Schmalkalden

Schmalkalden lies on the southern slope of the Thuringian Forest, beside the river Schmalkalde. The town came under the counts of Henneberg, who shared interests in the lordship with the landgraves of Hesse. In 1531 Protestant princes formed the Schmalkaldic League in its town hall to defend their religious and political interests. The town became associated with the Smalcald Articles of 1537, a statement of Lutheran doctrine. When the Henneberg line died out in 1583, its share passed to William IV of Hesse-Kassel. He made Schmalkalden a residence and built Wilhelmsburg Castle, completed in 1590. The lordship remained an outlying possession of Hesse amid the territories of central Germany.