ARNSTADT

arnstadt, a town in the principality of schwarzburg-sondershausen, germany, on the river gera, 11 m. s. of erfurt, with which it is connected by rail. pop. (1900) 14,413. there are five churches, four protestant and one catholic. the evangelical liebfrauenkirche, a romanesque building (mainly 12th-century), has two octagonal towers and a 10th-century porch. the palace contains collections of pictures and porcelain, and attached to it is a magnificent tower, all that remains of the castle built in 1560. the town hall dates from 1561. the industries of arnstadt include iron and other metal founding, the manufacture of leather, cloth, tobacco, weighing-machines, paper, playing-cards, chairs, gloves, shoes, iron safes, and beer, and market-gardening and trade in grain and wood are carried on. there are copper-mines in the neighbourhood, as well as tepid saline springs, the waters of which are used for bathing, and are much frequented in summer. arnstadt dates back to the 8th century. it was bought in 1306 by the counts of schwarzburg, who lived here till 1716.