FRANKENHAUSEN, a town of Germany, principality of Schwartzburg-Rudolstadt, is situated on the Little Wipper, 36 miles N.N.E. of Gotha. It consists of an old and a new town, the latter mostly rebuilt since a very destructive fire in 1833, and has an old castle, two churches, a seminary for teachers, a hospital, and a new town-house. Its industries include the manufacture of sugar, cigars, and buttons, and there is a salt mine in the vicinity. At Frankenhausen a battle was fought 15th May 1525, in which the peasants under Thomas Münzer were defeated by the Saxon, Brunswick, and Hessian troops. Population in 1875, 4725.