Lehesten
{{about|the town in the district of Saalfeld-Rudolstadt|the town in the district of Saale-Holzland|Lehesten, Saale-Holzland}}
{{Infobox German location
|type = Stadt
|image_photo =
|image_coa = Wappen Lehesten.png
|coordinates = {{coord|50|28|32|N|11|26|53|E|format=dms|display=inline,title}}
|image_plan = Lehesten in SLF.png
|state = Thüringen
|district = Saalfeld-Rudolstadt
|Verwaltungsgemeinschaft = Schiefergebirge
|elevation = 640
|area = 35.96
|postal_code = 07349
|area_code = 036653
|licence = SLF
|Gemeindeschlüssel = 16 0 73 046
|divisions = 3
|website = [http://www.lehesten.de/ www.lehesten.de]
|mayor = Nicole Vockeroth[https://wahlen.thueringen.de/datenbank/wahl1/wahl.asp?wahlart=BM&wJahr=0000&zeigeErg=LAND&auswertung=2 Gewählte Bürgermeister - aktuelle Landesübersicht], Freistaat Thüringen, accessed 10 November 2022.
|leader_term = 2021–27
|party =
}}
Lehesten is a town in the Thuringian Forest, 20 km southeast of Saalfeld.
World War II V-2 facility
After an August 1944 explosion at the Redl-Zipf V-2 liquid oxygen plant at Schlier stopped production, the third V-2 liquid oxygen plant (5000 tons/month) was built at a slate quarry at Lehesten at the Thuringia-Bavarian border{{cite book |last=Neufeld|first=Michael J|title=The Rocket and the Reich: Peenemünde and the Coming of the Ballistic Missile Era|url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780029228951|url-access=registration|year=1995|publisher=The Free Press|location=New York|page=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780029228951/page/207 207]|isbn=978-0-02-922895-1}} near Nordhausen (acceptance testing of combustion chamber was also performed at the Lehesten plant).{{cite book |last=Ordway |first=Frederick I III|author-link=Frederick I. Ordway III |author2=Sharpe, Mitchell R |year=1979 |title=The Rocket Team|series= Apogee Books Space Series 36 |publisher=Thomas Y. Crowell|location=New York|isbn=1-894959-00-0 |page=99}} Dr Martin Schilling (the head of testing at Peenemünde){{cite book |last=McGovern |first=J |year=1964 |title=Crossbow and Overcast |publisher=W. Morrow |location=New York |page=198}} located the Lehesten site, and 400 engineers were moved from Peenemünde to Lehesten, which eventually had 16 liquid oxygen production plants.{{cite web |last1=Hasenauer |first1=Heike |title=Rocket Pioneers |url=https://www.army.mil/article/13102/rocket_pioneers |publisher=U.S. Army |access-date=21 March 2025}}
References
{{Cities and towns in Saalfeld-Rudolstadt (district)}}
{{WWII Operation Crossbow}}
{{Authority control}}
Category:V-2 missile launch sites
{{SaalfeldRudolstadt-geo-stub}}