Saalfeld

Saalfeld stands on the Saale in Thuringia. A Benedictine abbey founded by Archbishop Anno of Cologne in 1071 became an important ecclesiastical centre, while the town grew beneath imperial and later noble authority. Mines in the surrounding country, river transport on the Saale and fishing supported its economy. In 1389 Landgrave Balthasar of Thuringia acquired Saalfeld for the Wettin dynasty.

The abbey was destroyed during the Peasants' War, and the Reformation dissolved the Franciscan monastery. After the division of Wettin lands, Saalfeld passed through several Ernestine duchies. From 1677 a new palace rose on the abbey's site and became the residence of the line later known as Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld. The ducal court subsequently moved its principal residence to Coburg, and in 1826 Saalfeld passed to Saxe-Meiningen.