Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. The US Army arrived in Mühlhausen on 4 April 1945 and the city was handed over without a fight. On 5 July 1945, the Soviet Army took over the city, which became part of the GDR in 1949. In 1975, the 450th obit of Thomas Müntzer, the city was officially renamed Thomas-Müntzer-Stadt Mühlhausen. Müntzer and the German Peasants' War received a lot of attention from the GDR government and East-German historians; they referred to it as Frühbürgerliche Revolution (early bourgeois revolution) and included it in their Marxist conception of history. Many exhibitions were set up (including some of the museums in Mühlhausen and the Bauernkriegspanorama near Bad Frankenhausen) and events celebrating the historical connection took place. After German reunification, the focus on Müntzer and the Peasants' War ended. The city name was changed back to plain "Mühlhausen" in 1991. After reunification, many factories in Mühlhausen were closed, leading to another deep economic crisis with high unemployment rates during the 1990s and early 2000s. On the other hand, the city's architectural heritage was rediscovered and the restoration of the historic city centre began. Geography and demographics Topography Mühlhausen is situated in the flat landscape of the Thuringian Basin, a very fertile area covering the northern centre of Thuringia at an elevation of approximately 215 metres above sea level. To the north and west, the terrain gets hilly, whereas to the south and east lie wide agricultural areas, much like most of the municipal territory itself. Furthermore, there are two forests within the territory: the Stadtwald (as part of the Hainich) in the west and the Mühlhäuser Hardt between the Windeberg district and Menteroda. Both are broadleaf forests with beeches prevalent. The Hainich hills south-west of Mühlhausen became Thuringia's only National Park in 1997 because of their old near-natural beech forests. The highest hills within the Mühlhausen terrain reach approximately 400 metres of elevation. The main river crossing the city in northwest–southeast direction is the Unstrut. Furthermore, there are many small tributaries running from the western hills through Mühlhausen to the Unstrut like the Schwemmnotte, which is dividing the inner city. Germany's accurate geographical centre is located only south of the city in the neighbouring municipality of Niederdorla, where a monument can be found at this spot. Climate The average annual temperature in Mühlhausen is . With an annual precipitation of only , the climate in Mühlhausen is relatively