The village (206 m above sea level, 360 inhabitants), which borders the Rudolstadt district of Cumbach to the east, lies on the right bank of the Saale on a high terrace and was first mentioned in a document in 1074 as Clinowa et aliud Clinowa.

Originally, it consisted of two spatially separate districts, the upper village with its church, restaurant and former school, and the lower village with the buildings of the agricultural cooperative, whose stables are adjacent to the 3-hectare industrial estate. The new residential area "Zwischen dem Dorfe" now connects the two districts.

Catharinau has been a popular excursion destination for the neighboring "townspeople" since time immemorial.