it is in the valley of the loquitz river, a tributary of the saale, in the thuringian-franconian highlands of the thuringian slate mountains and the franconian forest mountain ranges. being north of kronach, the bavarian border with the state of thuringia runs about north of the town centre, with thuringian saalfeld in a distance of c. down the loquitz. ludwigsstadt is the only municipality of the state of bavaria north of the rennsteig ridge.