Lichte

Lichte
Coat of arms
Lichte
Location of Lichte within Saalfeld-Rudolstadt district
Coordinates: 50°31′34″N 11°11′34″E / 50.52611°N 11.19278°E / 50.52611; 11.19278Coordinates: 50°31′34″N 11°11′34″E / 50.52611°N 11.19278°E / 50.52611; 11.19278
Country	Germany
State	Thuringia
District	Saalfeld-Rudolstadt
Municipal assoc.	Lichtetal am Rennsteig
Government
• Mayor	Udo Eichel
Area
• Total	19.36 km2 (7.47 sq mi)
Elevation	580 m (1,900 ft)
Population (2015-12-31)
• Total	1,516
• Density	78/km2 (200/sq mi)
Time zone	CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2)
Postal codes	98739
Dialling codes	036701
Vehicle registration	SLF

Lichte is a municipality in the district of Saalfeld-Rudolstadt in Thuringia, Germany, close to the Thuringian Rennsteig.

Lichte is located between the towns of Saalfeld (to the north), Oberhof / Ilmenau (northwest) and Sonneberg / Coburg (south) at an altitude of 600 m (NHN), in the centre of the Thuringian Highlands / Thuringian Forest Nature Park. Distinctive sign of Lichte is the railway viaduct established in 1909 (see picture right).

It is a typical Thuringian Forest village, reaching far into the valleys of the Lichte River and of its tributary the Piesau. Both of these feed one of the biggest Thuringian drinking water reservoirs, Leibis-Lichte, with the Deesbach Forebay close to the northern end of the village (in Geiersthal). The Lichte River is also one of the sources of the Schwarza River.

The mountain rivers and streams in the area of the Lichte valley have been known for centuries for deposits of placer gold and are considered the most significant sources of gold in Germany.

Around the steep-sided valleys of the Lichte and Piesau, the height difference between hilltops and valley bottoms is often as much as 200 m, which is large for hills of this size.

above sea level

Already in 1764 there was porcelain manufacturing in Lichte (Wallendorf). The Wallendorf porcelain manufacture is one of the oldest in Europe. It quickly achieved a growing customer base beyond the then borders of the country. Thus as early as 1822, Johann Heinrich Leder established in Lichte another porcelain company, today’s Lichte porcelain (GmbH). The new company competed with Wallendorf. However, it was able to rapidly find and keep markets of its own, although the two World Wars followed by East German trade restrictions caused setbacks.