The Finne fault zone, located in central Germany to the southwest of the Harz mountains, was studied by means of detailed map analysis, investigations of fault displacement and balanced cross-sections for the most strongly deformed area in the center of the fault zone (ca. 50 % of total fault zone length). The system of the Finne fault zone shows a nearly 100-km-long straight flexure that symbolizes the morphological and geological northeastern border of the Thuringian basin. In the central part, which should be surveyed here, the fault zone corresponds to a distinctive narrow band of highly deformed Triassic sedimentary rocks. The northwestern and especially the southeastern parts of the research area are developed as several parallel branch faults. In the southeastern elongation of the fault zone, which is not part of our survey, the sedimentary cover is missing. Here, it is possible to gain insight to the fact that the basement is also involved to the kinematics of the fault zone. Based on our results, we propose a subdivision of the fault zone into four sectors. From the northwest to the southeast, we interpret the structure of these sectors to reflect (1) a compressional flexure, (2) an overthrust graben, and (3) a partially inverted and folded half graben. In the extreme southeast (4), the fault zone is characterized by an anticline with some strike-slip movement parallel to the fold axis. This segmentation is caused by a thrust fault system whose strike direction deviates slightly from that of the earlier formed graben system. The structural configuration can be explained by a two-phase deformation, in which the contractional strain exceeded the preceding extensional deformation. In the investigated area, the horizontal shortening attains a maximum of ca. 1 km. The present study confirms many earlier hypotheses, presents new results on the deformation history of the fault zone, and attempts to evaluate the deformation in a regional geological context. The results of earlier studies were refined and revised using modern methods, and a unified structural and kinematic model of the Finne fault zone was created.