Gera

Gera
A view of Gera.
Gera
Administration
Country	Germany
State	Thuringia
District	Urban district
Lord Mayor	Norbert Vornehm (SPD)
Basic statistics
Area	151.93 km2 (58.66 sq mi)
Elevation	205 m  (673 ft)
Population	101,618  (31 December 2007)[1]
- Density	669 /km2 (1,732 /sq mi)
Founded	995
Other information
Time zone	CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2)
Licence plate	G
Postal codes	07457-07557
Area codes	0365, 0336695
Website	www.gera.de
Location of Gera within Germany
Coordinates: 50°52′50″N 12°05′00″E / 50.88056°N 12.0833333°E / 50.88056; 12.0833333

Gera, the third-largest city in the German state of Thuringia (after Erfurt, the Thuringian capital, and Jena), lies in east Thuringia on the river Weiße Elster (literally the "White Magpie"), approximately 60 kilometres to the south of the city of Leipzig and 80 kilometers to the east of Erfurt. As of 2007^[update] Gera had a population of approximately 102,000.

Geography

Gera lies at a height of between 180 meters (the level of the White Elster river) and 354 m (when measured at Gera-Falka at the furthest southeastern point). Usually the height above sea level for the city is given as 205 m when measured at the market place.

The largest city forest of all the towns of Thuringia, called the City Forest of Gera (Geraer Stadtwald), stands on the western edge of the city. Another forested tract is found just on the northwest city boundary. The Zeitzer Forest in Saxony-Anhalt is found just northeast of the city.

History

The place name Gera originally referred to the area of the Elster river valley where the city later stood. The name likely originated before the European migration period, and the Slavic people who first settled the area during the 8th century adopted it. Gera was first mentioned in a document from 995. In 999, the "province" of Gera was assigned to the Quedlinburg Abbey, whose abbots assigned the protectorship of this area in 1209 to the Vogts of Weida (in German: Vögte von Weida) who served as its administrators. After a time as a settlement where the city center now stands, Gera acquired the rights of a city in the 13th century. At first it grew only slowly. In 1450, it was almost totally destroyed during the Saxon Fratricidal War. Through inheritance over the next centuries, Gera became part of the Reuss principalities.

At 1806, in one of the stages of the War of the Fourth Coalition, Napoleon placed his Imperial Headquarters at Gera. From there on October 12, 1806 the French Emperor addressed an arrogant and threatening letter to King Frederick William III of Prussia, which directly led to war and the crushing Prussian defeat at the Battle of Jena a few days later^[2].

From 1848 to 1918 Gera served as the capital of the Reuss Junior Line principality. With the industrial revolution in the middle of the 19th century, Gera enjoyed rapid growth through its textile industry. Its wealth at that time shows in the many city villas of the era. One such mansion is the Schulenberg villa designed by the Belgian artist Henry van de Velde. The city became a railway center where many rail lines met — highlighting its importance.

Schulenberg villa in Gera

In 1920 the city became part of the newly founded state of Thuringia. Aerial bombing destroyed some parts of the city in 1945.

The city became a part of the newly created District of Gera (Bezirk Gera) in 1952 as it then formed part of German Democratic Republic (East Germany). After the fall of the iron curtain in 1990 and German reunification, it became part of the restored state of Thuringia — one of three metropolitan centers (Oberzentren) along with Jena and Erfurt. Since 1998, the Vocational Academy of Gera has found its home here, as well as a private school for allied health sciences. The city hosted the biennial federal horticultural show (Bundesgartenschau) in 2007.

Economy and labor

As of 2009^[update] the city economy features the private health sector (SRH Waldklinikum), industrial machinery (Dagro Gera GmbH), communications (DTKS GmbH, Deutsch Telekom AG), security locks (Schloßsicherungen Gera GmbH), optics (POG Präzisionsoptik Gera GmbH), electrical equipment (Electronicon Kondensatoren GmbH), and margarine manufacturing (Othüna). Other companies include a compressor manufacturer (Kompressorenwerk Kaeser), a precision-tool maker (SMK-Präzisionsmechanik), and a subsidiary of the construction company Max Bögl. The e-commerce service provider D+S Europe has a service center in Gera with several hundred workers, and Rittal, a manufacturer of information technology enclosures, recently^[update] moved from Bad Köstritz to Gera.

Industrial branches before 1990 no longer have major importance. Sectors that either no longer exist or have been sharply reduced include those in toolmaking (VEB Wema Union), textiles (VEB Modedruck), textile machinery (VEB Textima), electronic equipment (VEB Elektronik Gera). Other industries that had a presence included VEB Carl Zeiss Jena and a brewery. One important industrial branch had been uranium-ore mining in nearby Ronneburg (SDAG Wismut).

The East Thuringia/Gera metropolitan area as a whole has^[when?] a population of 450,000. This makes Gera a regional commercial center for retail. By 2003, there were three major retail centers: Gera-Arcaden, Amthor-Passage, and Elster-Forum.

Though the third-largest city in Thuringia, Gera ranks in 7th place in terms of unemployment. The percent unemployed improved from 15.4% in June 2007 to 14.8% in June 2008.

City organization

The city has 40 different communities. These are divided into 12 municipal districts as follows^[3]:

• City Center
• Debschwitz
• Gera-East
• Gera-North/Gera-Langenberg
• Bieblach-East
• Bieblach/Tinz
• Untermhaus
• Gera-Western Suburbs
• Gera-South/Falka
• Lusan-Laune
• Lusan-Center
• Lusan-Brüte

Main sights

Sights in Gera include:

Town Hall

• Town Hall (1576, Renaissance)
• Market Square with Simson-fountain
• Osterstein Castle, Gera (largely destroyed 1945)
• City Pharmacy
• Theater (1902)
• Villa Schulenburg, designed by Henry van de Velde
• St. Johannis church (Neo-Gothic)
• St. Salvator church (Baroque with Art Nouveau interior decoration)
• St. Marien church (Late Gothic)
• St. Trinitatis church (Late Gothic)
• Old beer cellars called "Geraer Höhler"
• Zoo Gera (since 1973)

Museums in Gera include:

• City Museum
• Otto Dix House
• Art Galley "Orangerie"
• Museum of Natural History ("Schreiber House", oldest building in the city), with its adjacent botanical garden, the Botanischer Garten Gera
• Museum for Applied Arts ("Ferber House")

In 2007 Gera, together with Ronneburg, is venue of the Bundesgartenschau (the federal horticultural show).

Transportation

In the eastern part of Gera lies the airfield Gera-Leumnitz. The nearest airport is Leipzig-Altenburg (approx. 40 km). The Leipzig-Halle airport, with its with many international destinations, is about 90 km north of Gera.

International relations

Twin towns — Sister cities

Gera is twinned with:

Notable natives

• Johann Heinrich Gottfried Koch, (1705–1775)
• Heinrich Gustav Beck, (1857–1933), Ministerpräsident of Saxony 1914–1918
• Otto Dix (1891–1969), artist
• Rudolf Paul, (1893–1978), President of Thuringia 1945–1947
• Karl Weschke, (1925–2005), painter
• Georg Buschner, (1925–2007), head coach East Germany national football team
• Max Frankel, (born 1930), executive editor, New York Times 1986-1994
• Helga Königsdorf, (born 1938), mathematician and author
• Marlies Göhr, (born 1958), athlete
• Olaf Ludwig, (born 1960), racing cyclist
• Wolfgang Tiefensee, (born 1955), politician
• Heike Drechsler, (born 1964), Olympic gold medalist long jumper
• Jens Heppner, (born 1964), racing cyclist

References

External links

• Official website of Gera

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This article incorporates information from the revision as of August 8, 2009 of the equivalent article on the German Wikipedia.