Stadtroda

Stadtroda
Town
Coat of arms
Location of Stadtroda within Saale-Holzland-Kreis district
Location of Stadtroda
Stadtroda Location within Germany Stadtroda Location within Thuringia
Coordinates: 50°51′N 11°44′E
Country	Germany
State	Thuringia
District	Saale-Holzland-Kreis
Subdivisions	2
Government
• Mayor (2024–30)	Klaus Hempel
Area
• Total	24.18 km2 (9.34 sq mi)
Elevation	200 m (660 ft)
Population  (2024-12-31)
• Total	6,785
• Density	280.6/km2 (726.8/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
Postal codes	07646
Dialling codes	036428
Vehicle registration	SHK, EIS, SRO
Website	www.stadtroda.de

Stadtroda (German pronunciation: [ʃtatˈʁoːda] ^ⓘ; Roda until 1925) is a town of 6,653 people (2017), located in Thuringia, Germany. Stadtroda lies on the river Roda, a tributary of the Saale. The former municipalities Bollberg and Quirla were merged into Stadtroda in January 2019.

History

According to the Faust legend, Johann Georg Faust was born in Roda in 1480, though there is no historical evidence for this. A plan to sell the house said to have been his birthplace to Chicago for the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition fell through after the town requested $100,000; the building was subsequently demolished. Press reports in 1897 stated that it had been condemned by the town and sold at auction to a local junk dealer for $25.

A 50 Pfennig notgeld note from Roda depicting Faust.

Within the German Empire (1871–1918), Roda was part of the Duchy of Saxe-Altenburg.

Sandstone near Stadtroda, Germany.

Town hall Stadtroda

Mayors

Mayors since 1886

1886–1892: Gottfried Knoch 1892–1898: Friedrich Goedel 1898–1906: Hermann Loeser 1906–1908: Wilhelm Dieterici 1908–1928: Rudolf Goedecke 1928–1934: Ernst Paul Schönherr 1935–1938: Franz Degen 1938–1941: Gerhard Wunderling 1941–1942: Max Oswald (acting) 1942–1945: ? Horn 1945: Max Oswald (acting) 1945–1946: Wilhelm Meier 1946–1950: Otto Seifarth 1950–1953: Ernst Klinger 1953–1954: Theo Wurlitzer

1954–1955: Rudolf Pabst (acting) 1955: Georg Vater 1955–1958: Walter Hilbert 1959–1961: Kurt Krüger 1961–1965: Günter Hoppe 1965–1972: Kurt Neugebauer 1972: Volkmar Ernst 1972–1984: Heinz Rosenkranz 1984–1986: Kurt Halbauer 1986–1990: Rainer Haufe 1990–1992: Karl-Heinz Herrmann 1992: Harald Reuter (acting) 1992–2012: Harald Kramer (CDU) since 2012: Klaus Hempel (Free voters)

Notable people

Princess Luise around 1800

• Princess Louise of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg (1756–1808), Princess of Sachsen-Gotha, Duchess of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, wife of the regent in the same place
• Paul Leopold Friedrich (1864–1916), surgeon
• Joachim Erwin (1949–2008), jurist and CDU politician, mayor of Düsseldorf 1999–2008