  • 2010: 22.356
  • 2011: 22.222
  • 2012: 21.737
  • 2013: 23.796

from 2014

  • 2014: 23.620
  • 2015: 23.736
Data source since 1994: Thuringia statistical office


Noted residents

August Schleicher
Cuno Hoffmeister

References

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/28/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.