State of Thuringia (1920–1952)
The State of Thuringia (German: Land Thüringen, [ʃtaːt ˈtyːʁɪŋən]) was a German state during the Weimar Republic and Nazi Germany, as well as a state of the Soviet occupation zone in Germany and East Germany. The state capital was Weimar, the largest city Gera.
The state was created on 1 May 1920 from a merger of the Thuringian free states: Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, Saxe-Meiningen, Saxe-Altenburg, Saxe-Gotha, Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, Schwarzburg-Sondershausen and the People's State of Reuss. The Free State of Coburg, however, joined Bavaria. An integration of areas from Prussian Thuringia could not be realized despite various efforts. In Thuringia and northern Franconia, the centuries-long era of strong territorial fragmentation came to an end.
With the 1934 Law on the Reconstruction of the Reich, the country was brought into line, with the Gau Thuringia under Fritz Sauckel playing the more important role politically. Following World War II, after a brief American occupation, the country became part of the Soviet Occupation Zone (SBZ). It was enlarged to 15,585 km2 by the Prussian Erfurt administrative district and received a new constitution on 20 December 1946. With the July 1952 reorganization of the East German states into districts, Thuringia transferred its administrative functions to three new districts, and the state was formally dissolved in December 1958.