It is a typical Thuringian Forest village, reaching far into the valleys of the Lichte River and of its tributary the Piesau. Both of these feed one of the biggest Thuringian drinking water reservoirs, Leibis-Lichte, with the Deesbach Forebay close to the northern end of the village (in Geiersthal). The Lichte River is also one of the sources of the Schwarza River.
The mountain rivers and streams in the area of the Lichte valley have been known for centuries for deposits of placer gold and are considered the most significant sources of gold in Germany.
Around the steep-sided valleys of the Lichte and Piesau, the height difference between hilltops and valley bottoms is often as much as 200 m, which is large for hills of this size.
Already in 1764 there was porcelain manufacturing in Lichte (Wallendorf). The Wallendorf porcelain manufacture is one of the oldest in Europe. It quickly achieved a growing customer base beyond the then borders of the country. Thus as early as 1822, Johann Heinrich Leder established in Lichte another porcelain company, today’s Lichte porcelain (GmbH). The new company competed with Wallendorf. However, it was able to rapidly find and keep markets of its own, although the two World Wars followed by East German trade restrictions caused setbacks.
Until 1920, the Lichte River was the dividing line between the district of Saalfeld in Saxe-Meiningen in the east and the rural district of Königsee in Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt in the west. In 1952 the municipality was formed by combining several mountain villages: from south to north, Lichte, Wallendorf, Geiersthal and Bock and Teich. From 1922 to 1952, the municipality belonged to the rural district of Saalfeld, from 1952 to 1994 to the district of Neuhaus, and since then has been in the district of Saalfeld-Rudolstadt.
During World War II, Polishforced labourers worked in Wallendorf; four graves in the cemetery there recall this time. A memorial tablet at the Lichte cemetery commemorates two victims of the death march of inmates from the Buchenwald concentration camp in April 1945 who were found in the depths below the rail viaduct.[1]
Heraldry
The coat of arms of Lichte, a silver candlestick with gold flame and beams of light between 4 silver maple leaves on a field of green, was approved on July 15, 1995. The candlestick is taken from an ancient seal. It thus perpetuates a traditional symbol of the locality and also represents the centuries-long heritage of porcelain manufacturing that typifies Lichte and the region. The maple leaves symbolize the four sections of the municipality using a tree that is typical of the area. They and the green field also symbolize Lichte's location in the forested Thuringian Highland, while the shape at the base of the shield represents its location in valleys.
Kermesse (German: Kirchweihfest) – the Lichte Kermesse is the oldest event in Lichte. It is based on a permission granted by the sovereign in 1825 to hold an annual fair on Michaelmas (September 29).[2]
Economy and infrastructure
Porcelain Princess with 3,000 coffee- and tea-pots, on the occasion of a porcelain show in 2010.
The local economy, typically for the Thuringian Highland, is based on tourism, glass and porcelain manufacturing, and woodworking. There has been porcelain manufacturing in Lichte since at least 1764; Wallendorfer Porzellan (Wallendorf Porcelain) is one of the oldest such companies in Europe.
Johann Wolfgang Hammann, co-founder of Wallendorfer Porzellan
Johann Heinrich Leder, founder of Lichte Porzellan
Scherf brothers, Louis (1870-1955) and Albert (1876-1953): porcelain painters, silver medal at the World's Fair in Paris in 1900,[3] gold medal at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition in St. Louis (1904)[4]
^Thüringer Verband der Verfolgten des Naziregimes - Bund der Antifaschisten und Studienkreis deutscher Widerstand 1933-1945, ed., Heimatgeschichtlicher Wegweiser zu Stätten des Widerstandes und der Verfolgung 1933-1945 Volume 8: Thüringen, Erfurt, Cologne: Pahl-Rugenstein, 2003, ISBN3-88864-343-0, p. 237.
^Thuringian State Record Office Rudolstadt: A/XVII, C.1. Nr.49; F/LXXII, Nr.21.
