Sonneberg (district)

This article is about the district or county in Thuringia. For its county town, see Sonneberg. For the hill of the same name, see Sonneberg (hill).

Sonneberg
District
Flag Coat of arms
Country	Germany
State	Thuringia
Founded	1868
Capital	Sonneberg
Government
• District admin.	Robert Sesselmann (AfD)
Area
• Total	460.83 km2 (177.93 sq mi)
Population  (31 December 2022)
• Total	56,922
• Density	120/km2 (320/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
Vehicle registration	SON, NH
Website	www.landkreis-sonneberg.de

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.

History

The district was created in 1868 when districts were introduced in Saxe-Meiningen. In 1952, parts of the district were split off into a newly created district Neuhaus am Rennweg. In 1994, Neuhaus am Rennweg was dissolved and the district Sonneberg regained its original size. In 2019 the municipalities Lichte and Piesau from the district Saalfeld-Rudolstadt came as villages into the town Neuhaus am Rennweg in the district Sonneberg.

Geography

The district is located on the southern slopes of the mountains of the Thuringian Forest. The land descends from the more than 800m tall hills (the highest elevation is the 869m high Großer Farmdenkopf) down to the lower plains Sonneberger Unterland and Schalkauer Platte. The Dreistromstein near Siegmundsburg near Neuhaus am Rennweg marks the intersection of three watersheds that drain into the rivers Rhine, Weser, and Elbe.

Politics

Jürgen Köpper of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) has served as interim district administrator since Hans-Peter Schmitz resigned in March 2023, citing health concerns. An early election to replace him took place on 11 June 2023, with a runoff held on 25 June. In the runoff, Jürgen Köpper was defeated by Robert Sesselmann of the Alternative for Germany (AfD). This marked the first time any AfD candidate had been elected district administrator, and the first executive position to be held by the party.

Candidate		Party	First round		Second round
			Votes	%	Votes	%
	Robert Sesselmann	Alternative for Germany	10,941	46.7	14,992	52.8
	Jürgen Köpper	Christian Democratic Union	8,371	35.7	13,419	47.2
	Anja Schönheit	Social Democratic Party	3,107	13.3
	Nancy Schwalbach	The Left/The Greens	1,023	4.4
Valid votes			23,442	98.9	28,411	98.7
Invalid votes			263	1.1	367	1.3
Total			23,705	100.0	28,778	100.0
Electorate/voter turnout			48,299	49.1	48,261	59.6
Source: Wahlen Thüringen

Coat of arms

The coat of arms shows symbols of the historic states which make up the territory of the district. In the top left field is the lion as symbol of the county of Meißen. In the top right field is the symbol of the Lords of Sonneberg, which includes sheep shears. The bottom left field displays the symbol of the Counts of Schaumberg-Rauenstein, and the bottom right field shows the coat of arms of Saxony.

Coat of arms until 1952

Until 1952, a coat of arms introduced in the 1920s was used, which shows the coat of arms of the House of Henneberg instead of the Lords of Sonneberg in the top right field as another important part of Sonneberg's history.

Towns and municipalities

Clickable map of towns and municipalities in the district

Towns	Municipalities
Lauscha Neuhaus am Rennweg Schalkau Sonneberg Steinach	Föritztal Frankenblick Goldisthal

External links

• Official website (German)