The district was set up in 1994 by joining the old districts of Eisenach and Bad Salzungen, and a few municipalities from the district Bad Langensalza. The city of Eisenach left the district in 1998 and became a district-free city.
The coat of arms combines the symbols of the historic states which existed on the territory. In the topleft and the bottomright is the lion of the dukes of Thuringia, the chicken in the topright refers to the county of Henneberg, and the black cross in the bottom left is the symbol of the imperial abbey and state of Fulda.
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