of the European metropolitan region of Nuremberg. Thus, Sonneberg has a "hinge function" to the important economic areas between the Main and Elbe. The HySon Institute for Applied Hydrogen Research emerged in February 2021 from a network of actors from business and science. There are 50 partners in total. Their common goal is to close the gap between research and application. Subdivisions The town Sonneberg consists of the following subdivisions: Since 31 December 2013, when the former municipality Oberland am Rennsteig was merged into Sonneberg, the following villages also form part of Sonneberg: Haselbach, Eschenthal, Hasenthal, Hüttengrund and Spechtsbrunn. Number of inhabitants Data source since 1994: Thuringia statistical office Notable people Crato Bütner (1616–1679), composer August Schleicher (1821–1868), linguist Wilhelm Sollmann (1881–1951), journalist and politician (SPD) Cuno Hoffmeister (1892–1968), astronomer Walter Franck (1896–1961), actor Fred Delmare (1922–2009), actor Tankred Dorst (1925–2017), writer Werner Stötzer (1931–2010), sculptor and draftsman Almuth Beck (born 1940), politician Werner Bernreuther (born 1941), actor and songwriter Freddy Breck (1942–2008), percussionist Monika Debertshäuser (born 1952), cross-country skier Reinhard Häfner (1952–2016), footballer Detlef Ultsch (born 1955), judoka, world champion Frank Dundr (born 1957), rower, Olympic winner Simone Opitz (born 1963), cross-country skier Silke Kraushaar-Pielach (born 1970), luger André Florschütz (born 1976), luger Thomas Florschütz (born 1978), bob pilot Sebastian Lang (born 1979), cyclist Jan-Armin Eichhorn (born 1981), luger Felix Loch (born 1989), 2010 and 2014 Olympic luge gold medalist References External links private website Sonneberg (district) Duchy of Saxe-Meiningen