a district in the German Democratic Republic. Area, 3,900 sq km. Population, 553,000 (1971). The city of Suhl is the administrative center.

The Suhl district is located primarily in the Werra River basin, in a belt of moderately high mountains (the Thuringerwald, part of the Rhon Mountains) and hilly plateaus with wide mountain ranges. In the mountains are spruce, mixed spruce and fir, and beech forests. Suhl is an industrial region; more than half of the gainfully employed population is employed in industry and crafts. The main concentration of industrial enterprises (metalworking products, motorcycles, bicycles, adding machines, typewriters, sewing machines, instruments, tools, clocks, hunting and sporting weapons, electrical and other equipment, agricultural machines, and toys) is in the district’s western regions (in the cities of Suhl, Zella-Mehlis, Schmalkalden, Sonneberg, and Meiningen). The district has enterprises dealing with woodworking, glass manufacturing, and ceramic items. Potassium and rock salt are mined, as are iron ore and manganic ore, fluorite, and kaolin. Little of the land is tillable; the main crops are oats, rye, and potatoes. Livestock is also raised. Health resorts in the district include Bad Salzungen and Bad Liebenstein (with mineral springs); tourism is popular in the Thüringerwald.

a city in the German Democratic Republic, on the southern slope of the Thiiringerwald. The administrative center of Suhl district. Population, 31,400 (1970). Suhl is an old center of the metalworking industry (since the ninth century). Hunting weapons, motorcycles, bicycles, pneumatic tools, measuring devices, electrical hoisting and other industrial equipment, small metal items, and toys are manufactured in Suhl. In the region are salt springs that have been used since the 12th century.