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{{otheruses}}
{{Infobox German location
|Art = Ortsteil
|Town = Neuhaus am Rennweg
|image_photo       =
|name = Lichte
|imagesize         = 260
|image_coa            = Wappen Lichte.png
|coordinates       = {{coord|50|31|34|N|11|11|34|E|format=dms|display=inline,title}}
|state        = Thüringen
|district         = Sonneberg
|elevation              = 580
|area            = 19.36
|population         = 1526
|Stand             = 2017-12-31
|postal_code               = 98739
|area_code           = 036701
|licence               = SON
|divisions        = 4 municipal sections
}}
[[File:Lichte Wlnd, Churce, 2011-05-05.jpg|thumb|St. Elisabeth´s church, Lichte-Wallendorf, dating to 1734]]
[[image:Wallendorfer Porzellan Manufaktur.jpg|thumb|220px|Wallendorfer Porcelain Manufacture, Oct. 2006]]
[[image:Talsperre Leibis Lichte in August 2009.jpg|thumb|220px|[[Leibis-Lichte Dam]], 102.5 m high]]
'''Lichte''' is a village and a former municipality in the [[Sonneberg (district)|district of Sonneberg]] in [[Thuringia]], [[Germany]], close to the [[Rennsteig|Thuringian Rennsteig]]. Formerly in the district [[Saalfeld-Rudolstadt]], it is part of the town [[Neuhaus am Rennweg]] since January 2019.
== Geography ==
Lichte is located between the towns of [[Saalfeld]] (to the north), [[Oberhof, Germany|Oberhof]] / [[Ilmenau]] (northwest) and [[Sonneberg]] / [[Coburg]] (south) at an altitude of 600 m [[Normalhöhennull|(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)|Lichte River]] and of its tributary the [[Piesau (river)|Piesau]]. Both of these feed one of the biggest Thuringian drinking water reservoirs, [[Leibis-Lichte Dam|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 (Saale)|Schwarza River]].
The mountain rivers and streams in the area of the Lichte valley have been known for centuries for deposits of [[Placer deposit|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.
{| class="wikitable"
|+ Mountains surrounding the Lichte Valley
|- style="background-color:#EECFA1; text-align:center;"
| '''Description'''
| '''Height  <br /><small> above [[sea level]]</small>'''
| ''' Direction'''
| '''Particularity'''
|-
| [[Spitzer Berg (Thuringian Highland)|Spitzer Berg]]
| style="text-align:center;"| 790.3 m
| style="text-align:center;"| N NE
| Coniferous forest
|-
| [[Rauhhügel]]
| style="text-align:center;"|  801.9 m
| style="text-align:center;"| NE
| Observation tower, radio mast
|-
| [[Mutzenberg (Thuringian Highland)|Mutzenberg]]
| style="text-align:center;"| 770.0 m
| style="text-align:center;"| NE
| Coniferous forest
|-
| Petersberg
| style="text-align:center;"| 646.0 m
| style="text-align:center;"| NE
| with refuge
|---
| Spitzberg
| style="text-align:center;"| 691.2 m
| style="text-align:center;"| E
| with ''Schönheitsruhe'' outlook
|---
| Kirchberg
| style="text-align:center;"| 685.6 m
| style="text-align:center;"| SE
| Ascent from Wallendorf, Kirchsteig
|---
| [[Mittelberg (Thuringian Highland)|Mittelberg]]
| style="text-align:center;"| 803.6 m
| style="text-align:center;"| S SE
| with Kirchberg (688 m)
|-
| [[Apelsberg]]
| style="text-align:center;"| 785.3 m
| style="text-align:center;"| SW
|
|-
| [[Rückertsbiel (Thuringian Highland)|Rückertsbiel]]
| style="text-align:center;"| 755.6 m
| style="text-align:center;"| W
|
|-
| [[Hahnberg (Thuringian Highland)|Hahnberg]]
| style="text-align:center;"| 685.3 m
| style="text-align:center;"| W
| Pastureland
|-
| [[Sauhügel (Thuringian Highland)|Sauhügel]]
| style="text-align:center;"| 721.7 m
| style="text-align:center;"| W
|
|-
| Geiersbachkopf
| style="text-align:center;"|717.6 m
| style="text-align:center;"| W
| Headwaters of the Geiersbach,<br>tributary of the Lichte
|}
{| class="wikitable"
|+ Sections of the municipality
|-
| '''Bock-und-Teich'''
| '''Geiersthal'''
| style="background-color:#EECFA1;" | '''Lichte''' with<br /><small>- Waschdorf, Ascherbach<br />- Oberlichte<br />- Unterlichte</small>
| [[Wallendorf (Lichte)|Wallendorf]]  with <br /> <small> - Lamprecht</small>
|}
== History ==
Already in 1764 there was [[porcelain]] manufacturing in Lichte (Wallendorf). The [[Wallendorfer Porzellan|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 Porzellan|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.
Until 1920, the Lichte River was the dividing line between the district of Saalfeld in [[Saxe-Meiningen]] in the east and the rural district of Königsee in [[Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt]] in the west. In 1952 the municipality was formed by combining several mountain villages: from south to north, Lichte, Wallendorf, Geiersthal and Bock and Teich. From 1922 to 1952, the municipality belonged to the rural district of Saalfeld, from 1952 to 1994 to the district of Neuhaus, and since then has been in the district of Saalfeld-Rudolstadt.
During World War II, [[Poland|Polish]] [[forced labour]]ers worked in Wallendorf; four graves in the cemetery there recall this time. A memorial tablet at the Lichte cemetery commemorates two victims of the death march of inmates from the [[Buchenwald concentration camp]] in April 1945 who were found in the depths below the rail viaduct.<ref>Thüringer Verband der Verfolgten des Naziregimes - Bund der Antifaschisten und Studienkreis deutscher Widerstand 1933-1945, ed., ''Heimatgeschichtlicher Wegweiser zu Stätten des Widerstandes und der Verfolgung 1933-1945'' Volume 8: Thüringen, Erfurt, Cologne: Pahl-Rugenstein, 2003, {{ISBN|3-88864-343-0}}, p. 237.</ref>
=== Heraldry ===
The [[coat of arms]] of Lichte, a silver candlestick with gold flame and beams of light between 4 silver [[Maple leaf|maple leaves]] on a field of green, was approved on July 15, 1995. The candlestick is taken from an ancient seal. It thus perpetuates a traditional symbol of the locality and also represents the centuries-long heritage of porcelain manufacturing that typifies Lichte and the region. The maple leaves symbolize the four sections of the municipality using a tree that is typical of the area. They and the green field also symbolize Lichte's location in the forested [[Thuringian Highland]], while the shape at the base of the shield represents its location in valleys.
== Politics ==
The local government of Lichte and of the former [[municipal association]] of [[Lichtetal am Rennsteig]] (Lichte Valley on the Rennsteig), which consisted of the municipalities of Lichte, [[Piesau]], [[Reichmannsdorf]], and [[Schmiedefeld (Lichtetal)]], were located in the Wallendorf section.
=== Municipal council ===
The [[municipal council]] of Lichte consisted of 12 [[councillor]]s including the [[mayor]], who served in an [[Title of honor|honor]]ary capacity.
{| class="wikitable"
|+ Municipal council as of 2009 communal elections
|-
|bgcolor="#EECFA1"| Year of elections
|bgcolor="#EECFA1"| [[Christlich Demokratische Union Deutschlands|CDU]]
|bgcolor="#EECFA1"| Citizens' Initiative <br /> ({{langx|de|Bürgerinitiative - BI}})
|bgcolor="#EECFA1" align="center"| Total
|-
!|2009 || 5 || 7 || 12 mandates
|-
|}
== Places of interest ==
* Museum of Local History and Culture in Geiersthal
* Lichte-Geiersthal School of Design (founded 1862), in the holiday centre of Lichte-Geiersthal, close to the Feldbachtal Forest Hotel
* Wallendorf Protestant church, built in 1733 in country [[Baroque architecture|baroque]] style
* Piesau viaduct (length 258 m, height 34 m, 10 arches), crossing the Piesau and [[Bundesstraße|federal highway]] 281
== Annual events ==
<!-- Deleted image removed: [[File:Lichte, Porcelain princess 2010, 2010-07-25.jpg|thumb|Lichte (Wallendorf) Porcelain Princess with 3,000 coffee- and tea-pots (2010)]] -->
* Porcelain Market with coronation of the Porcelain Princess, last weekend in July
* Porcelain Christmas, first day of [[Advent]]
* [[Kermesse (festival)|Kermesse]] ({{langx|de|Kirchweihfest}}) – the Lichte Kermesse is the oldest event in Lichte. It is based on a permission granted by the sovereign in 1825 to hold an annual fair on [[Michaelmas]] (September 29).<ref>Thuringian State Record Office Rudolstadt: A/XVII, C.1. Nr.49; F/LXXII, Nr.21.</ref>
== Economy and infrastructure ==
[[File:Lichte, Porcelain princess 2010, 2010-07-25.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Porcelain Princess with 3,000 coffee- and tea-pots, on the occasion of a porcelain show in 2010.]]
The local economy, typically for the Thuringian Highland, is based on tourism, glass and [[porcelain]] manufacturing, and woodworking. There has been porcelain manufacturing in Lichte since at least 1764; [[Wallendorfer Porzellan]] (Wallendorf Porcelain) is one of the oldest such companies in Europe.
=== Local enterprises ===
* [[Wallendorfer Porzellan]], founded in 1764
* [[Lichte Porzellan]] (GmbH), founded in 1822
== Notable people associated with Lichte ==
<!-- Deleted image removed: [[File:Gedenkstein Hutschenreuther.jpg|thumb|left|Memorial stone in honour of [[Carolus Magnus Hutschenreuther]]]] -->
* [[Gotthelf Greiner]] (1737&ndash;1797) co-inventor of "Thuringian porcelain" and founder of the Wallendorf porcelain company
* [[Carolus Magnus Hutschenreuther]] (1794&ndash;1845), founder of the [[Hutschenreuther|C.M. Hutschenreuther]] porcelain company in [[Hohenberg an der Eger]], Bavaria (1814)
* Johann Wolfgang Hammann, co-founder of Wallendorfer Porzellan
* Johann Heinrich Leder, founder of Lichte Porzellan
<!-- * Heinrich Heinz, founder of the pearl manufactury in Lichte (Geiersthal) -->
* Scherf brothers, Louis (1870-1955) and Albert (1876-1953): porcelain painters, silver medal at the [[Exposition Universelle (1900)|World's Fair]] in Paris in 1900,<ref>Heiko Haine, [http://www.porzellangeschichte.de/content/thueringer-porzellankunst-aus-dem-lichtetal-ausstellung-eisfeld-stadtmuseum Thueringer Porzellankunst aus dem Lichtetal&mdash;Ausstellung Eisfeld Stadtmuseum] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120330232254/http://www.porzellangeschichte.de/content/thueringer-porzellankunst-aus-dem-lichtetal-ausstellung-eisfeld-stadtmuseum |date=2012-03-30 }}, Porzellangeschichte.de, 2010 {{in lang|de}}</ref> gold medal at the [[Louisiana Purchase Exposition]] in St. Louis (1904)<ref>"'Alte Meister en miniature'&mdash;Thüringer Porzellanplattenmalerei", ''Schriften'', "Otto Ludwig" Museum Eisfeld 1 (2011) <!-- What is the accurate title of this publication, and what page does the information appear on? -->{{in lang|de}}</ref>
* [[:de:Wilhelm Ulbrich|Wilhelm Ulbrich]], (1848&ndash;1922) regional poet and journalist<ref>L. Pfeifer, [http://zs.thulb.uni-jena.de/receive/jportal_jparticle_00192976 "Wilhelm Ulbrich, ein Volksmann des Waldes"], ''Schwarzburgbote'' 29 August 1926, at Universal Media Electronic Library, [[University of Jena]] {{in lang|de}}</ref>
* [[:de:Heinz Schaubach|Heinz Schaubach]] (1886&ndash;1970), owner of the Wallendorf porcelain company and Schaubachkunst Unterweissbach
{{clear}}
== See also ==
* [[Cultural monuments in Lichte]]
* [[Porcelain manufacturing companies in Europe]]
==References==
{{Reflist}}
== External links ==
{{Commons category|Lichte}}
* [http://www.vg-lichtetal.de Homepage] of the Municipal Association (''[[Verwaltungsgemeinschaft]]'') {{in lang|de}}
{{Authority control}}
[[Category:Lichte| ]]
[[Category:Former municipalities in Thuringia]]
[[Category:Sonneberg (district)]]