Land: Thuringia
Situation and characteristics
Heiligenstadt, a town with a history reaching back more than a thousand years, lies some 90km/56mi northwest of Erfurt on the northwestern edge of the Thuringian Basin, at the foot of the hills of Iberg and Dün in the Leine valley.
For centuries
the chief town of the Eichsfeld area, which was held by the Archbishops of Mainz, Heiligenstadt has preserved a number of historic buildings. It was the birthplace of the famous woodcarver Tilman Riemenschneider, and the 19th C writer Theodor Storm lived and worked in the town for some years.