"Heitungsburg" is the original name of a prehistoric fortification below which a settlement on the Ilm took place. Its name points to a founding by members of the Thuringian-Franconian Duke Heden II, who ruled at the beginning of the 8th century, which secured the transition between the old Thuringian settlement area and the state development area between Ilm and Saale.[2] All that remained of the castle was a chapel, probably built by the already Christian dukes and dedicated to St. Martin. The archaeologists Paul Grimm and Wolfgang Timpel investigated the castle wall, which is now known as "Martinskirche".[3] It is mentioned in a deed of donation from Count Wichmann in May 1119[4] and initially belonged to the County of Berka. The noble family of Heidingsburg can be documented from 1252 to 1486. In the Thirty Years' War the town was almost completely destroyed. The church was rebuilt in the Baroque style between 1700 and 1730. The church books do not begin until 1702, the final name "Hetschburg" appears for the first time in 1775. From the beginning of the 19th century, the town was part of the Grand Duchy of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach and after 1945 became part of the Soviet occupation zone and the GDR together with the state of Thuringia. Since 1990, the town has belonged to the newly founded federal state of Thuringia.