Großhettstedt

Großhettstedt is located in the Ilm valley between Stadtilm in the south and Dienstedt in the north at an altitude of about 330 meters. To the north of the village lies the southeastern edge of the Thuringian Basin, which drops steeply into the Ilm valley here. Here stands the 445-meter-high Hettstedter Berg. South of the Ilm begins the Ilm-Saale Plateau, which rises here to the Große Kalmberg. While Großhettstedt is situated on the north side of the Ilm, just a short distance away on the south side lies the locality of Kleinhettstedt. Großhettstedt is a street village that aligns along the B 87.

The defining word of the place name refers to one of the two Thuringian-Franconian dukes who ruled during the second half of the 7th century and at the beginning of the 8th century, either Heden I or Heden II. Although Hettstedt was first mentioned in 1140, a castle already existed here in the early Middle Ages, which Wolfgang Timpel from the Museum of Prehistory and Early History of Thuringia was able to archaeologically prove. According to recent research, the place was the center of a ducal, later royal estate complex comprising Groß- and Kleinhettstedt, which today includes the deserted places Osthofen and Barchfeld, as well as “Kinigrorsdorf”, the present-day Klunkermühle. It was then located at the Ilm crossing of a trade route. Evidence of this can still be seen today in the paved ford and the Romanesque stone arch bridge south of the village.

Wikipedia