Ilmenau

Ilmenau
Ilmenau in winter
Coat of arms
Ilmenau
Location of Ilmenau within Ilm-Kreis district
Coordinates: 50°41′02″N 10°55′10″E / 50.68389°N 10.91944°E / 50.68389; 10.91944Coordinates: 50°41′02″N 10°55′10″E / 50.68389°N 10.91944°E / 50.68389; 10.91944
Country	Germany
State	Thuringia
District	Ilm-Kreis
Government
• Mayor	Gerd-Michael Seeber (CDU)
Area
• Total	62.64 km2 (24.19 sq mi)
Population (2015-12-31)
• Total	26,153
• Density	420/km2 (1,100/sq mi)
Time zone	CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2)
Postal codes	98693
Dialling codes	03677
Vehicle registration	IK, ARN, IL
Website	www.ilmenau.de

Ten largest groups of foreign residents
Country of Origin	Population (2012-12-31)
China	191
Russia	127
Syria	98
Ukraine	83
Vietnam	71
India	57
Pakistan	56
Bulgaria	45
Poland	39
Romania	38

Ilmenau is a town in Thuringia, Germany. It is the largest town within the Ilm district with a population of 26,000, while the district capital is Arnstadt. Ilmenau is located approximately 33 km (21 miles) south of Erfurt and 135 km (84 miles) north of Nuremberg within the Ilm valley at the northern edge of the Thuringian Forest at an elevation of 500 metres (1,640 feet).

The most important institution in Ilmenau is the Technische Universität Ilmenau, Thuringia's second-largest university with about 7,000 students and an emphasis on mathematics, physics, informatics, several engineering disciplines and media studies. Its precursor was founded in 1894 and developed into a university in 1992. Since 1990, many research institutes have been established in the area around the university making Ilmenau an important hub of technological research.

Ilmenau was historically a small mining town, primarily silver and copper, until the deposits were depleted. After 1800, it was Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's favorite resort because of its beautiful landscape. In 1838, the established spa led to the advent of tourism, which is still an important industry. Industrialisation started after the railway arrived in 1879, but increased rapidly during the following century primarily in glass and porcelaine manufacturing. The porcelaine factories closed (like everywhere in western Europe) during the 1990s. The glass industry, however, remains and produces laboratory equipment and measurement devices and is leading source of economic activity together with mechanical engineering and software engineering. Ilmenau and the surrounding region have produced many winter Olympic champions in disciplines like luge, bobsleigh and biathlon.

The name comes from the German words Ulmen (i.e. Elms) and Aue (i.e. floodplain), in reference to the floodplain of the Ilm river, which was covered with elms before the foundation of the town. The "town animals" of Ilmenau are the hen and the goat.