Mühlhausen

Mühlhausen (mülhou`zən) or Mühlhausen in Thüringen (mülhou`zən ĭn tür`ĭng-ən), city (1994 pop. 39,906), Thuringia, central Germany, on the Unstrut River. It is a major center for the manufacture of textiles, leather, wood, and metal products. Barite is mined nearby. Fortified (10th cent.) by Henry I, Mühlhausen was a favorite residence of the German rulers. It was made a free imperial city in 1180 and later (13th cent.) joined the Hanseatic League. It became (16th cent.) an Anabaptist center and was dominated during the Peasants' War by Thomas Münzer, who was executed there in 1525. Mühlhausen changed hands several times before passing in 1815 to Prussia. Noteworthy structures of the city include several Gothic churches, a 17th-century city hall, medieval fortifications, and many houses dating from the 16th, 17th, and 18th cent.