Heldburger Land
The Heldburger Land was the historical, Saxon, administrative district (Amtsbezirk) of Heldburg (borough of Heldburg) and is today the southernmost part of the Free State of Thuringia and the district of Hildburghausen, between the towns of Coburg, Hildburghausen and Bad Königshofen. The region known now as the Heldburger Land is referred to administratively as the Heldburger Unterland (Heldburg Lowlands), and sometimes in the vernacular as the Heldburger Zipfel (Heldburg Tip).
The Heldburger Land is enclosed on three sides between the northern areas of the Bavarian provinces of Lower Franconia and Upper Franconia and is bordered to the west by the district of Rhön-Grabfeld, in the south of the county of Hassberge and on the east by the district of Coburg. The total area is about 120 sq mi (c. 190 km2). The Heldburger Land is a mainly agricultural region with many forest. Its main river is the Kreck, a tributary of the Rodach, crossing the district from North to south. The highest point in the Heldburger Land is the hill of Straufhain at, 1473 ft (449 m), on the summit of which are the ruins of Straufhain Castle. The landmark of the Heldburger Land is Heldburg Fortress on the hill of Burgberg, 1,325 ft (404 m) high, a castle which is iver 700 years old with a famous Renaissance building, called Französischer Bau. It was built in 1560/1564 by Nikolaus Gromann, a famous Thuringian master builder. On September 8, 2016, the Deutsches Burgenmuseum (German castle museum) was opened on the Veste Heldburg.
The earliest written messages on individual settlements of Heldburger Land come from the Frankish settlement time in Grabfeldgau : in 776 Westhausen and in 783 Hellingen first mentioned in documents of the monastery of Fulda in the 9th century and in other documents Heldburg and Ummerstadt . First and probably secular religious centre of the Heldburger Land was Westhausen. In addition, the mention of his early Kilian Church points to the mission of the Irish monks in Franconia . The temporal power of the dukedom East Franks practiced long from the Counts of so-called Popponen . The Abbey of Fulda later lost their influence in the diocese of Würzburg. After the first turn of the millennium the Thuringian Landgraf house grew, merged with the gender of the Popponen and the Henneberg dynasty took power, was the headquarters Henneberg Castle near Meiningen. Soon after, have Henneberger influence in Heldburger Land, in the area of the castle Strufe, obtained, in the territory of the Diocese of Würzburg. The powers of both dynasties have overlapped for centuries. Poppo VI resided at Strufe Castle, today the ruins of Straufhain. It was also a county. In 1317 is one cent and the district court moved to Heldburg Castle and Strufe Castle (Strauf) lost its former importance. Still under the dynasty of Henneberger was the new administrative centre, it consisted of the Centen Heldburg and Hildburghausen .
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