Sonneberg (district)
Sonneberg is a
Kreis (
district) in the south of
Thuringia,
Germany. Neighboring districts are (from the west clockwise) the districts
Hildburghausen,
Saalfeld-Rudolstadt, and the
Bavarian districts
Kronach and
Coburg.
The district was created in
1868 when districts were created in
Saxe-Meiningen. In
1952 part of the district was incorporated into the newly created district Neuhaus am Rennweg. This district was dissolved again in
1994 and the district Sonneberg did regain its old size.
The district is located on the southern slope of the mountains of the
Thuringian Forest. The land descends from the more than 800m high hills (the highest elevation is the 863m high
Bleßberg) down to the lower plains
Sonneberger Unterland and
Schalkauer Platte. The
Dreistromstein near Siegmundsburg near the city Neuhaus am Rennweg marks the meeting of the
watersheds which separate the areas which fed the rivers
Rhine, the
Weser and the
Elbe.
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Coat of arms |
|The coat of arms shows symbols of the historic states which make up the territory of the district. In the topleft is the lion as symbol of the county of Meißen. In the top right is the symbol of the Lords of Sonneberg, which includes a sheep scissor. In the bottom left the symbol of the Counts of Schaumberg-Rauenstein; in the bottom right is the coat of arms of
Saxony.
