History of Naulitz

(Author: Mrs. Koch, member of the district council)

Naulitz is located on the B7 in the direction of Ronneburg and is the smallest district of the town of Gera with around 120 inhabitants.

It was first mentioned in a document in 1286 by the knight Henrico de Nuweliz and his wife Hedwig.

The Sorbian roundel - the village complex - was also called Nuwelicz, Nueliz but also Nuelicz, Naulis. The name is generally considered to be Sorbian-Slavic.

In the time before the Reformation, there was a manor here and the knight of Naulitz was mentioned many times. At that time, Naulitz belonged to the Grand Duchy of Saxony-Altenburg. The knightly family of the same name lived here between 1303 and 1354.

To the south-west of the village is the old "Schanze", an area now recognized as a ground monument, which bears witness to an old, then two-part castle. The ramparts and ditches of the old fortifications are still clearly visible. There was still a chapel here in 1529, but it later fell into disrepair. Instead, a bell house was built in the village, the oldest bells of which date back to the 14th century.

A new casting is reported in 1876. The two bells "Zwei Hermannsche Glocken rein und sauber von Guss, schön verziert mit einem vollen runden kräftigen Ton" are cast by the bell founder A. W. Hann in Gera.

On April 16, 1927, two new bells were produced by the Schilling and Lottermann bell foundry in Apolda.

Even today, Naulitz still offers a beautiful sight in its village center.

The "Vetterlein" farmstead, which has an oak beam carved with symbols and the year above its entrance, is particularly striking. The year is given as 1728. The "Gut des Herrn Louis Vetterlein", a half-timbered gateway, also has half-timbering from 1728 in the rear building, with a simply beautifully carved wooden gallery with four round arches.

Until 1952, Naulitz was an independent municipality represented by a mayor and the municipal council. The village was then incorporated into the town of Ronneburg.

At this time, the fire station and mortuary were rebuilt. The special feature was that this building was demolished as part of the NAW in Schmirchau and rebuilt in Naulitz.

At the end of the 1950s, the first farmers founded the LPG "Frieden" Naulitz. The pigsty in Naulitz was built at this time. The LPG joined the LPG "Wilhelm Pieck" in Kauern at the beginning of the 1960s. Subsequently, the remaining farmers formed the LPG "Am Eichwald", which also joined the LPG in Kauern in 1971.

Many Naulitz farmers were employed in this LPG until the early 1990s.

Naulitz was incorporated into the town of Gera on July 1, 1994.

The inhabitants wanted to save themselves long trips to the authorities and hoped for a new connecting road to Thränitz.

In the elections, Harry Schmidt was elected as district mayor and Werner Strauß, Jörg Kutschbach, Norbert Götze and Brigitte Koch were elected as district council members.

The people of Naulitz want to maintain their volunteer fire department and their community solidarity group.

Men from almost every house are represented in the village's volunteer fire department. They meet regularly for training and exercises.

The local Volkssolidarität group regularly organizes meetings for senior citizens. It organizes Christmas parties, senior carnivals, funfair celebrations, etc.

A SAM/ABM maintenance team has been used to maintain and beautify the village since 1994.

As part of an ABM measure, the village pond was renovated at a cost of DM 22,000. The bank was renewed and trees and shrubs were planted.

On September 13, 1998, Naulitz and its area monument "Naulitzer Schanzen" was an attraction at the Open Monument Day. On this day, visitors were also able to view farmsteads nos. 1, 9, 12 and 15.

The district council and the residents of Naulitz maintain their wish for the dilapidated local road to Thränitz to be renewed as soon as possible. It is explained to the town that a lot of money could be saved on school transport by renewing the approximately one kilometer long local road from Naulitz to Thränitz. Pupils would be spared the daily detour via the Bundesstraße 7.

In November 2000, the road construction between Naulitz and Thränitz and the construction of the new bus loop began. In May 2001, the village is connected to the local public transport network. The municipality receives a new bus shelter on the site of the former pigsty, which was demolished by the Kauern agricultural cooperative in 2001. The first bus runs on May 5, 2001.

The village's 700th anniversary celebrations in 2001 remain an unforgettable event for all residents and guests. The inhabitants presented the image of a united community firmly rooted in their homeland.

To mark the occasion, the war memorial at the village pond, which had been standing since the early 1920s, was renewed. The plaque now not only lists the four fallen in the First World War, but also the seven Naulitz soldiers who died or went missing in the Second World War. All households donated to the new name plaque.

It is thanks to all the Naulitz families that an exhibition on the history of the village could also be shown for this anniversary. Family albums contained photos documenting how the people of Naulitz lived, worked, celebrated festivals and how the farms changed. Village life was vividly depicted with old household items, clothing and agricultural equipment.

On August 21, 2001, 23 people from Naulitz came together and founded the "Naulitzer Schanzen e.V.". The association promotes village traditions. It is committed to the preservation of the ground monument and the war memorial. The association now has 35 members. The association organizes the annual carnival festival, the maypole planting, the children's festival, the harvest festival, the pumpkin festival, the Christmas tree planting and the Silverster celebration. It works closely with the volunteer fire department and the Volkssolidarität group.

In 2003, a new fire station was built for the Naulitz volunteer fire department in the former backdrop barn of the theater. This became necessary because the old fire station, which was located in the cemetery building, was being renovated as part of the village renewal and a new funeral hall was to be built. The result was a rebuilt and renovated cemetery building with new entrance gates to provide access to the cemetery.

The old water house was demolished and the area around the village pond is to be redesigned.

Since January 1, 2006, the "Schanzenverein Naulitz e.V." has taken over the former barn on a leasehold basis and is developing it into the cultural center of Naulitz.