View source for Suhl

{{short description|City in Thuringia, Germany}}
{{Other uses}}
{{More citations needed|date=October 2014}}
{{Infobox German location
|type              = Stadt
|image_photo       = Suhl0030.JPG
|image_caption     = View over Suhl
|image_flag        = Hissflagge Suhl.svg
|image_coa         = DEU Suhl COA.svg
|coordinates       = {{coord|50|36|38|N|10|41|35|E|type:city()_region:DE-TH|format=dms|display=inline,title}}
|image_plan        = Thuringia SHL.svg
|plantext          = Location of Suhl within Thuringia
|state             = Thüringen
|district          = Kreisfreie Stadt
|elevation         = 422
|area              = 141.62
|postal_code       = 98527–98530, 98711
|area_code         = 03681, 036846, 036782
|licence           = SHL
|Gemeindeschlüssel = 16 0 54 000
|divisions         = Town and 10 districts
|website           = [http://www.suhltrifft.de/english/ www.suhltrifft.de]
|mayor             = André Knapp<ref>[https://wahlen.thueringen.de/datenbank/wahl1/wahl.asp?wahlart=BM&wJahr=0000&zeigeErg=LAND&auswertung=2 Gewählte Bürgermeister - aktuelle Landesübersicht], Freistaat Thüringen. Retrieved 25 June 2024.</ref>
|leader_term       = 2024&ndash;30
|party             = CDU
}}

'''Suhl''' ({{IPA|de|zuːl|-|De-Suhl.ogg}}) is a city in [[Thuringia]], [[Germany]], located   SW of [[Erfurt]], {{convert|110|km|0|abbr=off}} NE of [[Würzburg]] and {{convert|130|km|0|abbr=off}} N of [[Nuremberg]]. With its 37,000 inhabitants, it is the smallest of the six urban districts within Thuringia. Together with its northern neighbour-town [[Zella-Mehlis]], Suhl forms the largest urban area in the [[Thuringian Forest]] with a population of 46,000. The region around Suhl is marked by up to 1,000-meter-high mountains, including Thuringia's highest peak, the [[Großer Beerberg]] (983 m), approximately {{convert|5|km|0|abbr=off}} NE of the city centre.

Suhl was first mentioned in 1318 and stayed a small mining and metalworking town, until industrialization broke through in late 19th century and Suhl became a centre of Germany's arms production, specialized on rifles and guns with companies such as [[Sauer & Sohn]]. Furthermore, the engineering industry was based in Suhl with [[Simson (company)|Simson]], a famous car and moped producer. In 1952, Suhl became one of [[East Germany]]'s 14 district capitals, which led to a government-directed period of urban growth and conversion. Its results – a typical 1960s concrete architecture-marked city centre – are defining to the present. With the loss of its administrative and industrial functions, Suhl saw a lasting period of urban decline starting in 1990.

Suhl is known for its sportsmen, especially in shooting, winter sports, and volleyball.

== History ==
=== Middle Ages ===
Though first appearing in a 1318 deed, several entries in the annals of [[Fulda monastery|Fulda Abbey]] already mentioned a place named ''Sulaha'' between 900 and 1155 AD. The coat of arms from 1365 shows two hammers, indicating the city's most important livelihood: metal processing. The region belonged to the territories held by the [[Duchy of Franconia|Franconian]] counts of [[House of Henneberg|Henneberg]] since the 11th century. Suhl was located on an important trade route from [[Gotha]], [[Erfurt]] and [[Arnstadt]] passing the [[Thuringian Forest]] mountain range at [[Oberhof, Germany|Oberhof]] and continuing to the Henneberg's residence, [[Schleusingen]].

=== Early modern period ===
From 1500 onwards, the Henneberg lands belonged to the [[Franconian Circle]] of the Holy Roman Empire. Suhl has been a ''Flecken'' (small [[market town]]) since 1445 and the full [[German town law|municipal rights]] were granted in 1527, making Suhl one of the youngest cities in present-day Thuringia. Iron ore mining created the basis for the development of Suhl as a centre of [[gunsmith]] trade.

The [[Protestant Reformation|Reformation]] was introduced in 1544. Several [[witch-hunts]] took place in the area from 1553 until the late 17th century. When the Henneberg counts became extinct in 1583, Suhl passed to the [[House of Wettin|Wettin]] electors of [[Electorate of Saxony|Saxony]], where it remained until 1815. Unlike most of present Thuringia, it didn't belong to the [[Ernestine duchies|Ernestine]] line of the Wettins, but to the Albertine cadet branch of [[Saxe-Zeitz]] from 1660, so that it had been a Saxonian and later Prussian exclave within Thuringia for nearly 300 years.

During the 16th century, iron mining and metalworking saw a boom, finished by the [[Thirty Years' War]], when marauding [[Croats (military unit)|Croat]] mercenaries under Imperial general Johann Ludwig Hektor von Isolani burnt down the city in 1634. From about 1690, Duke [[Moritz Wilhelm, Duke of Saxe-Zeitz|Moritz Wilhelm of Saxe-Zeitz]] supported the reconstruction of Suhl as a mining town.

=== Since 1815 ===
The [[Congress of Vienna]] in 1815 led to the Saxonian loss of Suhl, which became part of the [[Kingdom of Prussia|Prussian]] [[Province of Saxony]], where it remained from 1815 to 1944 and again shortly in 1945. Staying an exclave within Ernestine territories, Suhl was part of the [[Schleusingen]] district until the dissolution of Prussia in 1945.

The later 19th century brought the connection to the railway in 1882 and the industrialisation of the metalworking business. About 1920, Suhl has been a centre of left-wing revolutionary groups, so that the [[Reichswehr]] occupied the city (and the neighbour-town [[Zella-Mehlis]]) during the [[Kapp Putsch]] and ended the workers uprising. After 1935, the military industry saw another boom, caused by the Nazi armament. About 10,000 [[Forced labour under German rule during World War II|forced labourers]] had to work in the city's arms industry after 1940.

The US Army reached Suhl on 3 April 1945 and was replaced by Soviet troops on 1 July 1945. At the same year, Suhl became part of Thuringia, which was replaced by three Bezirks in 1952. Suhl became the capital of the south-western [[Bezirk Suhl]], reaching from [[Bad Salzungen]] in the north-west to [[Sonneberg]] in the south-east with a population of 550,000. During the GDR period, the upgraded city saw rapid urban growth, which is defining until today.

After the German reunification in 1990, Suhl lost its administrative functions when Thuringia was refounded and replaced the Bezirks. Furthermore, the industry collapsed. Both led to a structural crises, which isn't overcome yet. The population of Suhl declined about 35% since 1988.

=== History of arms production ===
The metal processing of Suhl naturally led, during the [[Renaissance]], to other major local industries, including gunsmithing and armoring.  Suhl was a major producer of cannons throughout the seventeenth and subsequent centuries, and Suhl cannons were used by many European powers.  A major arms company that was located in Suhl for almost 200 years was [[Sauer & Sohn|J.P. Sauer und Sohn GmbH]], producer of hunting rifles, shotguns, and pistols, such as the [[Sauer 38H]], until moving operations to [[Eckernförde]] at the end of World War II.

Other prominent firearms manufacturers in Suhl included:

* [[Simson (company)|Simson]] (also known as BSW and then Gustloff Werke under Nazi rule and Ernst Thälmann Suhl under Communist rule)
* Waffenfabrik August Menz, noted for having produced in the 1920s the [[Liliput pistol]], one of the smallest [[semiautomatic handgun]]s ever made. 
* [[C.G. Haenel]]
* The largest manufacturer producing firearms currently in Suhl is [[Merkel (firearms manufacturer)|Merkel GmbH]], which make both rifles and shotguns.

During the [[Cold War]], the [[East Germany|East German]] national [[Shooting sports|shooting]] arena was located at Suhl, and hosted many top-level competitions, including the 1986 [[ISSF World Shooting Championships|ISSF World Championships]]. Although surpassed in this respect in the unified Germany by the [[Olympic Games|Olympic]] shooting centre at [[Munich]], Suhl remains an important place to the sport. It hosts Germany's only school for armorers, and a well equipped museum of weapons.

==Geography==
===Topography and geology===
Suhl is located on the south-western edge of the [[Thuringian Forest]]. To the south-west, the [[Small Thuringian Forest]] (some foothills of the Thuringian forest) is situated. The terrain is mountainous to all directions, some important mountains are: the [[Großer Beerberg]] (983 m, highest one in Thuringia) in the north-east, the Ringberg (745 m), the Döllberg (760 m), the Friedberg (649 m) and the Adlersberg (859 m) in the east, the Steinsburg (641 m) in the south, the Heiliger Berg (513 m), the Domberg (675 m) and the Berg Bock (709 m) in the north-west as well as the Bocksberg (609 m) and the Hoheloh (526 m) within the city. The centre itself is located in an elevation of 450 m and nearly the complete non-build on part of the municipal territory is forested. There are a few small rivers running through Suhl: The [[Hasel (Werra)|Hasel]] rises at Friedberg in the south-east and runs westward through Suhl, Heinrichs, Mäbendorf, Dietzhausen and Wichtshausen. The [[Lauter (Hasel)|Lauter]] rises on the southern slope of Großer Beerberg mountain and runs through Goldlauter, Lauter and the city centre, before it joins the Hasel behind the station. The [[Mühlwasser]] rises on the western slope of Großer Beerberg and runs southward through the northern city parts before it joins the Lauter at the northern city centre.

Suhl sits on the southern edge of the ''Suhler Scholle,'' an upthrust [[granite]] complex that is streaked by numerous [[Dike (geology)|dikes]]. This is part of the Ruhla-Schleusingen [[Horst (geology)|Horst]] that defines the southwest side of the [[Thuringian Forest]]. The southwest side of the ''Suhler Scholle'' abuts horizontal [[sedimentary]] layers, [[Buntsandstein]] ([[sandstone]] from the [[Triassic]] period) over [[Zechstein]] ([[evaporite]] deposits from the [[Permian]] period). The [[granite]] of the ''Suhler Scholle'' is capped with [[Permian]] sediments and [[igneous]] deposits. The higher hills to the northeast are part of the ''[[Großer Beerberg|Beerberg]] Scholle'', an irregularly cracked mass of [[Porphyry (geology)|quartz porphyry]] from the later Permian period.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.eisenstrasse.de/Lagerstaetten.htm|title=Erzlagerstaetten|access-date=26 August 2016}}</ref><ref>[http://www.geo.uni-jena.de/geophysik/gw_thur/grafik2_5.htm geo.uni-jena.de/geophysik] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110719105125/http://www.geo.uni-jena.de/geophysik/gw_thur/grafik2_5.htm |date=2011-07-19 }}</ref>

A band of [[iron ore]]s follows the fault dividing the ''Suhler Scholle'' from the sedimentary rocks to the southwest, while the [[copper]] and [[silver]] deposits are to the northeast in the Permian deposits above the ''Suhler Scholle.'' Southeast of town, there is a significant [[uranium]] deposit in the ''Buntsandstein''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.eisenstrasse.de/Grosse-Karte.htm|title=Karte Bergbaugebiete um Suhl|access-date=26 August 2016}}</ref>

[[File:Suhl pano.jpg|thumb|center|upright=5.0|Panoramic view over Suhl and the mountains around]]

===Administrative division===
[[File:Suhl Ortsteile.svg|thumb|upright=1.5|District map]]

Suhl abuts the following municipalities: [[Geratal]], [[Elgersburg]] and [[Ilmenau]] within [[Ilm-Kreis]] district in the north-east, [[Nahetal-Waldau]], [[Sankt Kilian]], [[Eichenberg, Hildburghausen|Eichenberg]], [[Grub, Thuringia|Grub]], [[Oberstadt]] and [[Schmeheim]] within [[Hildburghausen (district)|Hildburghausen]] district in the south, [[Dillstädt]] and [[Schwarza, Thuringia|Schwarza]] in the west as well as [[Benshausen]] and [[Zella-Mehlis]] in the north within [[Schmalkalden-Meiningen]] district.

Some villages were incorporated during the 20th and 21st century to form the present-day districts of Suhl:

* Albrechts (incorporated in 1994)
* Dietzhausen (1994)
* [[Gehlberg]] (2019)
* Goldlauter (1979)
* Heidersbach (1979)
* Heinrichs (1936)
* Mäbendorf (1979)
* Neundorf (also: ''Suhler Neundorf'', 1936) 
* [[Schmiedefeld am Rennsteig]] (2019)
* Vesser (1994)
* Wichtshausen (1994)

===Cityscape===
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-N0727-0007, Suhl, Stadthalle, Wohnhochhäuser.jpg|thumb|The new city centre in 1974]]
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-H0913-0023-001, Suhl, "Centrum"-Warenhaus.jpg|thumb|The central mall in 1969]]

Suhl's cityscape is marked by the lack of flat ground to build on, which is why the city's morphology appears picked and incoherent. The city centre developed during the Middle Ages around the Marktplatz and the Steinweg (as main street) next to the confluence of ''Lauter'' and ''Rimbach'' river. Later, the city grew to the east and south to the bordering hills and valleys. After World War II, Suhl became the capital of one of the 14 Bezirks in the [[GDR]] in 1952. During the following decades, the city more than doubled its population, many [[Plattenbau]] settlements developed at the periphery and the centre got largely converted. The old town around Friedrich-König-Straße was demolished during the 1960s, as were the quarters east of Topfmarkt later. They were rebuilt with contemporary concrete architecture and [[Plattenbau]] buildings. The new city centre with all the important public buildings was developed around Friedrich-König-Straße, even with large-scale high-rise buildings. After the reunification, the population shrank heavily, leading to high vacancy rates. The government reacted to this by demolishing some of the Plattenbau settlements at the periphery; some buildings stood only for 20 years. Compared with other East German cities, the fight against vacancy was simpler in Suhl, because vacancy was concentrated at the periphery and not in the city centre (as in the most older cities in East Germany), which made it easy to demolish and renature the areas. A larger problem is vacancy in shops in the city centre, because the retail sector in Suhl has also been in a crisis for many years.

==Demographics==
{|
| valign="top" |
{| class="wikitable"
! style="background:#EFEFEF;"| Year
! style="background:#EFEFEF;"| Population
|-----
| 1525 || align="right" | 1,255
|-----
| 1705 || align="right" | 4,486
|-----
| 1753 || align="right" | 5,189
|-----
| 1806 || align="right" | 6,060
|-----
| 1811 || align="right" | 5,598
|-----
| 1815 || align="right" | 5,922
|-----
| 1841 || align="right" | 7,150
|-----
| 3 December 1843 ¹ || align="right" | 8,127
|-----
| 1 December 1875 ¹ || align="right" | 10,512
|-----
| 1 December 1880 ¹ || align="right" | 10,004
|-----
| 1 December 1885 ¹ || align="right" | 10,602
|-----
| 1 December 1890 ¹ || align="right" | 11,533
|-----
| 2 December 1895 ¹ || align="right" | 11,900
|-----
| 1 December 1900 ¹ || align="right" | 13,000
|-----
| 1 December 1905 ¹ || align="right" | 13,814
|-----
| 1 December 1910 ¹ || align="right" | 14,468
|-----
| 1 December 1916 ¹ || align="right" | 14,820
|-----
|}

| valign="top" |
{| class="wikitable"
! style="background:#EFEFEF;"| Year
! style="background:#EFEFEF;"| Population
|-----
| 5 December 1917 ¹ || align="right" | 14,639
|-----
| 8 October 1919 ¹ || align="right" | 14,742
|-----
| 16 June 1925 ¹ || align="right" | 15,579
|-----
| 16 June 1933 ¹ || align="right" | 15,477
|-----
| 17 May 1939 ¹ || align="right" | 25,530
|-----
| 1 December 1945 ¹ || align="right" | 25,084
|-----
| 29 October 1946 ¹ || align="right" | 24,598
|-----
| 31 August 1950 ¹ || align="right" | 24,020
|-----
| 31 December 1955 || align="right" | 25,215
|-----
| 31 December 1960 || align="right" | 25,497
|-----
| 31 December 1964 ¹ || align="right" | 28,190
|-----
| 1 January 1971 ¹ || align="right" | 31,661
|-----
| 31 December 1975 || align="right" | 37,771
|-----
| 31 December 1981 ¹ || align="right" | 49,849
|-----
| 31 December 1985 || align="right" | 54,392
|-----
| 31 December 1988 || align="right" | '''56,345'''
|-----
| 31 December 1990 || align="right" | 54,731
|-----
|}

| valign="top" |
{| class="wikitable"
! style="background:#EFEFEF;"| Year
! style="background:#EFEFEF;"| Population
|-----
| 31 December 1995 || align="right" | 53,591
|-----
| 31 December 1998 || align="right" | 50,182
|-----
| 31 December 1999 || align="right" | 49,206
|-----
| 31 December 2000 || align="right" | 48,025
|-----
| 31 December 2001 || align="right" | 46,765
|-----
| 31 December 2002 || align="right" | 45,569
|-----
| 31 December 2003 || align="right" | 44,529
|-----
| 31 December 2004 || align="right" | 43,652
|-----
| 31 December 2005 || align="right" | 42,689
|-----
| 31 December 2006 || align="right" | 41,861
|-----
| 31 December 2007 || align="right" | 41,015
|-----
| 31 December 2008 || align="right" | 40,173
|-----
| 31 December 2009 || align="right" | 39,526
|-----
| 31 December 2010 || align="right" | 38,776
|-----
| 31 December 2011 || align="right" | 38,219
|-----
| 31 December 2012 || align="right" | 35,967
|-----
| 31 December 2013 || align="right" | 35,665
|}

| valign="top" |
{| class="wikitable"
! style="background:#EFEFEF;"| Year
! style="background:#EFEFEF;"| Population
|-----
| 31 December 2014 || align="right" | 36,208
|-----
| 31 December 2015 || align="right" | 36,778
|-----
| 31 December 2016 || align="right" | 35,892
|-----
|}
|}
¹ Census

[[File:Bevölkerungsentwicklung Suhl.pdf|thumb|upright=1.5|Evolution of population since 1870]]

The area around Suhl was settled during the later Middle Ages, nevertheless, Suhl stayed a village resp. small town of 1,000 to 2,000 inhabitants during this period. The growth of proto-industrial manufacturing businesses in 17th and 18th century led to a first increase of population up to 6,000 around 1800. During the following decades, the industrial revolution in other German regions led to an economic crisis in Suhl, because of the bad traffic conditions for exporting products. Nevertheless, the population grew further to 10,000 in the 1880s, as the city got finally connected to the railway. Compared to other upcoming cities in Germany, the growth of population stayed slight until 1935, as Suhl counted 15,000 inhabitants. Then, the arm production for World War II brought an economic boom to Suhl and a growth of population up to 26,000 in 1940, which stayed the same until the early 1960s. Between 1960 and 1988, the population grew up to 56,000, forced by the government's expansion of Suhl as a capital of one of the 14 Bezirks in [[GDR]]. After the reunification in 1990, the city lost its administrative and economic functions, which led to an extreme decline in population. It shrank to 48,000 in 2000 and 36,000 in 2012. With a decline of more than 35% since 1988, Suhl is among the heaviest [[shrinking cities]] in Germany.

The average decrease of population between 2009 and 2012 was approximately 1.68% p. a, which is faster than in bordering rural regions. Suburbanization played only a small role in Suhl. It occurred after the reunification for a short time in the 1990s, but most of the suburban areas were situated within the administrative city borders. During the 1990s and the 2000s, many inhabitants left Suhl to search a better life in west Germany or other major east German cities like [[Erfurt]], [[Jena]] or [[Leipzig]]. The birth deficit, caused by the high average age of the population, is becoming a bigger problem because there is no immigration to compensate it yet. Urban planning activities to tear down unused flats led to a relatively low vacancy rate of 8% (according to 2011 EU census), compared with a loss in population of more than 35% since 1988.

The birth deficit was 207 in 2012, this is −5.8 per 1,000 inhabitants (Thuringian average: −4.5; national average: −2.4). The net migration rate was −11.5 per 1,000 inhabitants in 2012 (Thuringian average: −0.8; national average: +4.6).<ref>According to [http://www.tls.thueringen.de/startseite_hinweis.asp Thüringer Landesamt für Statistik]</ref> The most important target regions of Suhl migrants are other Thuringian regions like Erfurt, Jena and Eisenach same as the western German conurbations.

Like other eastern German cities, Suhl has only a small amount of foreign population: around 1.5% are non-Germans by citizenship and overall 3.9% are migrants (according to [[2011 EU census]]). Differing from the national average, the biggest groups of migrants in Suhl are [[Russians in Germany|Russians]] and [[Vietnamese people in Germany|Vietnamese people]]. During recent years, the economic situation of the city improved: the unemployment rate declined from 16% in 2006 to 7% in 2013, which is one of the lowest rates among Thuringia's major cities. Due to the official atheism in former [[East Germany|GDR]], most of the population is non-religious. 12.6% are members of the [[Evangelical Church in Central Germany]] and 2.5% are Catholics (according to 2011 EU census).

==Politics==
The first freely elected mayor after German reunification was [[Martin Kummer]] of the [[Christian Democratic Union of Germany|Christian Democratic Union]] (CDU), who served from 1990 to 2006. He was succeeded by [[Independent politician|independent]] [[Jens Triebel]] from 2006 to 2018. [[André Knapp]] of the CDU was elected in 2018, and has since served as mayor. The most recent mayoral election was held on 26 May 2024, and the results were as follows:

{{election table}}
! colspan=2| Candidate
! Party
! Votes
! %
|-
| bgcolor={{party color|Christian Democratic Union of Germany}}| 
| align=left| André Knapp
| align=left| [[Christian Democratic Union of Germany|Christian Democratic Union]]
| 13,572
| 82.1
|-
| bgcolor={{party color|The Left (Germany)}}| 
| align=left| Steffen Hartwig
| align=left| [[The Left (Germany)|The Left]]
| 2,958
| 17.9
|-
! colspan=3| Valid votes
! 16,530
! 95.8
|-
! colspan=3| Invalid votes
! 726
! 4.2
|-
! colspan=3| Total
! 17,256
! 100.0
|-
! colspan=3| Electorate/voter turnout
! 30,226
! 57.1
|-
| colspan=5| Source: [https://wahlen.thueringen.de/datenbank/wahl1/WAHL.asp?wahlart=LR&wJahr=2024&zeigeErg=WK&auswertung=1&wknr=054&gemnr=&terrKrs=&gemteil=000&buchstabe=&Langname=&wahlvorschlag=&sort=&druck=&XLS=&anzahlH=0&Nicht_existierende=&x_vollbildDatenteil=&optik=&aktual=&ShowLand=&ShowWK=&ShowPart= Wahlen in Thüringen]
|}

The most recent city council election was held on 26 May 2024, and the results were as follows:

{{election table}}
! colspan=2| Party
! Lead candidate
! Votes
! %
! +/-
! Seats
! +/-
|-
| bgcolor={{party color|Christian Democratic Union of Germany}}| 
| align=left| [[Christian Democratic Union of Germany|Christian Democratic Union]] (CDU)
| align=left| André Knapp
| 18,541
| 37.2
| {{increase}} 7.7
| 13
| {{increase}} 2
|-
| bgcolor={{party color|Alternative for Germany}}| 
| align=left| [[Alternative for Germany]] (AfD)
| align=left| Henry Kraus
| 11,825
| 23.8
| {{increase}} 11.7
| 9
| {{increase}} 5
|-
| bgcolor={{party color|Free Voters}}| 
| align=left| Free Voters (FW)
| align=left| Jens Triebel
| 5,717
| 11.5
| {{decrease}} 7.8
| 4
| {{decrease}} 3
|-
| bgcolor={{party color|The Left (Germany)}}| 
| align=left| [[The Left (Germany)|The Left]] (Die Linke)
| align=left| Philipp Weltzien
| 5,352
| 10.8
| {{decrease}} 7.5
| 4
| {{decrease}} 3
|-
| bgcolor={{party color|Social Democratic Party of Germany}}| 
| align=left| [[Social Democratic Party of Germany|Social Democratic Party]] (SPD)
| align=left| Annette Nagel
| 3,014
| 6.1
| {{decrease}} 5.8
| 2
| {{decrease}} 2
|-
| 
| align=left| Citizens for Suhl (BfS)
| align=left| Michael Brüßler
| 2,357
| 4.7
| New
| 2
| New
|-
| bgcolor={{party color|Alliance 90/The Greens}}| 
| align=left| [[Alliance 90/The Greens]] (Grüne)
| align=left| Bernhard Hofmeier
| 1,810
| 3.6
| {{decrease}} 2.1
| 1
| {{decrease}} 1
|-
| bgcolor={{party color|Free Democratic Party (Germany)}}| 
| align=left| [[Free Democratic Party (Germany)|Free Democratic Party]] (FDP)
| align=left| Andreas Schmidt
| 1,161
| 2.3
| {{decrease}} 1.0
| 1
| {{steady}} 0
|-
! colspan=3| Valid votes
! 49,777
! 100.0
! 
! 
! 
|-
! colspan=3| Invalid balltos
! 539
! 3.1
! 
! 
! 
|-
! colspan=3| Total ballots
! 17,339
! 100.0
! 
! 36
! ±0
|-
! colspan=3| Electorate/voter turnout
! 30,226
! 57.4
! {{increase}} 2.7
! 
! 
|-
| colspan=8| Source: [https://wahlen.thueringen.de/datenbank/wahl1/WAHL.asp?wahlart=KW&wJahr=2024&zeigeErg=WK&auswertung=1&wknr=054&gemnr=&terrKrs=&gemteil=000&buchstabe=&Langname=&wahlvorschlag=&sort=&druck=&XLS=&anzahlH=0&Nicht_existierende=&x_vollbildDatenteil=&optik=&aktual=&ShowLand=&ShowWK=&ShowPart= Wahlen in Thüringen]
|}

==Economy and infrastructure==
===Agriculture, industry and services===
[[File:Suhl-Simson1.jpg|thumb|A building of the former Simson factory with A 73's Haseltal bridge in background]]
[[File:Suhl-Simson-TorB.jpg|thumb|Another former Simson building]]

Agriculture plays no role in Suhl, only 17% of the municipal territory are in agricultural use. The soil isn't very fertile and the climate is harsh, the most cultivated strains are maize and rapeseed, furthermore there is cattle farming on some areas. On the other hand, 63% of the territory are forest, so that wood production plays a role in Suhl.

Suhl's industry has always been based on metalworking. In the past, the city was a leading arms producer in Germany and the vehicle production was another pillar of the local industry. After the reunification in 1990, the industry collapsed and the most factories got closed. Important companies of today are ''CDA'', a producer of data replication media, ''Zimbo'', a meat producer, ''Gramss'', an industrial bakery, ''Paragon'', a car parts supplier, and ''Merkel'', the last remained arms producer in Suhl. In 2012, there were 27 companies in industrial production with more than 20 workers employing 2,000 persons and generating a turnover of €295 million.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tls.thueringen.de/datenbank/TabAnzeige.asp?tabelle=gg000602|title=Thüringer Landesamt für Statistik|first=Thüringer Landesamt für|last=Statistik|access-date=26 August 2016}}</ref>

Services in Suhl are including the typical regional supply (like retail, hospital, cinema etc.) and some preserved administrative functions over the surrounding districts like the Industrie- und Handelskammer and the regional centres of Arbeitsagentur and Rentenversicherung. Furthermore, tourism plays a role because of the beautiful landscape around. In 2012, there were 93,000 hotel guests having 245,000 overnight stays in Suhl.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tls.thueringen.de/datenbank/TabAnzeige.asp?tabelle=ge000802|title=Thüringer Landesamt für Statistik|first=Thüringer Landesamt für|last=Statistik|access-date=26 August 2016}}</ref>

===Transport===
[[File:Südthüringenbahn in Suhl.JPG|thumb|Local train to Erfurt at Suhl station]]

Suhl connected to the railway quite late, because of its hilly terrain. The [[Neudietendorf–Ritschenhausen railway]] through the city was opened in 1882 (southern direction to [[Würzburg]]) and in 1884 (northern direction to [[Erfurt]]). It was one of only few main mountain railways in [[Prussia]] with the large, {{convert|3039|m}} long [[Brandleite Tunnel]] north of the city. Later, this railway became an important link between [[Berlin]] and south-western Germany, until the inner-German border cut it off in 1949. Since that time, there is only regional traffic on the line (except a short time in 1990s with long-distance trains). The express train runs every two hours to Erfurt in the north and Würzburg in the south, where connections to long-distance trains are given. Furthermore, there are local trains to Erfurt and [[Meiningen]], running also every two hours, so that there is overall a connection once an hour in both directions. Another railway to [[Schleusingen]] was opened in 1911 and closed in 1997. With a gradient of nearly 7%, it was one of the steepest regular railways in Germany. Stations in Suhl besides the main station are located in Heinrichs and Dietzhausen, whereas the Stations Suhler Neundorf and Friedberg at the Schleusingen line are abandoned.

Suhl is situated at the junction of [[Bundesautobahn 71]] (Erfurt–Würzburg) and [[Bundesautobahn 73]] (Suhl–Nuremberg). Both got opened during the 2000s and host some impressive bridges and tunnels around Suhl, like the [[Rennsteig Tunnel]] in the north and the 82 m high ''Haseltalbrücke'' at Heinrichs district. A [[Bundesstraße]] through Suhl was the [[Bundesstraße 247]] from [[Gotha]] in the north to [[Schleusingen]] in the south. It was annulled after the opening of both Autobahns and is now a secondary road. Other important secondary roads run to [[Meiningen]] in the west and [[Ilmenau]] in the east.

Biking is getting more and more popular since the construction of quality cycle tracks began in the 1990s. For tourism serve the ''Hasel track'' from Suhl to the [[Werra]] valley near Meiningen. Furthermore, there are some mountainbiking tracks within the Thuringian Forest.<!----needs rewriting and citations---->

Public transport is carried out by a bus line network connecting the city centre with the outskirts, [[Zella-Mehlis]] and neighbouring villages. A trolleybus system was planned during the late 1980s, but not realized after the reunification.

==Education==
There is only one [[Gymnasium (Germany)|Gymnasium school]] left in Suhl, after others were closed due to the decline of the number of children after 1990.

==Culture==
[[File:Fahrzeugmuseum Suhl.JPG|thumb|Fahrzeugmuseum (entrance)]]

There are some museums and other cultural institutions in Suhl:

* The ''Waffenmuseum'' at Friedrich-König-Straße shows an exhibition about the history of arms production in Suhl.
* The ''Fahrzeugmuseum'' at Kongresszentrum hosts an exhibition of vehicles produced by [[Simson (company)|Simson]]. 
* The ''Galerie im Atrium'' at Kongresszentrum shows temporary exhibitions of art. 
* The ''Schul- und Volkssternwarte Suhl'' is the city's [[observatory]] and [[planetarium]], with the first ZEISS SKYMASTER ZKP 2 projector, which is still in use, at Hoheloh hill, south-west of the city centre. 
* The ''Tierpark Suhl'' is the zoological garden of the city at Carl-Fiedler-Straße on the eastern city border. 
* The municipal orchestra, founded in 1953 and based in the ''Kulturhaus'' at Friedrich-König-Straße was closed in 2009, rebuilt and now in use as city archive.

==Sights==
The most significant sights in Suhl are:

* St. Mary's Church is the evangelical main parish church of Suhl, built between 1753 and 1756 in late-Baroque style 
* The Holy Cross Church is the second evangelical parish church at Steinweg, built between 1731 and 1739 in Baroque style. 
* The Holy Cross Chapel behind the eponymous church is one of the oldest buildings in Suhl, established in 1618 Gothic style. 
* The town hall at Marktplatz was built between 1812 and 1817 and modified in 1913 to Neo-Baroque style. 
* The ''Malzhaus'' at Friedrich-König-Straße was built around 1650 and hosts the ''Waffenmusuem'' today. 
* The ''Kulturhaus'' at Friedrich-König-Straße was built in 1957 in Neo-Classicist style and demolished in 2013. Only the façade and the lobby remained. 
* Some buildings of the former Simson factory between the Heinrichs and Mäbendorf districts in [[Bauhaus]]-modern architecture of 1920s and 1930s remained. 
* The new municipal library at Bahnhofstraße was built in 2004 in form of a glass cube. 
* Some older buildings remained in the district of ''Heinrichs'' (including the church, town hall and some picturesque timber-framed houses) west of the city centre.

===Image gallery===
<gallery>
Marienkirche Suhl Pano-3.jpg|St. Mary's Church
Thuringia Suhl asv2020-07 img19 Cross Church.jpg|Holy Cross Church
Suhl-Kreuzkapelle.jpg|Holy Cross Chapel
Thuringia Suhl asv2020-07 img08 Town hall.jpg|Town hall
Thuringia Suhl asv2020-07 img20 PlDerDtEinheit.jpg|Malzhaus hosting the arms museum
Thuringia Suhl asv2020-07 img22 PlDerDtEinheit.jpg|Kulturhaus
Heinrichs-Rathaus1.jpg|Town hall of Heinrichs district
</gallery>

==Twin towns – sister cities==
{{See also|List of twin towns and sister cities in Germany}}

Suhl is [[Sister city|twinned]] with:<ref>{{cite web |title=Partnerstädte|url=https://www.suhltrifft.de/content/blogcategory/188/2017/5/5/|website=suhltrifft.de|publisher=Suhl|language=de|access-date=2021-04-05}}</ref>

{{div col|colwidth=20em}}
* {{flagicon|CZE}} [[České Budějovice]], Czech Republic
* {{flagicon|FRA}} [[Bègles]], France
* {{flagicon|RUS}} [[Kaluga]], Russia
* {{flagicon|FIN}} [[Lahti]], Finland
* {{flagicon|POL}} [[Leszno]], Poland
* {{flagicon|BUL}} [[Smolyan]], Bulgaria
* {{flagicon|GER}} [[Würzburg]], Germany
{{div col end}}

In October 2024 the city council voted to turn down a request from the Ukrainian city of [[Podilsk]].<ref>{{cite web | title=Thüringen: Suhl sagt Partnerschaft mit ukrainischer Stadt wegen russischer Partnerschaft ab &#124; MDR.DE | url=https://www.mdr.de/nachrichten/thueringen/sued-thueringen/suhl/absage-staedtepartnerschaft-ukraine-podilsk-100.html }}</ref>

==Notable people==
* [[Friedrich Wilhelm Adami]] (1816–1889), journalist
* [[Christoph Bach (musician)|Christoph Bach]] (1613–1661), composer
* [[Georg Christoph Bach]] (1642–1697), composer, progenitor of the Frankish Bach-line, from 1661 to 1668 cantor and schoolmaster in Heinrichs in Suhl
* [[Wilhelm Cuno]] (1876–1933), politician and businessman, German chancellor 1922–1923
* [[Claus Peter Flor]] (born 1953), conductor
* [[Paul Greifzu]] (1902–1952), racing driver and racecar constructor
* [[Corinna Harfouch]] (born 1954), actress
* [[Sandra Hüller]] (born 1978), actress
* [[Johann Peter Kellner]] (1705–1772), composer and organ builder
* [[Friedrich Koenig]] (1774–1833), contributed as an inventor of the flatbed press a decisive contribution to the development of the printing industry and worked for some time in Suhl
* [[André Lange]] (born 1973), bobsledder, multiple Olympic and world champion
* [[Hugo Schmeisser]] (1884–1953), developer of infantry weapons
* [[Louis Schmeisser]] (1848–1917), weapon technical designer
* [[Moses Simson]] (1808–1868) and Lob Simson (1806–1862), founders of the [[Simson (company)|Simson]] works

==References==
{{reflist|colwidth=30em}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
* [http://www.suhltrifft.de/english/ Official website] {{In lang|en|de}}
* {{Cite EB1911|wstitle=Suhl|short=x}}

{{Geographic location
|Centre    = Suhl
|North     = [[Gotha]]
|Northeast = [[Erfurt]] <br />[[Arnstadt]]
|East      = [[Ilmenau]] — [[Saalfeld]]
|Southeast = [[Coburg]] — [[Sonneberg]]
|South     = [[Bamberg]]
|Southwest = [[Schweinfurt]]
|West      = [[Fulda]] — [[Meiningen]]
|Northwest = [[Eisenach]] <br />[[Schmalkalden]]
}}
{{Germany districts Thuringia}}
{{Cities in Thuringia}}
{{Bezirke DDR Seats}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Suhl}}
[[Category:Suhl| ]]
[[Category:Towns in Thuringia]]
[[Category:Urban districts of Thuringia]]