A deed of gift issued 1 May 704 in
Würzburg by the Thuringian Duke
Hedan II to the Anglo-Saxon bishop Willibrord of
Utrecht is the first written reference to Arnstadt ("Arnestati"), along with two other towns—the oldest documented reference of settlements in Thuringia and central and eastern Germany. In 726, Arnstadt passed to the
Abbey of Echternach, and later to the
Abbey of Hersfeld. According to historian August Beck, in 925 the territories of
Henry I were extended as a bulwark against the invading
Magyars. On 17 December 954, Holy Roman Emperor
Otto I made peace in Arnstadt with his rebellious son
Liudolf of Swabia and another son, William, whom he appointed
Archbishop of Mainz, and decided that the
Liebfrauenkirche (Church of Our Lady) would be built. In the 12th century a part of Arnstadt fell under the rule of the
Counts of Kevernburg. On 8 March 1198 the princes of the Holy Roman Empire gathered in Arnstadt and elected
Philip of Swabia as
King of Germany. In 1220 Arnstadt was first described as a
civitas, that is a city. On 21 April 1266, the abbot of the Abbey of Hersfeld granted a charter; thereafter, Arnstadt became a hub for trade in timber, grain, wine and wood. After the extinction of the Kevernburg family from 1302 to 1306, the
counts of Schwarzburg took possession of Arnstadt. Attempts by Erfurt 1342 and 1345 to seize what was now a wealthy town failed due to the strong attachment. Arnstadt's prosperity was based on the milling industry, the cloth-making trade, tanneries, and trade in wine,
woad, wood, grain, wool, and vegetables. On 30 January 1349, Count
Günther XXI of Schwarzburg, an adversary of King
Charles IV, was elected and crowned sovereign of Arnstadt in Frankfurt. He renounced this title on 26 May for 20,000 silver marks. A 1404 reference was found in 2000 to
Bratwurst originating in Arnstadt, therefore the town claims its invention. In 1496, the Schwarzburg domains were divided into the lordships of
Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt and
Schwarzburg-Sondershausen, to which Arnstadt belonged. During the
German Peasants' War 95 participants in the uprising were beheaded as ringleaders in the Arnstadt marketplace, on 17 June and 2 August 1525. The city was forced to pay 3000 guilders for supporting the insurgents. In 1531 the
Reformation was introduced into Arnstadt. As a result, the Franciscan maidens' convent, and subsequently the Franciscan mendicant convent (Barfüßerkloster) were secularized. From 1581, the church of the former Franciscan monastery (now the
Oberkirche, "Upper Church") was the main church of the city. In 1553, work began on the count's residence,
Neideck Castle. The water palace was completed in 1560. With the onset of industrialisation, a residential area emerged to the west and south of the old town, and industrial areas to the north. During the Second World War, it was the site of a prisoner-of-war camp, mainly for Poles and Russians. 1,700 prisoners were housed in tents that contained only 100 bunks. The camp was liberated by American Forces in April 1945. A number of mass graves were discovered. 1,200 civilians from the neighbouring city of Weimar were brought on a forced tour of the camp. This included a "parchment display" which displayed a "lampshade made of human skin." The display also included pieces of skin used for painting pictures. After the Second World War, the town expanded further to the north along the Geratals, new residential areas emerged in the 1970s and 80s, in the east and southeast of Arnstadt, including the residential Raven Hold. Arnstadt is a manufacturing centre with glassworks and foundries, a solar panel production plant, and glove-manufacturing and wood-finishing businesses. ==Main sights==