page_title: Ilmenau
section_title: Transport
hierarchical_section_title: Ilmenau / Transport
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Der Ilmenauer Bahnhof, gleisseitig.
context_page_description: Ilmenau is a town in Thuringia, Germany. It is the largest town within the Ilm district with a population of 36,000, while the district capital is Arnstadt. Ilmenau is located approximately 33 km south of Erfurt and 135 km north of Nuremberg within the Ilm valley at the northern edge of the Thuringian Forest at an elevation of 500 metres.
  The most important institution in Ilmenau is the Technische Universität Ilmenau, Thuringia's second-largest university with about 7,000 students and an emphasis on mathematics, physics, information technology, several engineering disciplines and media studies. Its precursor was founded in 1894 and developed into a university in 1992. Since 1990, many research institutes have been established in the area around the university making Ilmenau an important hub of technological research.
  Ilmenau was historically a small mining town, primarily silver and copper, until the deposits were depleted. After 1800, it was Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's favourite resort because of its beautiful surroundings. In 1838, the establishment of the town as a spa led to the advent of tourism, which is still an important industry.
context_section_description: Ilmenau station is located in the city centre on the Plaue–Themar railway, which opened to Ilmenau in 1879. Ilmenau station and stations in the districts of Pörlitzer Höhe and Roda are connected by an hourly service to Erfurt via Arnstadt. Another line to Großbreitenbach was opened in 1881 and closed in 1998 and a third one to Themar via Schleusingen opened in 1904. Since 1998, there has no longer been a regular service, but there are some historical steam locomotives running at special events on the line, which crosses the Thuringian Forest on one of the steepest lines in Germany (with a gradient of 6%). Freight transport by rail is no longer important, with exception of a train transporting the town's refuse to the incinerator at Leuna.
  Ilmenau is situated close to the Bundesautobahn 71 to Erfurt in the north and Würzburg/Nuremberg (via A 73) to the south. Near the town, the Autobahn crosses the Thuringian Forest with some of Germany's largest tunnels and bridges. Furthermore, there were three Bundesstraßen connecting Ilmenau: the Bundesstraße 4 to Erfurt in the north and Coburg in the south (annulled after the opening of A 71 during the 2000s), the Bundesstraße 87 to Weimar in the north-east (now starting at the Autobahn some kilometres north-east of the town) and the Bundesstraße 88 to Eisenach in the north-west and Rudolstadt in the east, which was relocated around Ilmenau as a bypass (via the A 71 in the north and on a new line in the east).
  The nearest local airport to Ilmenau is the Erfurt–Weimar Airport, approx. 40 km (25 mi) to the north, which serves mostly for holiday flights to the Mediterranean and other turistic regions. The next major airports are Frankfurt Airport, the upcoming Berlin Brandenburg Airport and Munich Airport.
  Biking is becoming ever more popular since the construction of quality cycle paths began in the 1990s. For tourism serve the Ilm track from the Rennsteig within the Thuringian Forest to the Saale valley at the Saxony-Anhalt border via Ilmenau and Weimar. In addition, there are cycle paths which connect to the Gera track (in Elgersburg) to Erfurt nearby and to the Saale valley in the east via Gehren, Königsee and Rudolstadt. Many ways through the forest are used by mountain bikers, as mountain biking is very popular in the region. There are only few cycle lanes for inner city every-day traffic but using side roads and paths is working well. Despite the hilly terrain in some parts, Ilmenau is a cycle-friendly city owing in part to the high percentage of residents being students.
  Public transport includes a bus line network connecting the city centre with the outskirts and neighbouring villages.
caption: The station (prior the reconstruction) in 2006
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