Heilbad Heiligenstadt

Heilbad Heiligenstadt
Saint Mary's Church, 14th century
Coat of arms
Heilbad Heiligenstadt
Location of Heilbad Heiligenstadt within Eichsfeld district
Coordinates: 51°22′44″N 10°08′19″E / 51.37889°N 10.13861°E / 51.37889; 10.13861Coordinates: 51°22′44″N 10°08′19″E / 51.37889°N 10.13861°E / 51.37889; 10.13861
Country	Germany
State	Thuringia
District	Eichsfeld
Government
• Mayor	Thomas Spielmann (BI Menschen für Heiligenstadt)
Area
• Total	61.57 km2 (23.77 sq mi)
Population (2015-12-31)
• Total	16,772
• Density	270/km2 (710/sq mi)
Time zone	CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2)
Postal codes	37308
Dialling codes	03606
Vehicle registration	EIC, HIG, WBS
Website	www.heilbad-heiligenstadt.de

Heilbad Heiligenstadt is a spa town in Thuringia, Germany. It is the capital of the Eichsfeld district.

Heiligenstadt is approximately 14 km east of the tripoint where the states of Thuringia, Hesse and Lower Saxony meet. An upper reach of the River Leine, a tributary of the Aller, flows through the town from east to west and is joined near the centre of the town by the River Geislede.

South of the town is the Iberg, a 453.2 m tall peak located in the Heiligenstadt Stadtwald, which forms part of the Naturpark Eichsfeld-Hainich-Werratal.

Despite the official designation of the town as a spa in 1929 and a 1950 decision by the town council to append the word Soleheilbad (salt-water spa) to its name, it remained officially "Heiligenstadt" throughout the GDR years. In 1990 the city government still used only Heiligenstadt.

However, the post office used Heilbad Heiligenstadt, as did post card companies and the local savings bank. In fact between 1950 and 1990, the town had the distinction of being referred to in three different ways: as Heiligenstadt, Heilbad Heiligenstadt, or Heiligenstadt (Eichsf.) (for Eichsfeld).

In 1990, the town council and especially the mayor began expanding spa business and it took on increasing importance. In addition, after German reunification, there were several Heiligenstadts in Germany. Initially the government declined to rename the town Heilbad Heiligenstadt because of a lack of evidence that it was a spa, but the town lodged an appeal and used the one and a half years before an official visit and the relative lack of oversight immediately after reunification to create spa facilities and integrate the word Heilbad into official usage. Permission for the renaming was then granted since the town was evidently a spa and using that name.

Heiligenstadt, like the rest of Eichsfeld, is traditionally Roman Catholic, so there are several annual religious events, in particular the procession through the old town on Palm Sunday with life-size figures from the Passion of Christ, which attracts numerous believers from the region and the rest of Germany.