Saalfeld

Saalfeld
St John's Church
Coat of arms
Saalfeld
Location of Saalfeld within Saalfeld-Rudolstadt district
Coordinates: 50°39′0″N 11°22′0″E / 50.65000°N 11.36667°E / 50.65000; 11.36667Coordinates: 50°39′0″N 11°22′0″E / 50.65000°N 11.36667°E / 50.65000; 11.36667
Country	Germany
State	Thuringia
District	Saalfeld-Rudolstadt
Government
• Mayor	Matthias Graul
Area
• Total	48.75 km2 (18.82 sq mi)
Elevation	235 m (771 ft)
Population (2015-12-31)
• Total	25,041
• Density	510/km2 (1,300/sq mi)
Time zone	CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2)
Postal codes	07301–07318
Dialling codes	03671
Vehicle registration	SLF
Website	www.saalfeld.de

Saalfeld (German: Saalfeld/Saale) is a town in Germany, capital of the Saalfeld-Rudolstadt district of Thuringia. It is best known internationally as the ancestral seat of the Saxe-Coburg and Gotha branch of the Saxon House of Wettin, which was renamed the House of Windsor during their British reign in 1917.

The town is situated in the valley of the Saale River north of the Thuringian Highland, 48 km (30 mi) south of the German cultural centre Weimar. Saalfeld station is currently served by Intercity-Express trains running from Berlin to Munich.

Saalfeld has 28,000 inhabitants. Together with neighbouring Rudolstadt and Bad Blankenburg, Saalfeld forms a tri-city area with a population of about 70,000.

Saalfeld is one of the historic towns of Thuringia, possibly founded by the 7th century around a Thuringii (Gothic) fortress today called Hoher Schwarm or Sorbenburg (Sorbs' Castle). The area was first mentioned in an 899 deed. Kitzerstein Castle standing on an eminence above the Saale River, was said to have been originally erected by the German King Henry the Fowler, although the present-day building was not built before the 16th century. In 1012 the last Ottonian emperor Henry II ceded the former Carolingian Kaiserpfalz to Count Palatine Ezzo of Lotharingia, whose daughter Richeza bequested it to the Archbishops of Cologne.