Erfurt

Erfurt is the capital and largest city of the state of Thuringia in Germany. About 216,000 people live there. It sits in the valley of the River Gera, north of the Thuringian Forest. Erfurt lies between important cities like Leipzig, Frankfurt, Berlin, and Munich.

The old town of Erfurt is one of the best-preserved medieval city centers in Germany. It has special historic buildings such as the Merchants' Bridge, which has houses built right on it. There is also Erfurt Cathedral Hill with Erfurt Cathedral and St Severus' Church. The city has the oldest synagogue in Europe and a well-preserved citadel called Petersberg Citadel. These historic sites are part of a UNESCO World Heritage area.

Erfurt has a long history. It was first mentioned in 742 when Saint Boniface founded a diocese there. The city became an important economic center and later joined the Hanseatic League. Erfurt has been part of different regions over time, including the Electorate of Mainz, the Kingdom of Prussia, and East Germany from 1949 to 1990. Today, Erfurt is known for its university, founded in 1379, which was the first university in modern Germany. Famous people from Erfurt include Martin Luther, who studied there, and others like Meister Eckhart, Johann Pachelbel, and Max Weber.

History

See also: Timeline of Erfurt

Prehistory and antiquity

West of Erfurt in Frienstedt, a large village from the AD era was found while building a highway. They discovered the oldest Germanic word in Central Germany written in runic script on a comb from a sacrificial shaft: "kaba". From Roman times, they found 200 coins from the third century, plus 150 Roman ceramic pieces and over 200 fibulae. There were also 11 graves from the Haßleben-Leuna group, an archaeological culture.

The Melchendorf dig in the southern part of the city showed a settlement from the Neolithic period. The Thuringi people lived in the Erfurt area around 480 and gave their name to Thuringia around 500.

Middle Ages

The town is first mentioned in 742 as "Erphesfurt". In that year, Saint Boniface wrote to Pope Zachary to tell him he had established three dioceses in central Germany, one of them in a place called Erphesfurt. All three dioceses were confirmed the next year, though in 755 Erfurt became part of the diocese of Mainz. Archeological evidence shows the place was already crowded, with 23 graves and six horse burials from the sixth and seventh centuries.

Throughout the Middle Ages, Erfurt was an important trading town because of its location near a ford across the Gera river. Together with the other five Thuringian woad towns of Gotha, Tennstedt, Arnstadt and Langensalza it was the centre of the German woad trade, which made those cities very wealthy. Erfurt was where important trade routes met: the Via Regia was one of the most used east–west roads between France and Russia (via Frankfurt, Erfurt, Leipzig and Wrocław) and another route went north–south between the Baltic Sea ports (like Lübeck) and the powerful upper Italian city-states like Venice and Milan.

During the tenth and eleventh centuries both the Emperor and the Electorate of Mainz held some privileges in Erfurt. The German kings had an important monastery on Petersberg hill and the Archbishops of Mainz collected taxes from the people. Around 1100, some people became free citizens by paying the annual "Freizins" (liberation tax), which was a first step in becoming an independent city. During the 12th century, as a sign of growing independence, the citizens built a city wall around Erfurt (in the area of today’s Juri-Gagarin-Ring). After 1200, independence was complete and a city council was founded in 1217; the town hall was built in 1275. In the following decades, the council bought a city-owned area around Erfurt which at its height included nearly 100 villages and castles and even another small town (Sömmerda). Erfurt became an important regional power between the Landgraviate of Thuringia, the Electorate of Mainz to the west and the Electorate of Saxony to the east. Between 1306 and 1481, Erfurt worked with the two other major Thuringian cities (Mühlhausen and Nordhausen) in the Thuringian City Alliance and the three cities joined the Hanseatic League together in 1430. The city reached a peak in economic growth in the 15th century, when it had a population of 20,000, making it one of the largest in Germany. Between 1432 and 1446, a second and higher city wall was built. In 1483, a first city fortress was built on Cyriaksburg hill in the southwestern part of the town.

In 1184, Erfurt was the location of an accident called the Erfurter Latrinensturz (‘Erfurt latrine fall’). King Henry VI held a meeting in a building of the Erfurt Cathedral to make peace between two of his vassals, Archbishop Konrad I of Mainz and Landgrave Ludwig III of Thuringia. The weight of all the people gathered proved too much for the floor, which collapsed. Many people fell to their death into the latrine pit below. Ludwig III, Konrad I and Henry VI survived the accident.

The Jewish community of Erfurt began in the 11th century. Together with the Jewish communities in Mainz, Worms and Speyer, it became one of the most influential in Germany. The Old Synagogue still exists today and is a museum, as is the mikveh at Gera river near Krämerbrücke. In 1349, during the Black Death, the Jews of Erfurt were rounded up, with more than 100 killed and the rest driven from the city. Before this, a wealthy Jewish merchant buried his property in the basement of his house. In 1998, this treasure was found during construction works. The Erfurt Treasure, with various gold and silver objects, is shown in an exhibition in the synagogue today. Only a few years after 1349, the Jews returned to Erfurt and founded a second community, which was disbanded by the city council in 1454. Because of their important history, the Jewish sites in Erfurt were added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2023.

In 1379, the University of Erfurt was founded. Together with the University of Cologne it was one of the first city-owned universities in Germany, while they were usually owned by the Landesherren. Some buildings of this old university still exist or have been restored in the "Latin Quarter" in the northern city centre (like Collegium Maius, student dorms "Georgenburse" and others, the hospital and the church of the university). The university quickly became a centre of German cultural life in Renaissance humanism with scholars like Ulrich von Hutten, Helius Eobanus Hessus and Justus Jonas.

Early modern period

In 1501 Martin Luther moved to Erfurt and began his studies at the university. After 1505, he lived at St. Augustine's Monastery as a friar. In 1507 he was ordained as a priest in Erfurt Cathedral. He moved permanently to Wittenberg in 1511. Erfurt was one of the first cities in Europe to adopt the Protestant Reformation, in 1521.

In 1530, the city became one of the first in Europe to have two official religions with the Hammelburg Treaty. It kept that status through all the following centuries. The later 16th and the 17th century brought a slow economic decline of Erfurt. Trade shrank, the population fell and the university lost its influence. The city's independence was threatened. In 1664, the city and surrounding area were brought under the control of the Electorate of Mainz and the city lost its independence. The Electorate built a large fortress on Petersberg hill between 1665 and 1726 to control the city and put a governor there to rule Erfurt.

In 1682 and 1683 Erfurt faced the worst plague years in its history. In 1683 more than half of the population died because of the disease.

In Erfurt, trials for witchcraft are known to have taken place from 1526 to 1700. There are 18 records of such trials in this period.

During the late 18th century, Erfurt saw another cultural high point. Governor Karl Theodor Anton Maria von Dalberg had close ties with Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Friedrich Schiller, Johann Gottfried Herder, Christoph Martin Wieland and Wilhelm von Humboldt, who often visited him at his court in Erfurt.

Erfurt during the Napoleonic Wars

Main article: Principality of Erfurt

Erfurt became part of the Kingdom of Prussia in 1802, to make up for lands Prussia lost to France on the Left Bank of the Rhine. In the Capitulation of Erfurt, the city, its 12,000 Prussian and Saxon defenders under William VI, Prince of Orange-Nassau, 65 artillery pieces, and the Petersberg Citadel and Cyriaksburg Citadel Cyriaksburg, were handed over to the French on 16 October 1806. At the time of the handover, Joachim Murat, Marshal of France, had about 16,000 troops near Erfurt. With the addition of the Saxe-Weimar territory of Blankenhain, the city became part of the First French Empire in 1806 as the Principality of Erfurt, directly under Napoleon as an "imperial state domain" (French: domaine réservé à l'empereur), separate from the Confederation of the Rhine, which the surrounding Thuringian states had joined. Erfurt was managed by a civilian and military Senate (Finanz- und Domänenkammer Erfurt) under a French governor, based in the Kurmainzische Statthalterei, previously the seat of the city's governor under the Electorate. Napoleon first visited the principality on 23 July 1807, checking the citadels and walls. In 1808, the Congress of Erfurt was held with Napoleon and Alexander I of Russia visiting the city.

During their control, the French brought street lighting and a tax on foreign horses to pay for keeping the roads in good condition. The Peterskirche suffered under the French occupation, with its items being sold to other local churches – including the organ, bells and even the tower of the Corpus Christi chapel (Fronleichnamskapelle) – and the former monastery's library being given to the University of Erfurt (and later to the Boineburg Library when the university closed in 1816). Similarly the Cyriaksburg Citadel was damaged by the French, with the city-side walls partly torn down while searching for hidden treasures from the convent, and workers were paid from the sale of the building materials.

In 1811, to mark the birth of the Prince Imperial, a 70-foot (21-metre) ceremonial column (Die Napoleonsäule) of wood and plaster was put up on the common. Similarly, the Napoleonshöhe – a Greek-style temple topped by a winged victory with shield, sword and lance and containing a bust of Napoleon sculpted by Friedrich Döll – was built in the Stiegerwald woods, including a grotto with fountain and flower beds, using a large pond (lavoratorium) from the Peterskirche, and opened with a celebration on 14 August 1811 after big celebrations for Napoleon's birthday, which were repeated in 1812 with a concert in the Predigerkirche led by Louis Spohr.

With the Sixth Coalition forming after France's defeat in Russia, on 24 February 1813 Napoleon ordered the Petersburg Citadel to get ready for a siege, visiting the city on 25 April to check the walls, especially both Citadels. On 10 July 1813, Napoleon put Alexandre d'Alton, baron of the Empire, in charge of Erfurt's defences. However, when the French decided that 1000 men would be taken into the Grande Armée, the new soldiers joined other citizens in protests on 19 July that led to 20 arrests, of whom 2 were sentenced to death by a French court-martial; as a result, the French ordered all inns and alehouses to close.

Within a week of the Sixth Coalition's big win at Leipzig (16–19 October 1813), however, Erfurt was surrounded by Prussian, Austrian and Russian troops under the command of Prussian Lt Gen von Kleist. After a first agreement signed by d'Alton on 20 December 1813 the French troops moved back to the two fortresses of Petersberg and Cyriaksburg, allowing the Coalition forces to enter Erfurt on 6 January 1814 to happy greetings; the Napoleonsäule ceremonial column was burned and destroyed as a symbol of the people's hardship under the French; similarly the Napoleonshöhe was burned on 1 November 1813 and completely destroyed by Erfurters and their attackers in 1814. After a call for volunteers 3 days later, 300 Erfurters joined the Coalition armies in France. Finally, in May 1814, the French gave in, with 1,700 French troops leaving the Petersberg and Cyriaksburg fortresses. During the two and a half months of the siege, the death rate rose in the city greatly; 1,564 Erfurt people died in 1813, about a thousand more than the year before.

After the Congress of Vienna, Erfurt was given back to Prussia on 21 June 1815, becoming the capital of one of the three districts (Regierungsbezirke) of the new Province of Saxony, but some southern and eastern lands of Erfurt joined Blankenhain in being passed to the Grand Duchy of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach the next September. Even though surrounded by Thuringian lands to the west, south and east, the city stayed part of the Prussian Province of Saxony until 1944.

Since 1815

After the 1848 Revolution, many Germans wanted to have a united country. An attempt in this direction was the failed Erfurt Union of German states in 1850.

The Industrial Revolution reached Erfurt in the 1840s, when the Thuringian Railway linking Berlin and Frankfurt was built. During the next years, many factories in different areas were opened. One of the biggest was the "Royal Gun Factory of Prussia" in 1862. After the Unification of Germany in 1871, Erfurt moved from the southern edge of Prussia to the centre of Germany, so the city's walls were no longer needed. The tearing down of the city walls in 1873 led to a building boom in Erfurt, because it was now possible to build in the area formerly inside the walls and beyond. Many public and private buildings appeared and the city's services (such as trams, hospitals, and schools) improved quickly. The number of people living there grew from 40,000 around 1870 to 130,000 in 1914, and the city grew in every direction.

The "Erfurt Program" was taken on by the Social Democratic Party of Germany during its meeting at Erfurt in 1891.

Between the wars, the city kept growing. Efforts were made to solve housing shortages with building projects and public services were expanded following the welfare policy of the Weimar Republic. The Great Depression between 1929 and 1932 was a big problem for Erfurt, with nearly one in three people out of work. Tensions rose between far-left and far-right groups and many people supported the new Nazi government and Adolf Hitler. Others, especially some communist workers, resisted the new rule. In 1938, the new synagogue was destroyed during the Kristallnacht.

During World War II, Erfurt was hit by more than 27 British and American air attacks, about 1600 civilians died. Hit as part of the Oil Campaign of World War II, Erfurt suffered only small damage and was taken on 12 April 1945, by the U.S. 80th Infantry Division. On 3 July, U.S. troops left the city, which then became part of the Soviet Zone of Occupation and later of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany). In 1948, Erfurt became the capital of Thuringia, replacing Weimar. In 1952, the Länder in the GDR were ended in favour of central control under the new socialist government. Erfurt then became the capital of a new Bezirk (district). In 1953, the Hochschule of education was opened, followed by the Hochschule of medicine in 1954, the first colleges in Erfurt since the university closed in 1816.

On 19 March 1970, the East and West German leaders Willi Stoph and Willy Brandt met in Erfurt, the first such meeting since Germany was divided. During the 1970s and 1980s, as the economy in GDR got worse, many old buildings in the city centre fell apart, while the government tried to solve the housing problem by building big Plattenbau settlements on the edges of the city. The Peaceful Revolution of 1989/1990 led to German reunification.

With the re-creation of the state of Thuringia in 1990, the city became its capital. After reunification, a deep economic crisis hit Eastern Germany. Many factories closed and many people lost their jobs and moved to former West Germany. At the same time, many buildings were renewed and the city's services improved a lot. In 1994, the new university opened, as did the Fachhochschule in 1991. Between 2005 and 2008, the economy got better as unemployment fell and new businesses grew. Also, the city's population began to rise again.

Geography

Topography

Erfurt is in the south of the Thuringian basin, a fertile area between the Harz mountains 80 km north and the Thuringian Forest 30 km southwest. The northern part of the city is flat, while the southern part has hills up to 430 meters high. The Steigerwald forest has many beeches and oaks. The Gera river valley makes a basin inside the town. To the north are some gravel pits used for fun after being flooded.

Climate

Erfurt has an oceanic climate that is close to a humid continental climate. Summers are warm, with average high temperatures of 23 °C and lows of 12 °C. Winters are cold, with average highs of 2 °C and lows of −3 °C. The city's position in a basin creates a special climate, with very cold nights in winter and less air movement in summer. The city gets about 535 mm of rain each year, with rain spread throughout the year. Light snow falls from December to February but does not stay long.

The Erfurt weather station has recorded some extreme values:

• Its highest temperature was 37.6 °C on 20 July 2022.
• Its lowest temperature was −25.0 °C on 11 January 1982.
• Its most rain in a year was 766.9 mm in 2002.
• Its least rain in a year was 295.6 mm in 1982.
• The most sunshine in a year was 2,039.4 hours in 2022.
• The least sunshine in a year was 1,341 hours in 1977.

Administrative divisions

Erfurt touches several areas around it, including Sömmerda to the north, Weimarer Land to the east, Ilm-Kreis to the south, and Gotha to the west. The city itself has 53 different parts. The center is made up of the old town called Altstadt and several areas built during a time called the Gründerzeit, such as Andreasvorstadt, Johannesvorstadt, and others.

There are also many smaller villages that joined Erfurt during the 1900s, keeping their quiet, countryside feel.

Erfurt-Southeast

Erfurt-Southeast is the name for a group of housing areas built using the same style in the southeast part of Erfurt near the end of a country called East Germany. It is the second largest of these housing areas in the city. The districts of Melchendorf, Herrenberg, and Wiesenhügel are part of Erfurt-Southeast. Around 24,000 people live there today, though it was once meant for almost 40,000.

Population

Around the year 1500, Erfurt had about 18,000 people and was one of the largest cities in the Holy Roman Empire. The number of people stayed about the same until the 1800s. In 1820, Erfurt had 21,000 people, and by 1847, when trains began to arrive, the population grew to 32,000. Over the next decades, the city grew to 130,000 people by the start of World War I and to 190,000 by 1950. The largest population, 220,000, was reached in 1988. After German reunification in 1991, when Erfurt became the capital of Thuringia, the population was about 205,000. Because of tough economic times in eastern Germany, the number of people dropped to 200,000 in 2002 but went up again to 206,000 in 2011.

Today, Erfurt is known for its universities and media companies, making it a popular place to live in parts of East Germany. The city covers a large area of 269.17 km² (103.93 sq mi), making it the 10th-largest city in Germany by size.

Culture, sights and cityscape

Residents notable in cultural history

See also: List of people from Erfurt

The theologian, philosopher and mystic Meister Eckhart entered the Dominican monastery in Erfurt when he was about 18 years old. He was the Dominican prior at Erfurt and Vicar of Thuringia. After time in Paris, he returned to Erfurt and worked as Provincial of Saxony.

Martin Luther studied at the University of Erfurt. He lived at St Augustine's Monastery in Erfurt as a friar.

Johann Pachelbel was organist at the Predigerkirche (Preachers Church) in Erfurt for several years. He composed many pieces for organ during his time there.

The city is where one of Johann Sebastian Bach’s cousins, Johann Bernhard Bach, and his father Johann Ambrosius Bach were born. They were married at the Kaufmannskirche (Merchant's Church).

Max Weber was born in Erfurt. He was a sociologist, philosopher, and political economist.

After 1906 the composer Richard Wetz lived in Erfurt and became important in the city’s musical life. He wrote many works here, including symphonies, a Requiem and a Christmas Oratorio.

The textile designer Margaretha Reichardt was born and died in Erfurt. She studied at the Bauhaus and worked with Marcel Breuer. Her former home and weaving workshop is now a museum.

Famous musicians from Erfurt include Clueso, the Boogie Pimps and Yvonne Catterfeld.

Museums

Erfurt has many museums:

• The Stadtmuseum (municipal museum) shows Erfurt’s history, with a focus on the Middle Ages, early modern history, Martin Luther and the university. Parts of the Stadtmuseum include the Neue Mühle (an old water mill) and the Benaryspeicher (an old storage building).
• The Alte Synagoge (Old Synagogue) is one of the oldest synagogue buildings in Europe. It is now a museum of local Jewish history. It has copies of medieval Hebrew manuscripts and the Erfurt Treasure, a collection of coins and goldwork hidden by Jews in 1349.
• The Erinnerungsort Topf & Söhne memorial is where the company that built crematoria for concentration camps once stood. Its exhibitions explain the company’s work with the Nazi regime.
• The Memorial and Education Centre Andreasstrasse (Stasi Museum) is where the former Erfurt Stasi prison stood. Exhibitions show the history of East Germany and its government.
• The Angermuseum is one of Erfurt’s main art museums, focusing on modern graphic arts, medieval sculpture and early modern crafts.
• The Kunsthalle Erfurt shows contemporary art by local, national and international artists.
• The Margaretha Reichardt Haus is the home and workshop of the textile designer Margaretha Reichardt.
• The Peterskirche (Saint Peter’s church) has an exhibition of concrete art.
• The Deutsches Gartenbaumuseum (German Horticulture Museum) is in the Cyriaksburg Citadel.
• The Naturkundemuseum (Natural History Museum) is in a medieval building and explores Thuringian plants and animals, geology and ecology.
• The Museum für Thüringer Volkskunde looks at everyday life in Thuringia in the past, with exhibits of peasant and craft traditions.
• The Elektromuseum shows the history of electric engines, important to Erfurt’s economy.
• Schloss Molsdorf in Molsdorf district is a Baroque palace with an exhibition about the painter Otto Knöpfer.

Theatre

Since 2003, the modern opera house has been home to Theater Erfurt and its Philharmonic Orchestra. The main stage has 800 seats and the studio stage holds 200 spectators.

Sport

Erfurt has many sports, including athletics, ice skating, cycling, swimming, handball, volleyball, tennis and football. The city’s football club FC Rot-Weiß Erfurt plays in the Regionalliga Nordost and is based at the Steigerwaldstadion. The Gunda-Niemann-Stirnemann Halle was the second indoor speed skating arena in Germany. It hosted the 2002 European Speed Skating Championships.

Cityscape

Erfurt’s cityscape has a medieval centre with narrow, curved streets, surrounded by buildings from the Gründerzeit period (1873–1914). After the city walls were torn down in 1873, new houses were built. In the northern area, tenements for factory workers were built, while the eastern area had apartments for clerks. The southwestern part has villas and mansions of rich factory owners.

During the 1920s, some Bauhaus-style settlements were built. After World War II, large housing estates with high-rise blocks were built on the outskirts. After reunification, old houses in the city centre and Gründerzeit areas were renovated with government support.

Compared to many German cities, little of Erfurt was destroyed in World War II, so the centre has a mix of medieval, Baroque and Neoclassical architecture, as well as buildings from the last 150 years.

Public green spaces are along the Gera river and in parks like Stadtpark, Nordpark and Südpark. The largest green area is the Egapark, a horticultural exhibition park and botanic garden established in 1961.

Sights and architectural heritage

Churches, monasteries and synagogues

The city centre has about 25 churches and monasteries, most in Gothic style, some in Romanesque style or a mix of both, and a few in later styles. The steeples characterise the medieval centre.

Catholic churches and monasteries

• The Allerheiligenkirche (All Saints' Church) is a 14th-century Gothic church with a columbarium.
• The Dom St. Marien (St Mary's Cathedral) is above Domplatz, combining Romanesque and Gothic elements. It has the largest free-swinging medieval bell in the world, named Gloriosa. It includes Lucas Cranach the Elder's 'The Mystic Marriage of St Catherine' painted around 1520.
• The Lorenzkirche (St Lawrence's Church) is a small 14th-century Gothic parish church.
• The Martinikirche (St Martin's Church) was built in the 15th century in Gothic style and later converted to Baroque style. It was a Cistercian nunnery and a parish church.
• The Neuwerkskirche St. Crucis (Holy Cross Church) is a 15th-century Gothic church later converted to Baroque style. It was used by an Augustinian convent.
• The Schottenkirche St. Nikolai und St. Jakobi is an 11th-century Romanesque monastery church with a Baroque façade, later used as a parish church.
• The Severikirche (St Severus' Church) is the second-largest parish church after the cathedral, built around 1300 in Gothic style.
• The Ursulinenkirche, St Ursula's Church, is a Gothic church attached to St Ursula's Nunnery, founded in 1136.
• The Wigbertikirche (St Wigbert's Church) is a 15th-century Gothic church.

Protestant churches and monasteries

• Ägidienkirche (St Giles' Church) is a 14th-century Gothic parish church. The nave is on the first floor, with a passage to the bridge on the ground level. It is now a Methodist parish church.
• Andreaskirche (St. Andrew's Church) is a 14th-century Gothic parish church. The old craftsmen's quarter around it is named Andreasviertel after the church.
• Augustinerkloster (St Augustine's Monastery) dates from 1277. Martin Luther lived there as a monk. It is now a place of worship, a meeting and conference centre, and provides simple guest accommodation.
• The Kaufmannskirche St. Gregor (Merchant's Church of St Gregory) is a 14th-century Gothic parish church. The parents of Johann Sebastian Bach married here in 1668.
• Michaeliskirche (St Michael's Church) is a 13th-century Gothic parish church. It became the university church in 1392. The church tower contains Erfurt's oldest bell "Katharina", from 1380.
• The Predigerkirche (Dominican Church) is a Gothic monastery church. Since the Reformation, it is the main Protestant church of Erfurt. Meister Eckhart entered the Prediger Monastery around 1275. Johann Pachelbel was organist at the church from 1678 to 1690.
• The Reglerkirche St. Augustinus (Regulated St Augustine's Church) is a 12th-century Romanesque-Gothic monastery church. After the Reformation, it became a Protestant parish church.

Former churches

• The Barfüßerkirche is a 14th-century Gothic church. It was severely damaged in World War II, and the nave's ruins are preserved as a war memorial.
• The Bartholomäuskirche was demolished in 1715, and only the steeple remains, now hosting a carillon.
• The Georgskirche was demolished in 1632, and only the tower remains.
• The Hospitalkirche was the church of the former Great City Hospital. It is now used as a depot by the Museum für Thüringer Volkskunde.
• The Johanneskirche was demolished in 1819, but the steeple remained.
• The Kartäuserkirche St. Salvatorberg was closed in 1803 and used for various purposes. It is now part of a housing complex.
• The Nikolaikirche was demolished in 1747, and only the steeple remained.
• The Paulskirche was demolished before 1759. The steeple remains and is used as the belfry of the Prediger Church.
• The Peterskirche was built in the 12th century and secularised in 1803. It now houses an art gallery.

Synagogues

The oldest parts of Erfurt's Alte Synagoge date to the 11th century. It was used until 1349, when the Jewish community was destroyed. The building had many uses since then. It was conserved in the 1990s and became a museum of Jewish history in 2009. A ritual bath from around 1250 was discovered in 2007 and can be visited on guided tours. The Jewish heritage of Erfurt, including the Old Synagogue and ritual bath, became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2023.

In the 19th century, Jews returned to Erfurt and built a synagogue on the banks of the Gera river, used from 1840 to 1884. The neoclassical building is now an events centre.

A larger synagogue, the Große Synagoge, was opened in 1884 but destroyed during Nazi riots in 1938.

In 1947 the land was returned to the Jewish community, and they built the Neue Synagoge (New Synagogue), which opened in 1952. It was the only synagogue built under communist rule in East Germany.

Secular architecture

Besides religious buildings, Erfurt has much historic secular architecture, mostly in the city centre, with some 19th- and 20th-century buildings on the outskirts.

Street and square ensembles

• The Krämerbrücke (Merchants' bridge) is a 15th-century bridge covered with dwellings, unique in Europe north of the Alps. It now has art shops and souvenir shops.
• The Domplatz (Cathedral Square) is Erfurt's largest square and one of the largest historical market squares in Germany. The cathedral and St Severus' Church are on the western side, reached by Domstufen stairs. The north side has a historic courthouse from 1880. The eastern and southern sides have early-modern patrician houses. The square has the Minerva Fountain from 1784 and the Erthal Obelisk from 1777. It is the main setting of the Erfurt Christmas Market and the DomStufen-Festival, an open-air theatre festival.
• The Fischmarkt (Fish Market) is the central square, surrounded by renaissance-style patrician houses and the town hall, a neo-gothic building from 1882. In the middle is a statue called Römer (Roman), a symbol of the city's independence, erected in 1591.
• The Wenigemarkt (Minor Market) is a small square on the east side of the Gera river, surrounded by early-modern patrician and merchants' houses. The fountain has a sculpture called "Scuffling Boys" from 1975. Today, Wenigemarkt has cafés and bars. Next to it in Futterstraße is the Kaisersaal building, a neoclassicistic event hall from 1831, where the Congress of Erfurt took place in 1808.
• The Anger is a long square in the eastern city centre. All tram lines meet here, making it the new city centre in the 20th century. On the northern side is the main post office from 1886. In the north-east is the Martin Luther monument from 1889 in front of the Merchants' Church. Between the church and the Ursuline monastery is the "Anger 1" department store from 1908. On the south side is the Angermuseum, inside a Baroque palace from 1711. The western part has historicist business houses from the late 19th century. The west end is marked by the Angerbrunnen fountain from 1890. The Jesuit College near Schlösserstraße was built in 1737.
• The Willy Brandt Square is the southern gate to the city centre in front of the main station. Opposite the station is the former hotel Erfurter Hof, where the first meeting of East- and West-German heads of government took place in 1970. On the western side is the old Erfurt station building from 1847–95 with a clock tower.
• The Hirschgarten (Deer Garden) is a small park in front of the Thuringian government seat. The minister-president's seat is the Kurmainzische Statthalterei, a Renaissance-Baroque palace from the 17th century.
• The Michaelisstraße (Michael's Street) is known as "the lithic chronicle of Erfurt" because of its mostly medieval buildings. It is the main street of the Latin quarter around the old university and a popular nightlife district with bars, restaurants and cafés. The central building of the old university, Collegium Maius, was built in 1515, destroyed in 1945 and rebuilt in 1999.
• The Juri-Gagarin-Ring is an inner-city circular road following the former city wall. The buildings along the street are from all periods of the 20th century, including some GDR-era highrise residences. An old building complex here is the former Great Hospital, established in the 14th century, now housing the museum of popular art and cultural anthropology.
• The Andreasviertel (St Andrew's Quarter) is a small quarter in the northern part of the city centre. It was the former craftsmen quarter with narrow alleys and old houses. After 1990, the houses were redeveloped and it is now a popular neighbourhood. The largest building is the former Municipal Corn Storage in Gothic style from 1466.

Fortifications

From 1066 to 1873 the old town of Erfurt was encircled by a fortified wall. It was extended in 1168 to include Petersberg hill. After German Unification in 1871, the city walls were dismantled. Only a few remnants remain, such as pieces at Juri-Gagarin-Ring and Johannesstraße, and a small restored part in the Brühler Garten. Only one fortified tower was left standing on Boyneburgufer, but it was destroyed in an air raid in 1944.

The Petersberg Citadel is one of the largest and best-preserved city fortresses in Europe, built from 1665 on Petersberg hill. It was in military use until 1963 and has been restored and is open to the public as a historic site.

The Cyriaksburg Citadel is a smaller citadel southwest of the city centre, dating from 1480. It now houses the German horticulture museum.

19th- and 20th-century architecture in the outskirts

Between 1873 and 1914, a belt of Gründerzeit architecture emerged around the city centre. The mansion district in the southwest around Cyriakstraße, Richard-Breslau-Straße and Hochheimer Straße has Gründerzeit and Art Nouveau buildings.

The Mühlenviertel ("mill quarter") north of the old city has Art Nouveau apartment buildings, cobblestone streets and street trees. The Schmale Gera stream runs through the area.

Bauhaus-style housing cooperative projects are in the east around Flensburger Straße and Dortmunder Straße and in the north around Neuendorfstraße. Lutherkirke Church in Magdeburger Allee (1927) is an Art Deco building.

The former malt factory "Wolff" at Theo-Neubauer-Straße in the east of Erfurt is a large industrial complex built between 1880 and 1939. It is sometimes used as a location in movie productions.

Examples of Nazi architecture include the Thuringian parliament building and Thüringenhalle event hall. The parliament building represents neo-Roman/fascist style, while Thüringenhalle has neo-Germanic elements.

Stalinist early-GDR style is seen in the university main building at Nordhäuser Straße (1953). Later international modern GDR style is in the Egapark horticultural exhibition centre, Plattenbau housing complexes, and the redevelopment of Löbertor and Krämpfertor areas.

Current international glass and steel architecture is dominant in new buildings like the Federal Labour Court of Germany, the new opera house, the new main station, the university library, the Erfurt Messe convention centre and the Gunda Niemann-Stirnemann ice rink.

Economy and infrastructure

Erfurt has improved its economy in recent years. Fewer people are without jobs now. Still, some people need help from the government.

Erfurt has a long history of farming. Today, people grow flowers, fruits, vegetables, and grains there. Industry began around 1850 with factories. After World War II, many factories closed. New businesses started in the 1990s. Now, Erfurt has smaller companies focusing on technology, as well as breweries and food producers.

Erfurt is an important city for services. It has hospitals, universities, and government offices. The city is a center for travel, with many tourists visiting its old buildings and markets, especially the big Christmas Market.

Erfurt is easy to reach by train, with fast trains connecting it to cities like Berlin, Dresden, and Munich. There are also local trains to nearby towns. The city has roads and highways for car travel. Public buses and trams help people move around, and there is an airport with flights to holiday spots and connections to bigger airports like Frankfurt.

Biking is popular in Erfurt, with many good paths for riders.

After Germany reunited, the schools in Erfurt changed. The University of Erfurt, which opened in 1379, reopened in 1994 and now has many students. There are also other schools and high schools in Erfurt, including special schools for athletes and students who love math and science.

The children’s television channel KiKa and a big radio and TV company called MDR have offices in Erfurt. The city also has its own newspaper.

Politics

Mayor and city council

After Germany reunited, the first mayor chosen by free voting was Manfred Ruge from the Christian Democratic Union. He served from 1990 until 2006. Then, Andreas Bausewein from the Social Democratic Party became mayor and served until 2024. In 2024, Andreas Horn from the Christian Democratic Union was elected as mayor. The latest mayoral election happened on 26 May 2024, with a second round of voting on 9 June.

The most recent city council election also took place on 9 June 2024.

Twin towns – sister cities

See also: List of twin towns and sister cities in Germany

Erfurt has friends in many countries. It is twinned with:

• Győr in Hungary since 1971
• Vilnius in Lithuania since 1972
• Kalisz in Poland since 1982
• Mainz in Germany since 1988
• Lille in France since 1991
• Shawnee in the United States since 1993
• San Miguel de Tucumán in Argentina since 1993
• Lovech in Bulgaria since 1996
• Haifa in Israel since 2000
• Xuzhou in China since 2005
• Kati in Mali since 2011

Notable people

Main article: List of people from Erfurt

This section lists famous people who were born in or lived in Erfurt. You can find more details in a separate list.