Arnstadt () is a town in Ilm-Kreis, Thuringia, Germany, on the river Gera about south of Erfurt, the capital of Thuringia. Arnstadt is one of the oldest towns in Thuringia, and has a well-preserved historic centre with a partially preserved town wall. The town is nicknamed ("The Gateway to the Thuringian Forest") because of its location on the northern edge of that forest. Arnstadt has a population of some 27,000. Geography The town centre is on the west side of Gera. The municipality has absorbed several neighbouring municipalities: Angelhausen–Oberndorf (1922), Siegelbach (1994), Rudisleben (1999) and Wipfratal (2019). The neighbouring municipalities are Amt Wachsenburg, Alkersleben, Dornheim, Bösleben-Wüllersleben, Stadtilm, Ilmenau, Plaue and Geratal. Climate The annual precipitation averages 487 mm. History 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