title: Hildburghausen (district)
text: # Hildburghausen (district)
  
  Hildburghausen is a district in Thuringia, Germany. It is bounded by (from the west and clockwise) the district of Schmalkalden-Meiningen, the city of Suhl, the districts of Ilm-Kreis, Saalfeld-Rudolstadt and Sonneberg, and the state of Bavaria (districts of Coburg, Haßberge and Rhön-Grabfeld). Located roughly halfway between the mountain chains of the Rhön and the Thuringian Forest, the district is densely forested and covered by hilly countryside. Its territory is similar to that of the former Ernestine duchy, Saxe-Hildburghausen.
  
  ## Towns and municipalities
  
  | Verwaltungsgemeinschaft (community of administration): free towns and municipalities |
  | - |
  | Eisfeld Hildburghausen Römhild Schleusingen | Auengrund Brünn Masserberg Schleusegrund Veilsdorf |
  
  Verwaltungsgemeinschaften (community of administration) :
  
  | 1. Feldstein Ahlstädt Beinerstadt Bischofrod Dingsleben Ehrenberg Eichenberg Grimmelshausen Grub Henfstädt Kloster Veßra Lengfeld Marisfeld Oberstadt Reurieth Sankt Bernhard Schmeheim $Themar^{1,2}$ | 2. Heldburger Unterland $Heldburg^{1,2}$ Schlechtsart Schweickershausen Straufhain $Ummerstadt^2$ Westhausen |
  | - | - |
  | $^1seat$ of the $Verwaltungsgemeinschaft;^2town$ ||
  
  ## Coat of arms
  
  The coat of arms displays:
  
  * the heraldic lion of Meißen, the precursor state to Saxony
  * the cock representing the counts of Henneberg, who ruled the region until 1583
  * below the symbol of the bishopric of Würzburg is displayed
  