Sömmerda is a small town near Erfurt in Thuringia, Germany. It is the capital of the district of Sömmerda and has approximately 21,000 inhabitants (2002). The town is on the Unstrut river.

History

Sömmerda was first mentioned in official documents in 876. It probably became a town in about 1622 but there are no existing records of the event. One town gate, dating from 1395, and six towers from the old town walls are still standing.

During the Thirty Years War (1618-1648) Sömmerda was at the heart of military activity and soldiers from both sides ransacked the town, halving the population.

In 1840, Johann Nikolaus von Dreyse invented the needle gun [1] and a firearms factory was founded in the town. In 1919 the Rheinmetall company took over the factory, now called Rheinmetall-Borsig, at first to produce automotive parts. Initially it concentrated with only little success on carburettors, then in 1925 an ambitious new manager, the engineer Fritz Faudi , took over and a new type of cardan joint was developed, which became extremely popular. The Rheinmetall-Faudi system was a well-known name, and the Sömmerda works were the largest producer in Germany.

In April 1921 the factory returned to arms production, going against the post-war regulations which banned it from producing fuses. From October 1922 the factory produced the total quantity of fuses allowed in Germany by the Allies and also began producing the new MG30 machine gun under the direction of Louis Schmeisser .

In September 1944 Rheinmetall-Borsig became an external camp for Buchenwald concentration camp. As many as 1,294 female prisoners were made to do forced labour there, most of them aged between 16 and 60, many Jews from Hungary. As well as continuing to produce cardan shafts, the women also helped make parts for armoured vehicles used in the war, as well as manufacturing arms; two new workshops were built for this in 1944 and 1945.

On April 11 1945 Americans arriving in Sömmerda found the Rheinmetall plant still untouched by bombs but abandoned by its managers. Days later Thuringia was occupied by the Russians, who recommenced production by the next month, employing between 1,000 and 1,500 workers. Production went back to automotive parts until the 1950s when office machinery began to be produced. Later Rheinmetall-Borsig became today's Rheinmetall DeTec AG .

Today a special cemetery in Sömmerda contains graves and a memorial to the camp inmates, forced labourers and war prisoners.

Coat of arms

The town coat of arms is a shield with the field divided horizontally; the upper field has a black eagle with a red tongue, looking to the right. The lower field is red with a silver six-spoked wheel.

Twin towns

Sömmerda has been twinned with Böblingen in Baden-Württemberg since 1988 and with Kedainiai in Lithuania since 1989.