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Hildburghausen
Map of Thuringia highlighting the district of Hildburghausen
State	Thuringia
District seat	Hildburghausen
Area	937 km²
Population	72,800 (2002)
Pop. density	78 /km²
Licence plate code	HBN
Web page	landkreis-hildburghausen.de

Herzogtum Sachsen-Hildburghausen Duchy of Saxe-Hildburghausen State of the Holy Roman Empire, State of the Confederation of the Rhine, State of the German Confederation ← 1680 – 1826 → Capital Heldburg (to 1684) Hildburghausen (from 1684) Government Principality Historical era Middle Ages  - Partitioned from     Saxe-Gotha   1680  - Reichsunmittelbarkeit 1702  - Passed to Saxe-Meiningen 1826

Hildburghausen is a district in Thuringia, Germany. It is bounded by (from the west and clockwise) the district of Schmalkalden-Meiningen, the city of Suhl, the districts of Ilm-Kreis, Saalfeld-Rudolstadt and Sonneberg, and the state of Bavaria (districts of Coburg, Haßberge and Rhön-Grabfeld). Located roughly halfway between the mountain chains of the Rhön and the Thuringian Forest, the district is densely forested and covered by hilly countryside.

Despite its tiny territory, this was an autonomous duchy from 1680 to 1826; in 1684 the capital was moved from Heldburg to Hildburghausen, and the mini-state became known as Saxe-Hildburghausen. The dukes built a palace, a French-style park and other pompous buildings in Hildburghausen.

In 1810, a princess of Saxe-Hildburghausen, Therese, was married to Crown Prince Ludwig of Bavaria, who became king of Bavaria 15 years later; this event is the (almost forgotten) reason for the Oktoberfest, held annually in Munich.

In 1826, the states of Thuringia were reorganised: the last ruler of Saxe-Altenburg died without an heir; the duke of Saxe-Hildburghausen became his successor, but he had to cede his own realm to Saxe-Meiningen.

In 1868, four districts were established in the duchy of Saxe-Meiningen. Hildburghausen was one of these districts, with boundaries very similar to those of the former duchy. It remained almost unchanged until 1993, when the former district of Suhl was dissolved and most of its municipalities joined the district.

• Ernst II (1675–1715)
• Ernst Frederick I (1715–24)
• Ernst Frederick II (1724–45)
• Ernst Frederick III (1745–80)
• Frederick (1780–1825)

Incorporated into Saxe-Meiningen

Coat of arms of Hildburghausen district

The coat of arms displays:

• the heraldic lion of Meißen, the precursor state to Saxony
• the cock representing the counts of Henneberg, who ruled the region until 1583
• below the symbol of the bishopric of Würzburg is displayed

• (German) Official website

v • d • e Ernestine duchies after the Division of Erfurt (1572)

Saxe-Weimar (1572–1806) • Saxe-Coburg-Eisenach (1572–1596) • Saxe-Coburg (1596–1633; 1681–1699) • Saxe-Eisenach (1596–1638; 1640–1644; 1672–1806) • Saxe-Altenburg (1603–1672; 1826–1918) • Saxe-Gotha (1640–1680) • Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg (1681–1826) • Saxe-Marksuhl (1662–1672) • Saxe-Jena (1672–1690) • Saxe-Eisenberg (1680–1707) • Saxe-Hildburghausen (1680–1826) • Saxe-Römhild (1680–1710) • Saxe-Saalfeld (1680–1735) • Saxe-Meiningen (1681–1918) • Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld (1735–1826) • Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach (1806–1918) • Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (1826–1918)

v • d • e Holy Roman Empire — Upper Saxon Circle (1512–1806)
Electorates	Brandenburg | Saxony
Ecclesiastical princes	Cammin
Secular princes	Anhalt | Barby | Hatzfeld | Pomerania: Further, Hither | Querfurt | Reuss: Elder, Junior | Saxe-Weimar | Schwarzburg: Rudolstadt, Sondershausen
Prelates	Gernrode | Quedlinburg | Walkenried
Counts and Lords	Hohnstein | Lohra and Klettenberg | Mansfeld | Schönburg | Stolberg: Stolberg, Wernigerode

v • d • e States of the Confederation of the Rhine (1806–13)
Rank elevated by Napoleon	Kingdoms: Bavaria | Saxony | Württemberg Grand Duchies: Baden | Hesse
States created	Kingdoms: Westphalia Grand Duchies: Berg | Frankfurt‡ | Würzburg Principalities: Aschaffenburg† | Leyen | Regensburg†
Pre-existing states	Duchies: Anhalt: Bernburg, Dessau, Köthen | Arenberg | Mecklenburg: Schwerin, Strelitz | Nassau | Oldenburg | Saxony: Coburg-Saalfeld, Gotha-Altenburg, Hildburghausen, Meiningen, Weimar*, Eisenach*, Weimar-Eisenach** Principalities: Hohenzollern: Hechingen, Sigmaringen | Isenburg-Birstein | Liechtenstein | Lippe-Detmold | Reuß: Ebersdorf, Greiz, Lobenstein, Schleiz | Salm: Kyrburg, Salm | Schaumburg-Lippe | Schwarzburg: Rudolstadt, Sondershausen | Waldeck
* until 1809     ** from 1809       † until 1810     ‡ from 1810

v • d • e States of the German Confederation (1815–66)
Empires	Austria
Kingdoms	Prussia | Bavaria | Saxony | Hanover | Württemberg
Electorates	Hesse
Grand Duchies	Baden | Hesse | Luxembourg | Mecklenburg-Schwerin | Mecklenburg-Strelitz | Oldenburg | Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach
Duchies	Anhalt: Bernburg¹, Dessau¹, Köthen² | Brunswick | Holstein | Limburg | Nassau | Saxony: Altenburg³, Coburg-Saalfeld4, Coburg-Gotha³, Gotha-Altenburg4, Hildburghausen4, Lauenburg, Meiningen
Principalities	Hesse-Homburg | Hohenzollern: Hechingen5, Sigmaringen5 | Liechtenstein | Lippe | Reuß: Elder, Junior | Schaumburg-Lippe | Schwarzburg: Rudolstadt, Sondershausen | Waldeck and Pyrmont
City-states	Bremen | Frankfurt | Hamburg | Lübeck
1: Merged to Anhalt from 1863;     2: until 1847;     3: from 1826;     4: until 1826;     5: until 1850

v • d • e    Urban and rural districts in the Free State of Thuringia in Germany
Urban districts	Eisenach · Erfurt · Gera · Jena · Suhl · Weimar
Rural districts	Altenburger Land · Eichsfeld · Gotha · Greiz · Hildburghausen · Ilm-Kreis · Kyffhäuserkreis · Nordhausen · Saale-Holzland · Saale-Orla-Kreis · Saalfeld-Rudolstadt · Schmalkalden-Meiningen · Sömmerda · Sonneberg · Unstrut-Hainich · Wartburgkreis · Weimarer Land