Eisenach (Isenacum) was founded in 1070 by Louis II. the Springer, landgrave of Thuringia, and its history during the middle ages was closely bound up with that of the Wartburg, the seat of the landgraves. The Klemda, mentioned above, was built by Sophia (d. 1284), daughter of the landgrave Louis IV., and wife of Duke Henry II. of Brabant, to defend the town against Henry III., margrave of Meissen, during the succession contest that followed the extinction of the male line of the Thuringian landgraves in 1247. The principality of Eisenach fell to the Saxon house of Wettin in 1440, and in the partition of 1485 formed part of the territories given to the Ernestine line. It was a separate Saxon duchy from 1596 to 1638, from 1640 to 1644, and again from 1662 to 1741, when it finally fell to Saxe-Weimar. The town of Eisenach, by reason of its associations, has been a favourite centre for the religious propaganda of Evangelical Germany, and since 1852 it has been the scene of the annual conference of the German Evangelical Church, known as the Eisenach conference.
See Trinius, Eisenach und Umgebung (Minden, 1900); and H.A. Daniel, Deutschland (Leipzig, 1895), and further references in U. Chevalier, “Répertoire des sources,” &c., Topo-bibliogr. (Montbéliard, 1894-1899), s.v.
EISENBERG (Isenberg), a town of Germany, in the duchy of Saxe-Altenburg, on a plateau between the rivers Saale and Elster, 20 m. S.W. from Zeitz, and connected with the railway Leipzig-Gera by a branch to Crossen. Pop. (1905) 8824. It possesses an old castle, several churches and monuments to Duke Christian of Saxe-Eisenberg (d. 1707), Bismarck, and the philosopher Karl Christian Friedrich Krause (q.v.). Its principal industries are weaving, and the manufacture of machines, ovens, furniture, pianos, porcelain and sausages.
See Back, Chronik der Sladt und des Amtes Eisenberg (Eisenb., 1843).
EISENERZ (“Iron ore”), a market-place and old mining town in Styria, Austria, 68 m. N.W. of Graz by rail. Pop. (1900) 6494. It is situated in a deep valley, dominated on the east by the Pfaffenstein (6140 ft.), on the west by the Kaiserschild (6830 ft.), and on the south by the Erzberg (5030 ft.). It has an interesting example of a medieval fortified church, a Gothic edifice founded by Rudolph of Habsburg in the 13th century and rebuilt in the 16th. The Erzberg or Ore Mountain furnishes such rich ore that it is quarried in the open air like stone, in the summer months. There is documentary evidence of the mines having been worked as far back as the 12th century. They afford employment to two or three thousand hands in summer and about half as many in winter, and yield some 800,000 tons of iron per annum. Eisenerz is connected with the mines by the Erzberg railway, a bold piece of engineering work, 14 m. long, constructed on the Abt’s rack-and-pinion system. It passes through some beautiful scenery, and descends to Vordernberg (pop. 3111), an important centre of the iron trade situated on the south side of the Erzberg. Eisenerz possesses, in addition, twenty-five furnaces, which produce iron, and particularly steel, of exceptional excellence. A few miles to the N.W. of Eisenerz lies the castle of Leopoldstein, and near it the beautiful Leopoldsteiner Lake. This lake, with its dark-green water, situated at an altitude of 2028 ft., and surrounded on all sides by high peaks, is not big, but is very deep, having a depth of 520 ft.
EISLEBEN (Lat. Islebia), a town of Germany, in the Prussian province of Saxony, 24 m. W. by N. from Halle, on the railway to Nordhausen and Cassel. Pop. (1905) 23,898. It is divided into an old and a new town (Altstadt and Neustadt). Among its principal buildings are the church of St Andrew (Andreaskirche), which contains numerous monuments of the counts of Mansfeld; the church of St Peter and St Paul (Peter-Paulkirche), containing the font in which Luther was baptized; the royal gymnasium (classical school), founded by Luther shortly before his death in 1546; and the hospital. Eisleben is celebrated as the place where Luther was born and died. The house in which he was born was burned in 1689, but was rebuilt in 1693 as a free school for orphans. This school fell into decay under the régime of the kingdom of Westphalia, but was restored in 1817 by King Frederick William III. of Prussia, who, in 1819, transferred it to a new building behind the old house. The house in which Luther died was restored towards the end of the 19th century, and his death chamber is still preserved. A bronze statue of Luther by Rudolf Siemering (1835-1905) was unveiled in 1883. Eisleben has long been the centre of an important mining district (Luther was a miner’s son), the principal products being silver and copper. It possesses smelting works and a school of mining.
The earliest record of Eisleben is dated 974. In 1045, at which time it belonged to the counts of Mansfeld, it received the right to hold markets, coin money, and levy tolls. From 1531 to 1710 it was the seat of the cadet line of the counts of Mansfeld-Eisleben. After the extinction of the main line of the counts of Mansfeld, Eisleben fell to Saxony, and, in the partition of Saxony by the congress of Vienna in 1815, was assigned to Prussia.