Georg II, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen, who became a great patron of the theatrical art, was born in 1826. The first Meiningen Court Theatre opened in 1831. The fairy tale collector and writer Ludwig Bechstein was an archivist in Meiningen. In 1858, the town was connected by the Werra Railway to the German railway network. In September 1874, a major fire destroyed a third of the town. The reconstruction took place in Neoclassical style with the financial help of many German and Austrian cities. In the same year, the Schweinfurt–Meiningen railway opened. A new town hall was built in 1878.