DEUTSCHLAND	GERMANY
Bundesland: Freistaat Thüringen	Thuringia
Landkreis: Sonneberg

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Sonneberg is situated at an elevation of 364 m in the valleys of the Röthen and Steinach streams in the southern slopes of the Thüringer Wald (Thuringian Forest) mountains of southern Thuringia. Sonneberg is the administrative centre of the district of the same name and has a population of about 23,500 (2006).

The name Sonneberg appeared in a written document for the first time in 1207. The settlement below the castle was founded in the 12th century, presumably by ministerials of the dukes of Andechs-Meranien. At first this village was known under the name Röthen, e.g. in a document of 1317. In that year the place came in possession of the counts of Henneberg. In 1349 Sonneberg obtained the privileges of a town. Four years later, Sonneberg came in possession of the Wettin dynasty. In 1485 the House of Wettin was partitioned and Sonneberg remained in the territory of the Ernestine line, which later was partitioned numerous times (see chart): 1572 Sonneberg became part of Saxe-Coburg, 1640 Saxe-Altenburg, and 1672 Saxe-Gotha. From 1628 until the end of the monarchy in 1918 it was part of the duchy of Saxe-Meiningen.

In the 16th century Sonneberg became known as a town of artisans making toys. The introduction in 1805 of papier-mâché greatly boosted this manufacturing tradition and made Sonneberg known around the world. The Dressel manufacture, founded already around 1700, after 1873 became the largest exporter of toys in the country. Before World War I, an estimated 20% of the world's commercially traded toys were produced in Sonneberg. The last flourishing period of the toy industry were the 1920's, when even american business enterprises like Halbourn or Woolworth opened stores in Sonneberg.