Thuringia Thuringia (; german: Thüringen ), officially the Free State of Thuringia ( ), is a state of central Germany, covering , the sixth smallest of the sixteen German states. It has a population of about 2.1 million. Erfurt is the capital and lar ...

Thuringian Basin The Thuringian Basin (german: Thüringer Becken) is a depression in the central and northwest part of Thuringia in Germany which is crossed by several rivers, the longest of which is the Unstrut. It stretches about from north to south and around ...

Thuringian Forest The Thuringian Forest (''Thüringer Wald'' in German), is a mountain range in the southern parts of the German state of Thuringia, running northwest to southeast. Skirting from its southerly source in foothills to a gorge on its north-west side i ...

Eisenach Eisenach () is a town in Thuringia, Germany with 42,000 inhabitants, located west of Erfurt, southeast of Kassel and northeast of Frankfurt. It is the main urban centre of western Thuringia and bordering northeastern Hessian regions, situat ...

Gotha Gotha () is the fifth-largest city in Thuringia, Germany, west of Erfurt and east of Eisenach with a population of 44,000. The city is the capital of the Gotha (district), district of Gotha and was also a residence of the Ernestine House of Wet ...

Weimar Weimar is a city in the state of Thuringia, Germany. It is located in Central Germany between Erfurt in the west and Jena in the east, approximately southwest of Leipzig, north of Nuremberg and west of Dresden. Together with the neighbouri ...

Jena Jena () is a German city and the second largest city in Thuringia. Together with the nearby cities of Erfurt and Weimar, it forms the central metropolitan area of Thuringia with approximately 500,000 inhabitants, while the city itself has a po ...

Gera Gera is a city in the German state of Thuringia. With around 93,000 inhabitants, it is the third-largest city in Thuringia after Erfurt and Jena as well as the easternmost city of the ''Thüringer Städtekette'', an almost straight string of cit ...

Göttingen Göttingen (, , ; nds, Chöttingen) is a university city in Lower Saxony, central Germany, the capital of the eponymous district. The River Leine runs through it. At the end of 2019, the population was 118,911. General information The ori ...

Lower Saxony Lower Saxony (german: Niedersachsen ; nds, Neddersassen; stq, Läichsaksen) is a German state (') in northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ...

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as ...

Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , " Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on it ...

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...

Erfurt Cathedral Erfurt Cathedral (german: Erfurter Dom, link=no, officially ''Hohe Domkirche St. Marien zu Erfurt'', English: Cathedral Church of St Mary at Erfurt), also known as St Mary's Cathedral, is the largest and oldest church building in ...

logistics Logistics is generally the detailed organization and implementation of a complex operation. In a general business sense, logistics manages the flow of goods between the point of origin and the point of consumption to meet the requirements of ...

KiKa KiKA (contraction of ''Der KinderKAnal von ARD und ZDF'' ARD and ZDF">ARD_(broadcaster).html" ;"title="he Children's Channel of ARD (broadcaster)">ARD and ZDF]) is a German free-to-air television channel based in Erfurt, Germany. It is man ...

Via Regia The Via Regia (Royal Highway) is a European Cultural Route following the route of the historic road of the Middle Ages. There were many such ''viae regiae'' associated with the king in the medieval Holy Roman Empire. History Origins The V ...

ICE Ice is water frozen into a solid state, typically forming at or below temperatures of 0 degrees Celsius or Depending on the presence of impurities such as particles of soil or bubbles of air, it can appear transparent or a more or less opaqu ...

Electorate of Mainz The Electorate of Mainz (german: Kurfürstentum Mainz or ', la, Electoratus Moguntinus), previously known in English as Mentz and by its French name Mayence, was one of the most prestigious and influential states of the Holy Roman Empire. In the ...

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire was a political entity in Western, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars. From the accession of Otto I in 962 ...

Kingdom of Prussia The Kingdom of Prussia (german: Königreich Preußen, ) was a German kingdom that constituted the state of Prussia between 1701 and 1918. Marriott, J. A. R., and Charles Grant Robertson. ''The Evolution of Prussia, the Making of an Empire''. ...

German Democratic Republic German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **G ...

University of Erfurt The University of Erfurt (german: Universität Erfurt) is a public university located in Erfurt, the capital city of the German state of Thuringia. It was founded in 1379, and closed in 1816. It was re-established in 1994, three years after Germ ...

Martin Luther Martin Luther (; ; 10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546) was a German priest, theologian, author, hymnwriter, and professor, and Augustinian friar. He is the seminal figure of the Protestant Reformation and the namesake of Lutherani ...

Meister Eckhart Eckhart von Hochheim ( – ), commonly known as Meister Eckhart, Master Eckhart

Middle Ages

The town is first mentioned in 742 under the name of "Erphesfurt": in that year, Saint Boniface wrote to Pope Zachary to inform him that he had established three

diocese In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associa ...

s in central Germany, one of them "in a place called Erphesfurt, which for a long time has been inhabited by pagan natives." All three dioceses (the other two were

Würzburg Würzburg (; Main-Franconian: ) is a city in the region of Franconia in the north of the German state of Bavaria. Würzburg is the administrative seat of the ''Regierungsbezirk'' Lower Franconia. It spans the banks of the Main River. Würzburg ...

and

Büraburg The Büraburg was a prominent hill castle with historic significance, on the Büraberg hill overlooking the Eder river near the town of Fritzlar in northern Hesse (Germany). Only foundation walls remain, and a church dedicated to St. Brigida. ...

) were confirmed by Zachary the next year, though in 755 Erfurt was brought into the

diocese of Mainz The Diocese of Mainz, historically known in English as ''Mentz'' as well as by its French name ''Mayence'', is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in Germany. It was founded in 304, promoted in 780 to Metrop ...

. That the place was populous already is borne out by archeological evidence, which includes 23 graves and six horse burials from the sixth and seventh centuries. Throughout the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

, Erfurt was an important trading town because of its location, near a

ford Ford commonly refers to: * Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford * Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river Ford may also refer to: Ford Motor Company * Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company * Ford F ...

across the Gera river. Together with the other five Thuringian

woad ''Isatis tinctoria'', also called woad (), dyer's woad, or glastum, is a flowering plant in the family Brassicaceae (the mustard family) with a documented history of use as a blue dye and medicinal plant. Its genus name, Isatis, derives from ...

towns of

Gotha Gotha () is the fifth-largest city in Thuringia, Germany, west of Erfurt and east of Eisenach with a population of 44,000. The city is the capital of the Gotha (district), district of Gotha and was also a residence of the Ernestine House of Wet ...

, Tennstedt, Arnstadt and

Langensalza Bad Langensalza (; until 1956: Langensalza) is a spa town of 17,500 inhabitants in the Unstrut-Hainich district, Thuringia, central Germany. Geography Location Bad Langensalza is located in the Thuringian Basin, the fertile lowlands along t ...

it was the centre of the German woad trade, which made those cities very wealthy. Erfurt was the junction of important trade routes: the

Via Regia The Via Regia (Royal Highway) is a European Cultural Route following the route of the historic road of the Middle Ages. There were many such ''viae regiae'' associated with the king in the medieval Holy Roman Empire. History Origins The V ...

was one of the most used east–west roads between France and Russia (via

Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , " Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on it ...

, Erfurt,

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as ...

and

Wrocław Wrocław (; german: Breslau, or . ; Silesian German: ''Brassel'') is a city in southwestern Poland and the largest city in the historical region of Silesia. It lies on the banks of the River Oder in the Silesian Lowlands of Central Europe, rou ...

) and another route in the north–south direction was the connection between the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain. The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and ...

ports (e. g.

Lübeck Lübeck (; Low German also ), officially the Hanseatic City of Lübeck (german: Hansestadt Lübeck), is a city in Northern Germany. With around 217,000 inhabitants, Lübeck is the second-largest city on the German Baltic coast and in the state ...

) and the potent upper Italian city-states like

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges. The isla ...

and

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

. During the tenth and eleventh centuries both the

Emperor An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereignty, sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), ...

and the

Electorate of Mainz The Electorate of Mainz (german: Kurfürstentum Mainz or ', la, Electoratus Moguntinus), previously known in English as Mentz and by its French name Mayence, was one of the most prestigious and influential states of the Holy Roman Empire. In the ...

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 "" (liberation tax), which marks a first step in becoming an independent city. During the 12th century, as a sign of more and more independence, the citizens built a city wall around Erfurt (in the area of today's ). After 1200, independence was fulfilled 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 territory around Erfurt which consisted at its height of nearly 100 villages and castles and even another small town ( Sömmerda). Erfurt became an important regional power between the

Landgraviate of Thuringia The Duchy of Thuringia was an eastern frontier march of the Merovingian kingdom of Austrasia, established about 631 by King Dagobert I after his troops had been defeated by the forces of the Slavic confederation of Samo at the Battle of Wogastis ...

around, the Electorate of Mainz to the west and the Electorate of Saxony to the east. Between 1306 and 1481, Erfurt was allied 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. A peak in economic development was reached in the 15th century, when the city 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 established. In 1483, a first city fortress was built on Cyriaksburg hill in the southwestern part of the town. In the year 1184, Erfurt was the location of a notable accident called the '' Erfurter Latrinensturz'' ('Erfurt latrine fall'). King Henry VI held council in a building of the

Erfurt Cathedral Erfurt Cathedral (german: Erfurter Dom, link=no, officially ''Hohe Domkirche St. Marien zu Erfurt'', English: Cathedral Church of St Mary at Erfurt), also known as St Mary's Cathedral, is the largest and oldest church building in ...

to negotiate peace between two of his vassals, Archbishop Konrad I of Mainz and Landgrave Ludwig III of Thuringia. The amassed weight of all the gathered men proved too heavy for the floor to bear, which collapsed. According to contemporary accounts, dozens of people fell to their death into the

latrine A latrine is a toilet or an even simpler facility that is used as a toilet within a sanitation system. For example, it can be a communal trench in the earth in a camp to be used as emergency sanitation, a hole in the ground ( pit latrine), or ...

pit below. Ludwig III, Konrad I and Henry VI survived the affair. The Jewish community of Erfurt was founded in the 11th century and became, together with

Mainz Mainz () is the capital and largest city of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Mainz is on the left bank of the Rhine, opposite to the place that the Main joins the Rhine. Downstream of the confluence, the Rhine flows to the north-west, with Ma ...

,

Worms Worms may refer to: *Worm, an invertebrate animal with a tube-like body and no limbs Places *Worms, Germany Worms () is a city in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, situated on the Upper Rhine about south-southwest of Frankfurt am Main. It had ...

and

Speyer Speyer (, older spelling ''Speier'', French: ''Spire,'' historical English: ''Spires''; pfl, Schbaija) is a city in Rhineland-Palatinate in Germany with approximately 50,000 inhabitants. Located on the left bank of the river Rhine, Speyer li ...

, one of the most influential in Germany. Their Old Synagogue is still extant and a museum today, as is the mikveh at Gera river near .Archeologists Discover Medieval Jewish Bath in Erfurt, 12.04.2007, Deutsche Welle

/ref> In 1349, during the wave of

Black Death Jewish persecutions There were a series of violent attacks, massacres and mass persecutions of Jews during the Black Death. Jewish communities were falsely blamed for outbreaks of the Black Death in Europe. Violence were committed from 1348 to 1351 in Toulon, Barcelo ...

across Europe, the Jews of Erfurt were rounded up, with more than 100 killed and the rest driven from the city. Before the persecution, 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 The Erfurt Treasure is a hoard of coins, goldsmiths' work and jewellery that is assumed to have belonged to a Jew of Erfurt, Germany who hid them in 1349 before perishing in the Erfurt massacre, one of the persecutions and massacres of Jews dur ...

with various gold and silver objects is shown in the exhibition in the synagogue today. Only a few years after 1349, the Jews moved back to Erfurt and founded a second community, which was disbanded by the city council in 1458. In 1379, the

University of Erfurt The University of Erfurt (german: Universität Erfurt) is a public university located in Erfurt, the capital city of the German state of Thuringia. It was founded in 1379, and closed in 1816. It was re-established in 1994, three years after Germ ...

was founded. Together with the

University of Cologne The University of Cologne (german: Universität zu Köln) is a university in Cologne, Germany. It was established in the year 1388 and is one of the most prestigious and research intensive universities in Germany. It was the sixth university to ...

it was one of the first city-owned universities in Germany, while they were usually owned by the '. Some buildings of this old university are extant or restored in the "Latin Quarter" in the northern city centre (like , student dorms "" and others, the hospital and the church of the university). The university quickly became a hotspot of German cultural life in

Renaissance humanism Renaissance humanism was a revival in the study of classical antiquity, at first in Italy and then spreading across Western Europe in the 14th, 15th, and 16th centuries. During the period, the term ''humanist'' ( it, umanista) referred to teache ...

with scholars like

Ulrich von Hutten Ulrich von Hutten (21 April 1488 – 29 August 1523) was a German knight, scholar, poet and satirist, who later became a follower of Martin Luther and a Protestant reformer. By 1519, he was an outspoken critic of the Roman Catholic Church. Hu ...

, Helius Eobanus Hessus and

Justus Jonas Justus Jonas, the Elder (5 June 1493 – 9 October 1555), or simply Justus Jonas, was a German Lutheran theologian and reformer. He was a Jurist, Professor and Hymn writer. He is best known for his translations of the writings of Martin Luther ...

.

Early modern period

Erfurt (German States) 1645 10 Ducat (Portugaloser)

In 1501

Martin Luther Martin Luther (; ; 10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546) was a German priest, theologian, author, hymnwriter, and professor, and Augustinian friar. He is the seminal figure of the Protestant Reformation and the namesake of Lutherani ...

(1483–1546) 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 Wittenberg ( , ; Low Saxon: ''Wittenbarg''; meaning ''White Mountain''; officially Lutherstadt Wittenberg (''Luther City Wittenberg'')), is the fourth largest town in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Wittenberg is situated on the River Elbe, north o ...

in 1511. Erfurt was an early adopter of the

Protestant Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and ...

, in 1521. In 1530, the city became one of the first in Europe to be officially bi-confessional with the

Hammelburg Hammelburg is a town in Bavaria, Germany. It sits in the district of Bad Kissingen, in Lower Franconia. It lies on the river Franconian Saale, 25 km west of Schweinfurt. Hammelburg is the oldest winegrowing town (''Weinstadt'') in Francon ...

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 was falling and the university lost its influence. The city's independence was endangered. In 1664, the city and surrounding area were brought under the dominion of the

Electorate of Mainz The Electorate of Mainz (german: Kurfürstentum Mainz or ', la, Electoratus Moguntinus), previously known in English as Mentz and by its French name Mayence, was one of the most prestigious and influential states of the Holy Roman Empire. In the ...

and the city lost its independence. The Electorate built a huge fortress on Petersberg hill between 1665 and 1726 to control the city and instituted a governor to rule Erfurt. In 1682 and 1683 Erfurt experienced the worst

plague Plague or The Plague may refer to: Agriculture, fauna, and medicine *Plague (disease), a disease caused by ''Yersinia pestis'' * An epidemic of infectious disease (medical or agricultural) * A pandemic caused by such a disease * A swarm of pe ...

years in its history. In 1683 more than half of the population died because of the deadly disease. In Erfurt

witch-hunt A witch-hunt, or a witch purge, is a search for people who have been labeled witches or a search for evidence of witchcraft. The classical period of witch-hunts in Early Modern Europe and Colonial America took place in the Early Modern per ...

s are known from 1526 to 1705. Trial records are only incomplete. Twenty people were involved in witch trials and at least eight people died. During the late 18th century, Erfurt saw another cultural peak. Governor

Karl Theodor Anton Maria von Dalberg Karl Theodor Anton Maria von Dalberg (8 February 1744 – 10 February 1817) was Prince- Archbishop of Regensburg, Arch-Chancellor of the Holy Roman Empire, Bishop of Constance and Worms, prince-primate of the Confederation of the Rhine and Gr ...

had close relations with

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic. His works include plays, poetry, literature, and aesthetic criticism, as well as t ...

, Friedrich Schiller, Johann Gottfried Herder, Christoph Martin Wieland and

Wilhelm von Humboldt Friedrich Wilhelm Christian Karl Ferdinand von Humboldt (, also , ; ; 22 June 1767 – 8 April 1835) was a Prussian philosopher, linguist, government functionary, diplomat, and founder of the Humboldt University of Berlin, which was named afte ...

, who often visited him at his court in Erfurt.

Erfurt during the Napoleonic Wars

Die Napoleonshöhe im Steiger bei Erfurt von NH Dornheim

Erfurt became part of the

Kingdom of Prussia The Kingdom of Prussia (german: Königreich Preußen, ) was a German kingdom that constituted the state of Prussia between 1701 and 1918. Marriott, J. A. R., and Charles Grant Robertson. ''The Evolution of Prussia, the Making of an Empire''. ...

in 1802, to compensate for territories Prussia lost to France on the Left Bank of the Rhine. In the

Capitulation of Erfurt In the Capitulation of Erfurt on 16 October 1806 a large body of troops from the Kingdom of Prussia under Lieutenant General the Prince of Orange surrendered to Marshal Joachim Murat of France, at the city of Erfurt (now in Germany). The Pruss ...

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 capitulation,

Joachim Murat Joachim Murat ( , also , ; it, Gioacchino Murati; 25 March 1767 – 13 October 1815) was a French military commander and statesman who served during the French Revolutionary Wars and Napoleonic Wars. Under the French Empire he received the ...

,

Marshal of France Marshal of France (french: Maréchal de France, plural ') is a French military distinction, rather than a military rank, that is awarded to generals for exceptional achievements. The title has been awarded since 1185, though briefly abolished ( ...

, had about 16,000 troops near Erfurt. With the attachment of the Saxe-Weimar territory of

Blankenhain Blankenhain is a town in the Weimarer Land district, in Thuringia, Germany. It is south of Weimar. History Until the Napoleonic Wars, Blankenhain had been a part of the Duchy of Saxe-Weimar. After the Fourth Coalition's defeat at Jena and Aue ...

, the city became part of the

First French Empire The First French Empire, officially the French Republic, then the French Empire (; Latin: ) after 1809, also known as Napoleonic France, was the empire ruled by Napoleon Bonaparte, who established French hegemony over much of continental E ...

in 1806 as the

Principality of Erfurt The Principality of Erfurt (german: Fürstentum Erfurt; french: Principauté d'Erfurt) was a small state in modern Thuringia, Germany, that existed from 1807 to 1814, comprising the modern city of Erfurt and the surrounding land. It was subordi ...

, directly subordinate to Napoleon as an "imperial state domain" (french: domaine réservé à l'empereur), separate from the

Confederation of the Rhine The Confederated States of the Rhine, simply known as the Confederation of the Rhine, also known as Napoleonic Germany, was a confederation of German client states established at the behest of Napoleon some months after he defeated Austria an ...

, which the surrounding

Thuringia Thuringia (; german: Thüringen ), officially the Free State of Thuringia ( ), is a state of central Germany, covering , the sixth smallest of the sixteen German states. It has a population of about 2.1 million. Erfurt is the capital and lar ...

n states had joined. Erfurt was administered by a civilian and military Senate (') under a French governor, based in the , previously the seat of city's governor under the Electorate. Napoleon first visited the principality on 23 July 1807, inspecting the citadels and fortifications. In 1808, the

Congress of Erfurt The Congress of Erfurt was the meeting between Napoleon, Emperor of the French, and Alexander I, Emperor of All Russia, from Tuesday 27 September to Friday 14 October 1808 intended to reaffirm the alliance concluded the previous year with the ...

was held with

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

and

Alexander I of Russia Alexander I (; – ) was Emperor of Russia from 1801, the first King of Congress Poland from 1815, and the Grand Duke of Finland from 1809 to his death. He was the eldest son of Emperor Paul I and Sophie Dorothea of Württemberg. The son o ...

visiting the city. During their administration, the French introduced street lighting and a tax on foreign horses to pay for maintaining the road surface. The suffered under the French occupation, with its inventory being auctioned off to other local churches – including the organ, bells and even the

tower A tower is a tall structure, taller than it is wide, often by a significant factor. Towers are distinguished from masts by their lack of guy-wires and are therefore, along with tall buildings, self-supporting structures. Towers are specifi ...

of the chapel (') – and the former monastery's library being donated to the

University of Erfurt The University of Erfurt (german: Universität Erfurt) is a public university located in Erfurt, the capital city of the German state of Thuringia. It was founded in 1379, and closed in 1816. It was re-established in 1994, three years after Germ ...

(and then to the Boineburg Library when the university closed in 1816). Similarly the Cyriaksburg Citadel was damaged by the French, with the city-side walls being partially dismantled in the hunt for imagined treasures from the convent, workers being paid from the sale of the building materials. In 1811, to commemorate the birth of the Prince Imperial, a ceremonial column (') of wood and plaster was erected on the common. Similarly, the ' – a Greek-style

temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a building reserved for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. Religions which erect temples include Christianity (whose temples are typically called churches), Hinduism (whose temples ...

topped by a winged victory with shield, sword and lance and containing a

bust Bust commonly refers to: * A woman's breasts * Bust (sculpture), of head and shoulders * An arrest Bust may also refer to: Places * Bust, Bas-Rhin, a city in France *Lashkargah, Afghanistan, known as Bust historically Media * ''Bust'' (magazin ...

of Napoleon sculpted by Friedrich Döll – was erected in the ' woods, including a grotto with fountain and flower beds, using a large pond (') from the , inaugurated with ceremony on 14 August 1811 after extravagant celebrations for Napoleon's birthday, which were repeated in 1812 with a concert in the conducted by

Louis Spohr Louis Spohr (, 5 April 178422 October 1859), baptized Ludewig Spohr, later often in the modern German form of the name Ludwig, was a German composer, violinist and conductor. Highly regarded during his lifetime, Spohr composed ten symphonies, t ...

. With the

Sixth Coalition Sixth is the ordinal form of the number six. * The Sixth Amendment, to the U.S. Constitution * A keg of beer, equal to 5 U.S. gallons or barrel * The fraction Music * Sixth interval (music)s: ** major sixth, a musical interval ** minor six ...

forming after French defeat in Russia, on 24 February 1813 Napoleon ordered the Petersburg Citadel to prepare for

siege A siege is a military blockade of a city, or fortress, with the intent of conquering by attrition, or a well-prepared assault. This derives from la, sedere, lit=to sit. Siege warfare is a form of constant, low-intensity conflict characteriz ...

, visiting the city on 25 April to inspect the fortifications, in particular both Citadels. On 10 July 1813, Napoleon put , baron of the Empire, in charge of the defences of Erfurt. However, when the French decreed that 1000 men would be conscripted into the , the recruits were joined by other citizens in rioting on 19 July that led to 20 arrests, of whom 2 were

sentenced to death Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...

by French court-martial; as a result, the French ordered the closure of all inns and alehouses. Within a week of the Sixth Coalition's decisive victory at Leipzig (16–19 October 1813), however, Erfurt was besieged by Prussian, Austrian and Russian troops under the command of Prussian Lt Gen

von Kleist The House of Kleist is the name of an old and distinguished Pomeranian Prussian noble family, whose members obtained many important military positions within the Kingdom of Prussia and later in the German Empire. Notable members * Henning Alex ...

. After a first capitulation signed by d'Alton on 20 December 1813 the French troops withdrew to the two fortresses of Petersberg and Cyriaksburg, allowing for the Coalition forces to march into Erfurt on 6 January 1814 to jubilant greetings; the ' ceremonial column was burned and destroyed as a symbol of the citizens' oppression under the French; similarly the ' was burned on 1 November 1813 and completely destroyed by Erfurters and their besiegers in 1814. After a call for volunteers 3 days later, 300 Erfurters joined the Coalition armies in France. Finally, in May 1814, the French capitulated fully, with 1,700 French troops vacating the Petersberg and Cyriaksburg fortresses. During the two and a half months of siege, the mortality rate rose in the city greatly; 1,564 Erfurt citizens died in 1813, around a thousand more than the previous year. After the

Congress of Vienna The Congress of Vienna (, ) of 1814–1815 was a series of international diplomatic meetings to discuss and agree upon a possible new layout of the European political and constitutional order after the downfall of the French Emperor Napoleon B ...

, Erfurt was restored to

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an ...

on 21 June 1815, becoming the capital of one of the three districts (') of the new Province of Saxony, but some southern and eastern parts of Erfurter lands joined Blankenhain in being transferred to the Grand Duchy of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach the following September. Although enclosed by

Thuringia Thuringia (; german: Thüringen ), officially the Free State of Thuringia ( ), is a state of central Germany, covering , the sixth smallest of the sixteen German states. It has a population of about 2.1 million. Erfurt is the capital and lar ...

n territory in the west, south and east, the city remained part of the Prussian Province of Saxony until 1944.

Since 1815

Bundesarchiv Bild 183-J0422-0203-002, Erfurt, Hotel

After the

1848 Revolution The Revolutions of 1848, known in some countries as the Springtime of the Peoples or the Springtime of Nations, were a series of political upheavals throughout Europe starting in 1848. It remains the most widespread revolutionary wave in Europe ...

, many Germans desired to have a united national state. An attempt in this direction was the failed

Erfurt Union The Erfurt Union (german: Erfurter Union) was a short-lived union of German states under a federation, proposed by the Kingdom of Prussia at Erfurt, for which the Erfurt Union Parliament (''Erfurter Unionsparlament''), lasting from March 20 to ...

of German states in 1850. The

Industrial Revolution The Industrial Revolution was the transition to new manufacturing processes in Great Britain, continental Europe, and the United States, that occurred during the period from around 1760 to about 1820–1840. This transition included going f ...

reached Erfurt in the 1840s, when the

Thuringian Railway Thuringian is an East Central German dialect group spoken in much of the modern German Free State of Thuringia north of the Rennsteig ridge, southwestern Saxony-Anhalt and adjacent territories of Hesse and Bavaria. It is close to Upper Saxon sp ...

connecting

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

and

Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , " Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on it ...

was built. During the following years, many factories in different sectors were founded. One of the biggest was the "Royal Gun Factory of

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an ...

" in 1862. After the

Unification of Germany The unification of Germany (, ) was the process of building the modern German nation state with federal features based on the concept of Lesser Germany (one without multinational Austria), which commenced on 18 August 1866 with adoption of t ...

in 1871, Erfurt moved from the southern border of Prussia to the centre of Germany, so the fortifications of the city were no longer needed. The demolition of the city fortifications in 1873 led to a construction boom in Erfurt, because it was now possible to build in the area formerly occupied by the city walls and beyond. Many public and private buildings emerged and the infrastructure (such as a tramway, hospitals, and schools) improved rapidly. The number of inhabitants grew from 40,000 around 1870 to 130,000 in 1914 and the city expanded in all directions. The "

Erfurt Program The Erfurt Program was adopted by the Social Democratic Party of Germany during the SPD Congress at Erfurt in 1891. Formulated under the political guidance of Eduard Bernstein, August Bebel, and Karl Kautsky, it superseded the earlier Gotha Pr ...

" was adopted by the Social Democratic Party of Germany during its congress at Erfurt in 1891. Between the wars, the city kept growing. Housing shortages were fought with building programmes and social infrastructure was broadened according to the welfare policy in the

Weimar Republic The Weimar Republic (german: link=no, Weimarer Republik ), officially named the German Reich, was the government of Germany from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a constitutional federal republic for the first time in history; hence it is ...

. The Great Depression between 1929 and 1932 led to a disaster for Erfurt, nearly one out of three became unemployed. Conflicts between far-left and far-right-oriented milieus increased and many inhabitants supported the new Nazi government and

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...

. Others, especially some communist workers, put up resistance against the new administration. In 1938, the new synagogue was destroyed during the . Jews lost their property and emigrated or were deported to

Nazi concentration camps From 1933 to 1945, Nazi Germany operated more than a thousand concentration camps, (officially) or (more commonly). The Nazi concentration camps are distinguished from other types of Nazi camps such as forced-labor camps, as well as con ...

(together with many communists). In 1914, the company ''

Topf and Sons J. A. Topf and Sons (german: J. A. Topf & Söhne) was an engineering company, founded in 1878 in Erfurt, Germany by Johannes Andreas Topf (1816–1891). Originally, it made heating systems and brewing and malting equipment. Later, the company div ...

'' began the manufacture of crematoria later becoming the market leader in this industry. Under the Nazis, ''JA Topf & Sons'' supplied specially developed crematoria, ovens and associated plants to the Auschwitz-Birkenau,

Buchenwald Buchenwald (; literally 'beech forest') was a Nazi concentration camp established on hill near Weimar, Germany, in July 1937. It was one of the first and the largest of the concentration camps within Germany's 1937 borders. Many actual or sus ...

and

Mauthausen-Gusen Mauthausen was a Nazi concentration camp on a hill above the market town of Mauthausen (roughly east of Linz), Upper Austria. It was the main camp of a group with nearly 100 further subcamps located throughout Austria and southern Germany ...

concentration camps. On 27 January 2011 a memorial and museum dedicated to the Holocaust victims was opened at the former company premises in Erfurt. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, Erfurt experienced more than 27 British and American air raids, about 1600 civilians died. Bombed as a target of the Oil Campaign of World War II, Erfurt suffered only limited damage and was captured on 12 April 1945, by the US 80th Infantry Division. On 3 July, American troops left the city, which then became part of the Soviet Zone of Occupation and eventually of the German Democratic Republic (

East Germany East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...

). In 1948, Erfurt became the capital of

Thuringia Thuringia (; german: Thüringen ), officially the Free State of Thuringia ( ), is a state of central Germany, covering , the sixth smallest of the sixteen German states. It has a population of about 2.1 million. Erfurt is the capital and lar ...

, replacing

Weimar Weimar is a city in the state of Thuringia, Germany. It is located in Central Germany between Erfurt in the west and Jena in the east, approximately southwest of Leipzig, north of Nuremberg and west of Dresden. Together with the neighbouri ...

. In 1952, the in the GDR were dissolved in favour of centralization under the new socialist government. Erfurt then became the capital of a new "" (district). In 1953, the of education was founded, followed by the of medicine in 1954, the first academic institutions in Erfurt since the closing of the university in 1816. On 19 March 1970, the East and West German heads of government

Willi Stoph Wilhelm Stoph (9 July 1914 – 13 April 1999) was a German politician. He served as Chairman of the Council of Ministers (Prime Minister) of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) from 1964 to 1973, and again from 1976 until 1989. H ...

and

Willy Brandt Willy Brandt (; born Herbert Ernst Karl Frahm; 18 December 1913 – 8 October 1992) was a German politician and statesman who was leader of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) from 1964 to 1987 and served as the chancellor of West Ge ...

met in Erfurt, the first such meeting since the division of Germany. During the 1970s and 1980s, as the economic situation in GDR worsened, many old buildings in city centre decayed, while the government fought against the housing shortage by building large settlements in the periphery. The Peaceful Revolution of 1989/1990 led to German reunification. DDR Street signs

With the re-formation of the state of

Thuringia Thuringia (; german: Thüringen ), officially the Free State of Thuringia ( ), is a state of central Germany, covering , the sixth smallest of the sixteen German states. It has a population of about 2.1 million. Erfurt is the capital and lar ...

in 1990, the city became the state capital. After reunification, a deep economic crisis occurred in Eastern Germany. Many factories closed and many people lost their jobs and moved to the former West Germany. At the same time, many buildings were redeveloped and the infrastructure improved massively. In 1994, the new university was opened, as was the Fachhochschule in 1991. Between 2005 and 2008, the economic situation improved as the unemployment rate decreased and new enterprises developed. In addition, the population began to increase once again. A

school shooting A school shooting is an attack at an educational institution, such as a primary school, secondary school, high school or university, involving the use of firearms. Many school shootings are also categorized as mass shootings due to multiple c ...

occurred on 26 April 2002 at the Gutenberg-Gymnasium. Since the 1990s, organized crime has gained a foothold in Erfurt, with several mafia groups, including the Armenian mafia present in the city. Among other events, there has been a robbery and an arson attack targeting the gastronomy sector and in 2014 there was a shoot-out in an open street.

Geography and demographics

Topography

Erfurt is situated in the south of the

Thuringian basin The Thuringian Basin (german: Thüringer Becken) is a depression in the central and northwest part of Thuringia in Germany which is crossed by several rivers, the longest of which is the Unstrut. It stretches about from north to south and around ...

, a fertile agricultural area between the

Harz The Harz () is a highland area in northern Germany. It has the highest elevations for that region, and its rugged terrain extends across parts of Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Thuringia. The name ''Harz'' derives from the Middle High German ...

mountains to the north and the

Thuringian forest The Thuringian Forest (''Thüringer Wald'' in German), is a mountain range in the southern parts of the German state of Thuringia, running northwest to southeast. Skirting from its southerly source in foothills to a gorge on its north-west side i ...

to the southwest. Whereas the northern parts of the city area are flat, the southern ones consist of hilly landscape up to 430 m of elevation. In this part lies the municipal forest of ' with

beeches Beech (''Fagus'') is a genus of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to temperate Europe, Asia, and North America. Recent classifications recognize 10 to 13 species in two distinct subgenera, ''Engleriana'' and ''Fagus''. The ''Engle ...

and oaks as main tree species. To the east and to the west are some non-forested hills so that the

Gera Gera is a city in the German state of Thuringia. With around 93,000 inhabitants, it is the third-largest city in Thuringia after Erfurt and Jena as well as the easternmost city of the ''Thüringer Städtekette'', an almost straight string of cit ...

river valley within the town forms a basin. North of the city are some

gravel pit A gravel pit is an open-pit mine for the extraction of gravel. Gravel pits often lie in river valleys where the water table is high, so they may naturally fill with water to form ponds or lakes. Old, abandoned gravel pits are normally used either ...

s in operation, while others are abandoned, flooded and used as leisure areas.

Climate

Erfurt has a

humid continental climate A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers and freezing ...

(Dfb) or an oceanic climate (''Cfb'') according to the

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...

system. ''(direct
Final Revised Paper
'' Summers are warm and sometimes humid with average high temperatures of and lows of . Winters are relatively cold with average high temperatures of and lows of . The city's topography creates a microclimate caused by the location inside a basin with sometimes

inversion Inversion or inversions may refer to: Arts * , a French gay magazine (1924/1925) * ''Inversion'' (artwork), a 2005 temporary sculpture in Houston, Texas * Inversion (music), a term with various meanings in music theory and musical set theory * ...

in winter (quite cold nights under ) and inadequate air circulation in summer. Annual precipitation is only with moderate rainfall throughout the year. Light snowfall mainly occurs from December through February, but snow cover does not usually remain for long.

Administrative divisions

Erfurt abuts the districts of Sömmerda (municipalities Witterda, Elxleben, Walschleben, Riethnordhausen, Nöda, Alperstedt,

Großrudestedt Großrudestedt is a municipality in the Sömmerda district of Thuringia, Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, ...

, Udestedt, Kleinmölsen and Großmölsen) in the north,

Weimarer Land Weimarer Land is a ''Landkreis'' (district) in the east of Thuringia, Germany. Neighboring districts are (from the northeast clockwise) the district Burgenlandkreis in Saxony-Anhalt, the district Saale-Holzland and the district-free city Jena, the ...

(municipalities Niederzimmern, Nohra, Mönchenholzhausen and Klettbach) in the east,

Ilm-Kreis Ilm-Kreis is a district in Thuringia, Germany. It is bounded by (from the north and clockwise) the city of Erfurt, the districts of Weimarer Land, Saalfeld-Rudolstadt and Hildburghausen, the city of Suhl, and the districts of Schmalkalden-Meinin ...

(municipalities Kirchheim, Rockhausen and

Amt Wachsenburg Amt Wachsenburg is a municipality in the district Ilm-Kreis, in Thuringia, Germany. The municipality is named after the Wachsenburg Castle which is located in its center. It was formed on 31 December 2012 from the former municipalities Wachsenburgg ...

) in the south and

Gotha Gotha () is the fifth-largest city in Thuringia, Germany, west of Erfurt and east of Eisenach with a population of 44,000. The city is the capital of the Gotha (district), district of Gotha and was also a residence of the Ernestine House of Wet ...

(municipalities Nesse-Apfelstädt, Nottleben, Zimmernsupra and Bienstädt) in the west. The city itself is divided into 53 districts. The centre is formed by the district ' (old town) and the districts ' in the northwest, ' in the northeast, ' in the east, ' in the southeast, ' in the southwest and ' in the west. More former industrial districts are ' (incorporated in 1911), ' and ' in the north. Another group of districts is marked by

Plattenbau (plural: , german: Platte + Bau, lit=panel/slab' + 'building/ construction) is a building constructed of large, prefabricated concrete slabs. The word is a compound of (in this context: panel) and (building). Such buildings are often found ...

settlements, constructed during the

DDR DDR or ddr may refer to: *ddr, ISO 639-3 code for the Dhudhuroa language *DDr., title for a double doctorate in Germany *DDR, station code for Dadar railway station, Mumbai, India *' (German Democratic Republic), official name of the former East ...

period: ', ', ', ' and ' in the northern as well as ', ' and ' in the southern city parts. Finally, there are many villages with an average population of approximately 1,000 which were incorporated during the 20th century; however, they have mostly stayed rural to date: * Alach (incorporated 1994) * Azmannsdorf (1994) * Bindersleben (1950) * Bischleben-Stedten (1950) * Büßleben (1994) * Dittelstedt (1994) * Egstedt (1994) * Ermstedt (1994) * Frienstedt (1994) * Gispersleben (1950) * Gottstedt (1994) * Hochheim (1938) * Hochstedt (1994) * Kerspleben (1994) * Kühnhausen (1994) * Linderbach (1994) * Marbach (1950) * Mittelhausen (1994) * Möbisburg-Rhoda (1950) * Molsdorf (1994) * Niedernissa (1994) * Rohda (1994) * Salomonsborn (1994) * Schaderode (1994) * Schmira (1950) * Schwerborn (1994) * Stotternheim (1994) * Tiefthal (1994) * Töttelstädt (1994) * Töttleben (1994) * Urbich (1994) * Vieselbach (1994) * Wallichen (1994) * Waltersleben (1994) * Windischholzhausen (1994)

Demographics

Population development of Erfurt 1493-2014 (small)

Around the year 1500, the city had 18,000 inhabitants and was one of the largest cities in the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire was a political entity in Western, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars. From the accession of Otto I in 962 ...

. The population then more or less stagnated until the 19th century. The population of Erfurt was 21,000 in 1820, and increased to 32,000 in 1847, the year of rail connection as industrialization began. In the following decades Erfurt grew up to 130,000 at the beginning of World War I and 190,000 inhabitants in 1950. A maximum was reached in 1988 with 220,000 persons. The bad economic situation in eastern Germany after the reunification resulted in a decline in population, which fell to 200,000 in 2002 before rising again to 206,000 in 2011. The average growth of population between 2009 and 2012 was approximately 0.68% p. a, whereas the population in bordering rural regions is shrinking with accelerating tendency. Suburbanization played only a small role in Erfurt. It occurred after reunification for a short time in the 1990s, but most of the suburban areas were situated within the administrative city borders. The birth deficit was 200 in 2012, this is −1.0 per 1,000 inhabitants (Thuringian average: -4.5; national average: -2.4). The net migration rate was +8.3 per 1,000 inhabitants in 2012 (Thuringian average: -0.8; national average: +4.6). The most important regions of origin of Erfurt migrants are rural areas of Thuringia,

Saxony-Anhalt Saxony-Anhalt (german: Sachsen-Anhalt ; nds, Sassen-Anholt) is a state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony, Thuringia and Lower Saxony. It covers an area of and has a population of 2.18 million inhabitants, making it th ...

and

Saxony Saxony (german: Sachsen ; Upper Saxon: ''Saggsn''; hsb, Sakska), officially the Free State of Saxony (german: Freistaat Sachsen, links=no ; Upper Saxon: ''Freischdaad Saggsn''; hsb, Swobodny stat Sakska, links=no), is a landlocked state of ...

as well as foreign countries like Poland, Russia, Syria, Afghanistan and Hungary. Like other eastern German cities, foreigners account only for a small share of Erfurt's population: circa 3.0% are non-Germans by citizenship and overall 5.9% are migrants (according to the 2011 EU census). Due to the official atheism of the former GDR, most of the population is non-religious. 14.8% are members of the

Evangelical Church in Central Germany The Evangelical Church in Central Germany (German: ''Evangelische Kirche in Mitteldeutschland''; ''EKM'') is a United church body covering most of the German states of Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia and some adjacent areas in Brandenburg and Saxony. ...

and 6.8% are Catholics (according to the 2011 EU census). The Jewish Community consists of 500 members. Most of them migrated to Erfurt from Russia and Ukraine in the 1990s.

Culture, sights and cityscape

Residents notable in cultural history

The theologian, philosopher and mystic

Meister Eckhart Eckhart von Hochheim ( – ), commonly known as Meister Eckhart, Master EckhartSt Augustine's Monastery in Erfurt, as a friar from 1505 to 1511. Johann Pachelbel (1653–1706) served as organist at the (Preachers Church) in Erfurt from June 1678 until August 1690. Pachelbel composed approximately seventy pieces for organ while in Erfurt. The city is the birthplace of one of

Johann Sebastian Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the '' Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard wo ...

's cousins,

Johann Bernhard Bach Johann Bernhard Bach (23 May 1676 – 11 June 1749) was a German composer, and second cousin of J. S. Bach.Smith, Timothy A"Johann Bernhard Bach 1676-1749" Northern Arizona University. Retrieved 3 August 2012. Life Johann Bernhard Bach was bo ...

, as well as Johann Sebastian Bach's father

Johann Ambrosius Bach Johann Ambrosius Bach (22 February 1645 – ) was a German musician, father to Johann Sebastian Bach. Life Johann Ambrosius Bach was born in Erfurt, Germany, the son of musician Christoph Bach (1613–1661). He was the twin brother of Joh ...

. Bach's parents were married in 1668 in the (Merchant's Church) that still exists on the main square of . Alexander Müller (1808–1863), pianist, conductor and composer, was born in Erfurt. He later moved to

Zürich , neighboring_municipalities = Adliswil, Dübendorf, Fällanden, Kilchberg, Maur, Oberengstringen, Opfikon, Regensdorf, Rümlang, Schlieren, Stallikon, Uitikon, Urdorf, Wallisellen, Zollikon , twintowns = Kunming, San Francisco Zürich ...

where he served as leader of the General Music Society's subscription concerts series. Max Weber (1864–1920) was born in Erfurt. He was a sociologist, philosopher, lawyer, and political economist whose ideas have profoundly influenced modern social theory and social research. After 1906 the composer

Richard Wetz Richard Wetz (26 February 1875 – 16 January 1935) was a German late Romantic composer best known for his three symphonies. In these works, he "seems to have aimed to be an immediate continuation of Bruckner, as a result of which he actually ...

(1875–1935) lived in Erfurt and became the leading person in the city's musical life. His major works were written here, including three symphonies, a Requiem and a Christmas Oratorio. The textile designer

Margaretha Reichardt Margaretha Reichardt (6 March 1907 – 25 May 1984), also known as Grete Reichardt, was a textile artist, weaver, and graphic designer from Erfurt, Germany.

(1907–1984) was born and died in Erfurt. She studied at the

Bauhaus The Staatliches Bauhaus (), commonly known as the Bauhaus (), was a German art school operational from 1919 to 1933 that combined crafts and the fine arts.Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 4th edn., 20 ...

from 1926 to 1930, and while there worked with

Marcel Breuer Marcel Lajos Breuer ( ; 21 May 1902 – 1 July 1981), was a Hungarian-born modernist architect and furniture designer. At the Bauhaus he designed the Wassily Chair and the Cesca Chair, which ''The New York Times'' have called some of the most i ...

on his innovative chair designs. Her former home and weaving workshop in Erfurt, the ''Margaretha Reichardt Haus'', is now a museum, managed by the

Angermuseum The Angermuseum is an art museum in Erfurt opened on 27 June 1886. Building It is housed in a building that used to house Erfurt's public weighing scales, where travelling merchants would bring their wares to be weighed for payment of the city' ...

Erfurt. Famous contemporary musicians from Erfurt are

Clueso Thomas Hübner (born 9 April 1980), better known by his stage name Clueso (), is a German singer, rapper, songwriter, and producer. His first album, ''Text und Ton'', was released in 2001. Since then, he has released seven more albums, of which ...

, the Boogie Pimps and

Yvonne Catterfeld Yvonne Catterfeld (born 2 December 1979) is a German singer, actress, and television personality. Born and raised in Erfurt, Thuringia, she later moved to Leipzig to pursue her career in music. In 2000, she participated in the debut season of the ...

.

Museums

Erfurt has a great variety of museums: * The ' (municipal museum) shows aspects of Erfurt's history with a focus on the Middle Ages, early modern history, Martin Luther and the university. Other parts of the are the ' (new mill), an old water mill still in operation, and the ' (Benary's magazine) with an exhibition of old printing machines. * The ' ( Old Synagogue) is one of the oldest synagogue buildings in Europe.Jewish Life in Erfurt. Old synagogue
Jewish Life in Erfurt. Old synagogue.
Retrieved 31 October 2016 It is now a museum of local Jewish history. It houses facsimiles of medieval Hebrew manuscripts and the

Erfurt Treasure The Erfurt Treasure is a hoard of coins, goldsmiths' work and jewellery that is assumed to have belonged to a Jew of Erfurt, Germany who hid them in 1349 before perishing in the Erfurt massacre, one of the persecutions and massacres of Jews dur ...

, a hoard of coins and goldsmiths' work that is assumed to have belonged to Jews who hid them in 1349 at the time of the Black Death pogroms. * The ' (

Topf and Sons J. A. Topf and Sons (german: J. A. Topf & Söhne) was an engineering company, founded in 1878 in Erfurt, Germany by Johannes Andreas Topf (1816–1891). Originally, it made heating systems and brewing and malting equipment. Later, the company div ...

memorial) is on the site of the factory of the company which constructed crematoria for Auschwitz and other concentration camps. Its exhibitions explore the collaboration of a civilian company with the National Socialist regime in the holocaust. * Memorial and Education Centre Andreasstrasse, (Stasi Museum). On the site of the former Erfurt Stasi prison, where over 5000 people were held. On 4 December 1989, the building was occupied by local residents. It was the first of many such takeovers of Stasi buildings in the former East Germany. Today it has exhibitions on the history of East Germany and the activities of its regime. * The

Angermuseum The Angermuseum is an art museum in Erfurt opened on 27 June 1886. Building It is housed in a building that used to house Erfurt's public weighing scales, where travelling merchants would bring their wares to be weighed for payment of the city' ...

is one of the main art museums of Erfurt, named after Anger Square, where it is located. It focuses on modern graphic arts, medieval sculpture and early modern artisanal handicraft. * The ' (Erfurt City Art Gallery) has exhibitions of contemporary art, of local, national and international artists. * The ''

Margaretha Reichardt Margaretha Reichardt (6 March 1907 – 25 May 1984), also known as Grete Reichardt, was a textile artist, weaver, and graphic designer from Erfurt, Germany.

Haus'' is the home and workshop of the textile designer and former

Bauhaus The Staatliches Bauhaus (), commonly known as the Bauhaus (), was a German art school operational from 1919 to 1933 that combined crafts and the fine arts.Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 4th edn., 20 ...

student, Margaretha Reichardt (1907–1984). * The ' (Saint Peter's church) houses an exhibition of

concrete art Concrete art was an art movement with a strong emphasis on geometrical abstraction. The term was first formulated by Theo van Doesburg and was then used by him in 1930 to define the difference between his vision of art and that of other abstract art ...

, i.e. totally abstract art (not art made out of concrete). * The ' (German Horticulture Museum) is housed at the Cyriaksburg Citadel. * The (Natural History Museum) is situated in a medieval woad warehouse and explores Thuringian flora and fauna, geology and ecology. * The ' (Museum of Folk Art and Cultural Anthropology) looks at the ordinary life of people in Thuringia in the past and shows exhibits of peasant and artisan traditions. * The ' (Museum of Electrical Engineering) shows the history of electric engines, which have featured prominently in Erfurt's economy. * in the district of Molsdorf is a Baroque palace with an exhibition about the painter .

Image gallery

File:Erfurt Stadtmuseum Haus zum Stockfisch.jpg, File:Angermuseum Erfurt2.JPG, File:Naturkundemuseum Erfurt Eingangtor.jpg, File:Defensionskaserne 3.jpg, File:Erfurt, Museum für Thüringer Volkskunde.jpg, File:Erinnerungsort Topf und Söhne Erfurt.JPG, J.A. Topf & Söhne museum and holocaust memorial site File:Stasi Memorial Andreasstraße Erfurt.JPG, Memorial and Education Centre Andreasstrasse, former Stasi prison File:Schloss Molsdorf 01.jpg,

Theatre

Since 2003, the modern opera house is home to

Theater Erfurt The Theater Erfurt is a German municipal theatre located in Erfurt, the capital of Thuringia. The main stage is in a building in the Brühlervorstadt, completed in 2003. The theatre offers musical theatre and concerts, played by the Philharmonisc ...

and its Philharmonic Orchestra. The "grand stage" section has 800 seats and the "studio stage" can hold 200 spectators. In September 2005, the opera ''

Waiting for the Barbarians ''Waiting for the Barbarians'' is a novel by the South African writer J. M. Coetzee. First published in 1980, it was chosen by Penguin for its series '' Great Books of the 20th Century'' and won both the James Tait Black Memorial Prize and Geo ...

'' by Philip Glass premiered in the opera house. The Erfurt Theatre has been a source of controversy. In 2005, a performance of Engelbert Humperdinck's opera ' stirred up the local press since the performance contained suggestions of pedophilia and incest. The opera was advertised in the programme with the addition "for adults only". On 12 April 2008, a version of

Verdi Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi (; 9 or 10 October 1813 – 27 January 1901) was an Italian composer best known for his operas. He was born near Busseto to a provincial family of moderate means, receiving a musical education with the h ...

's opera ' directed by Johann Kresnik opened at the Erfurt Theatre. The production stirred deep controversy by featuring nude performers in Mickey Mouse masks dancing on the ruins of the

World Trade Center World Trade Centers are sites recognized by the World Trade Centers Association. World Trade Center may refer to: Buildings * List of World Trade Centers * World Trade Center (2001–present), a building complex that includes five skyscrapers, a ...

and a female singer with a painted on

Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...

toothbrush moustache performing a straight arm

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...

salute, along with sinister portrayals of American soldiers,

Uncle Sam Uncle Sam (which has the same initials as ''United States'') is a common national personification of the federal government of the United States or the country in general. Since the early 19th century, Uncle Sam has been a popular symbol of ...

, and

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...

impersonators. The director described the production as a populist critique of modern American society, aimed at showing up the disparities between rich and poor. The controversy prompted one local politician to call for locals to boycott the performances, but this was largely ignored and the première was sold out.

Sport

The

Messe Erfurt The Messe Erfurt is a convention center including an indoor arena, in Erfurt, Germany. Its seating capacity is roughly 12,000 people. The arena has hosted concerts by many famous artists, spanning many different genres. It serves as home arena fo ...

serves as home court for the Oettinger Rockets, a professional basketball team in Germany's first division, the Basketball Bundesliga. Notable types of sport in Erfurt are athletics, ice skating, cycling (with the oldest velodrome in use in the world, opened in 1885), swimming, handball, volleyball, tennis and football. The city's football club is member of and based in with a capacity of 20,000. The ' was the second indoor speed skating arena in Germany.

Cityscape

Erfurt's cityscape features a medieval core of narrow, curved alleys in the centre surrounded by a belt of ' architecture, created between 1873 and 1914. In 1873, the city's fortifications were demolished and it became possible to build houses in the area in front of the former city walls. In the following years, Erfurt saw a construction boom. In the northern area (districts Andreasvorstadt, Johannesvorstadt and Ilversgehofen)

tenement A tenement is a type of building shared by multiple dwellings, typically with flats or apartments on each floor and with shared entrance stairway access. They are common on the British Isles, particularly in Scotland. In the medieval Old Town, i ...

s for the factory workers were built whilst the eastern area (Krämpfervorstadt and Daberstedt) featured apartments for white-collar workers and clerks and the southwestern part (Löbervorstadt and Brühlervorstadt) with its beautiful valley landscape saw the construction of villas and mansions of rich factory owners and notables. During the interwar period, some settlements in

Bauhaus The Staatliches Bauhaus (), commonly known as the Bauhaus (), was a German art school operational from 1919 to 1933 that combined crafts and the fine arts.Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 4th edn., 20 ...

style were realized, often as housing cooperatives. After World War II and over the whole GDR period, housing shortages remained a problem even though the government started a big apartment construction programme. Between 1970 and 1990 large settlements with high-rise blocks on the northern (for 50,000 inhabitants) and southeastern (for 40,000 inhabitants) periphery were constructed. After reunification the renovation of old houses in city centre and the ' areas was a big issue. The federal government granted substantial subsidies, so that many houses could be restored. Compared to many other German cities, little of Erfurt was destroyed in World War II. This is one reason why the centre today offers a mixture of medieval, Baroque and

Neoclassical architecture Neoclassical architecture is an architectural style produced by the Neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century in Italy and France. It became one of the most prominent architectural styles in the Western world. The prevailing style ...

as well as buildings from the last 150 years. Public green spaces are located along Gera river and in several parks like the ', the ' and the '. The largest green area is the , 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 of them in

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

style, some also in Romanesque style or a mixture of Romanesque and Gothic elements, and a few in later styles. The various steeples characterize the medieval centre and led to one of Erfurt's nicknames as the "Thuringian Rome".

=Catholic churches and monasteries

= * The (

All Saints' Church All Saints Church, or All Saints' Church or variations on the name may refer to: Albania *All Saints' Church, Himarë Australia * All Saints Church, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory * All Saints Anglican Church, Henley Brook, Western Aust ...

) is a 14th-century Gothic church in (Market Street), which hosts a

columbarium A columbarium (; pl. columbaria) is a structure for the reverential and usually public storage of funerary urns, holding cremated remains of the deceased. The term can also mean the nesting boxes of pigeons. The term comes from the Latin "''colu ...

. * The ( St Mary's Cathedral) perches above , the Cathedral Square. It is the episcopal see and one of the main sights of Erfurt. It combines Romanesque and Gothic elements and has the largest free-swinging medieval bell in the world, which is named Gloriosa. One of the works of art inside the cathedral is

Lucas Cranach the Elder Lucas Cranach the Elder (german: Lucas Cranach der Ältere ; – 16 October 1553) was a German Renaissance painter and printmaker in woodcut and engraving. He was court painter to the Electors of Saxony for most of his career, and is kno ...

's 'The Mystic Marriage of St. Catherine' painted around 1520. * The ( St Lawrence's Church) is a small 14th-century Gothic parish church at Square. * The ( St Martin's Church) was built in the 15th century in Gothic style and in 1755–58 converted to Baroque style. It was both a Cistercian nunnery and a parish church of , a medieval suburban zone. * The ("church of the new facility", Holy Cross Church) is a 15th-century Gothic church at , that was later converted to Baroque style. Until 1285, it was used by a

convent A convent is a community of monks, nuns, religious brothers or, sisters or priests. Alternatively, ''convent'' means the building used by the community. The word is particularly used in the Catholic Church, Lutheran churches, and the Anglic ...

of

Augustinian Augustinian may refer to: *Augustinians, members of religious orders following the Rule of St Augustine *Augustinianism, the teachings of Augustine of Hippo and his intellectual heirs *Someone who follows Augustine of Hippo * Canons Regular of Sain ...

nuns. * The (Scots Monks' Church of St Nicholas and St James) is an 11th-century Romanesque monastery church with a Baroque façade, which was later used as a parish church. * The ( St Severus' Church) is the second-largest parish church after the cathedral and stands next to it on the hill. It is in Gothic style and was built around 1300. * The , St Ursula's Church, is a Gothic church at Square. It is attached to the , St Ursula's Nunnery, founded in 1136. It is the only medieval monastery or nunnery in Erfurt which has been in continuous operation since it opened. * The ( St Wigbert's Church) is a 15th-century Gothic church near Square. Allerheiligenkirche Erfurt.jpg, All Saints' Church Erfurt Lorenzkirche vom Anger.jpg, St Lawrence's Church Martinikirche.jpg, St Martin's Church Erfurt - Neuwerkskirche.jpg, Holy Cross Church Schottenkirche Erfurt.jpg, Schottenkirche Erfurt, Severikirche vom Petersberg gesehen-002.jpg, St Severus' Church Landtagprojekt Thueringen Erfurt 2011 (RaBoe) 110.jpg, Ursulines Church Wigbertikirche Erfurt2.JPG, St Wigbert's Church

=Protestant churches and monasteries

= * ( St Giles' Church) is a 14th-century Gothic parish church at Square. It is the surviving one of formerly two bridge-head churches of the located on both ends of the bridge. As a result, the nave is on the first floor, while on ground level is a passage to the bridge. The steeple is open to the public and offers a good view over the city centre. Today, St Giles' Church is a

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's ...

parish church. * ( St Andrew's Church) is a 14th-century Gothic parish church at (Andrew's Street). The old craftsmen's quarter around it is named after the church. * ( St Augustine's Monastery) dates from 1277.

Martin Luther Martin Luther (; ; 10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546) was a German priest, theologian, author, hymnwriter, and professor, and Augustinian friar. He is the seminal figure of the Protestant Reformation and the namesake of Lutherani ...

lived there as a monk between 1505 and 1511. The site has had a varied history and the restored complex has both modern and medieval buildings. Today it belongs to the

Evangelical Church in Germany The Evangelical Church in Germany (german: Evangelische Kirche in Deutschland, abbreviated EKD) is a federation of twenty Lutheran, Reformed (Calvinist) and United (e.g. Prussian Union) Protestant regional churches and denominations in German ...

and as well as being a place of worship it is also a meeting and conference centre, and provides simple guest accommodation. In 2016, an application was made for it to be included in the already existing UNESCO

World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...

"Luther sites in Central Germany". * The (Merchant's Church of St Gregory) is a 14th-century Gothic parish church at square. It is one of the largest and most important original parish churches in Erfurt. The parents of

Johann Sebastian Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the '' Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard wo ...

,

Johann Ambrosius Bach Johann Ambrosius Bach (22 February 1645 – ) was a German musician, father to Johann Sebastian Bach. Life Johann Ambrosius Bach was born in Erfurt, Germany, the son of musician Christoph Bach (1613–1661). He was the twin brother of Joh ...

and Maria Elisabeth Lämmerhirt, married here in 1668. * ( St Michael's Church) is a 13th-century Gothic parish church at . It became the church of the university in 1392. Erfurt's first

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...

sermon was preached here in 1521. The church tower contains Erfurt's oldest bell "Katharina", dating from 1380. * The (Dominican Church) is a Gothic monastery church of the Dominicans at . Since the

Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...

in the 16th century, it is the main Protestant church of Erfurt and furthermore one of the largest former churches of the mendicant orders in Germany. The theologian and mystic

Meister Eckhart Eckhart von Hochheim ( – ), commonly known as Meister Eckhart, Master Eckhart File:Erfurt kosciol sw Idziego 2.jpg, St Giles' Church File:Erfurt, Andreaskirche-002.jpg, St Andrew's Church File:Augustinerkirche Erfurt.jpg, St Augustine's Church File:Erfurt, Kaufmannskirche 001.JPG, Merchants' Church File:J24 082e Michaeliskirche.jpg, St Michael's Church File:Erfurt Predigerkirche (2).JPG, Dominican Church File:Reglerkirche Erfurt.jpg, Regulated St Augustine's Church

=Former churches

= * The is a 14th-century Gothic mendicant church at . The former

Franciscan , image = FrancescoCoA PioM.svg , image_size = 200px , caption = A cross, Christ's arm and Saint Francis's arm, a universal symbol of the Franciscans , abbreviation = OFM , predecessor = , ...

monastery became a Protestant parish church after the Reformation. In 1944, the church was severely damaged by Allied bombing. Its high choir was restored, but the nave's ruins have been preserved as a war memorial. * The ( St Bartholomew's Church) was a Gothic parish church at Square. The church was demolished in 1715 and only the steeple remained. Today, the tower hosts a carillon with 60 bells. * The ' (St George's Church) was a parish church in ''Michaelisstraße''. It was demolished in 1632 and only the church tower now remains. * The ' (Hospital Church) was the church of the former Great City Hospital at '. It is a 14th-century Gothic building and is used today as a depot by the Museum für Thüringer Volkskunde (Museum of Thuringian Ethnology). * The ' (St John's Church) was a parish church at John's Street. It was demolished in 1819, but the steeple remained. * The ' (Carthusian Church, Mount St Saviour) was a monastery church at '. The Baroque church was closed in 1803 and afterwards used for many different purposes. Today, it is part of a housing complex. * The ' (St Nicholas' Church) was a parish church in Augustine's Street. It was demolished in 1747 and only the steeple remained. * The ' (St Paul's Church) was a parish church in Paul's Street. It was demolished before 1759. The steeple remains and is in use as the belfry of the Prediger Church. * The ' (St Peter's Church) was built in the 12th century in Romanesque style as a church of the

Benedictine , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , foun ...

monastery of St Peter and Paul on Petersberg hill, now the site of Petersberg Citadel. It was secularised in 1803 and used as a military store house. Today it houses an art gallery. File:Barfüßerkirche Erfurt 2011-03-19.jpg, Ruins of the former Franciscan monastery's church File:Bartholomäusturm Erfurt.jpg, St Bartholomew's steeple File:Hospitalkirche "Zum Heiligen Geist" Erfurt 8.jpg, Hospital Church File:Westportal-Kartaeuserkirche-Erfurt-2015-05.jpg, Carthusian Church File:Nicolaiturm.jpg, St Nicholas' steeple File:Paulsturm.jpg, St Paul's steeple File:Peterskirche Erfurt 1.jpg, St Peter's Church

=Synagogues

= The oldest parts of Erfurt's ''Alte Synagoge'' ( Old Synagogue) date to the 11th century. It was used until 1349 when the Jewish community was destroyed in a pogrom known as the

Erfurt Massacre The Erfurt massacre was a school shooting that occurred on 26 April 2002 at the Gutenberg-Gymnasium, a secondary school in Erfurt, Germany. 19-year-old expelled student Robert Steinhäuser shot and killed 16 people, including 13 staff members, ...

. The building had many other uses since then. It was conserved in the 1990s and in 2009 it became a museum of Jewish history. A rare Mikveh, a ritual bath, dating from c.1250, was discovered by archeologists in 2007. It has been accessible to visitors on guided tours since September 2011. In 2015 the Old Synagogue and Mikveh were nominated as a

World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...

. It has been tentatively listed but a final decision has not yet been made. As religious freedom was granted in the 19th century, some Jews returned to Erfurt. They built their synagogue on the banks of the Gera river and used it from 1840 until 1884. The neoclassical building is known as the ''Kleine Synagoge'' (Small Synagogue). Today it is used an events centre. It is also open to visitors.Jewish Life in Erfurt. Small synagogue.
Retrieved 31 October 2016 A larger synagogue, the ''Große Synagoge'' (Great Synagogue), was opened in 1884 because the community had become larger and wealthier. This moorish style building was destroyed during nationwide Nazi riots, known as on 9–10 November 1938. In 1947 the land which the Great Synagogue had occupied was returned to the Jewish community and they built their current place of worship, the ''Neue Synagoge'' (New Synagogue) which opened in 1952. It was the only synagogue building erected under communist rule in East Germany. File:Alte Synagoge Erfurt.JPG, Old Synagogue File:Kleine Synagoge Erfurt2.JPG, Small Synagogue File:Synagoge Erfurt.JPG, New Synagogue

Secular architecture

Besides the religious buildings there is a lot of historic secular architecture in Erfurt, mostly concentrated in the city centre, but some 19th- and 20th-century buildings are located on the outskirts. Michaelisstraße Erfurt

=Street and square ensembles

= * The ' (Merchants' bridge) is the most famous tourist attraction of Erfurt. This 15th-century bridge is completely covered with dwellings and unique in Europe north of the Alps. Today, there are some art handicraft and souvenir shops in the houses. * The ' (Cathedral Square) is the largest square in Erfurt and one of the largest historical market squares in Germany. The cathedral and St Severus' Church on its western side can be reached over the ', a wide flight of stairs. On the north side lies the courthouse, a historic building from 1880. The eastern and southern side is fronted by early-modern patrician houses. On the square are the Minerva Fountain from 1784 and the Erthal Obelisk from 1777. The Domplatz is the main setting of the Erfurt Christmas Market in December and the location for "DomStufen-Festival", an open-air theatre festival in summer. * The ' (Fish Market) is the central square of Erfurt's city centre. It is surrounded by renaissance-style patrician houses and the town hall, a neo-gothic building from 1882. In the middle of the square is a statue called ' (Roman), a symbol of the city's independence, erected by the citizens in 1591. * The ' (Minor Market) is a small square on the east side of the Gera river (opposite to the Fischmarkt on the west side), surrounded by early-modern patrician and merchants' houses. The fountain on this square with the sculpture "Scuffling Boys" was created in 1975. Today, square also has various cafés and bars. Next to the in is the building, a neoclassicistic event hall from 1831 (current building). The

Congress of Erfurt The Congress of Erfurt was the meeting between Napoleon, Emperor of the French, and Alexander I, Emperor of All Russia, from Tuesday 27 September to Friday 14 October 1808 intended to reaffirm the alliance concluded the previous year with the ...

took place here in 1808. * The ' (originally the German term for "

village green A village green is a common open area within a village or other settlement. Historically, a village green was common grassland with a pond for watering cattle and other stock, often at the edge of a rural settlement, used for gathering cattle t ...

") is a protracted square in the eastern city centre. All tram lines are linked here, so that it became the new city centre during the 20th century with many important buildings. On its northern side is the main post office, built in 1886 in neo-gothic style with its prominent clock tower. In the north-east there is the Martin Luther monument from 1889 in front of the Merchants' Church. Between the church and the Ursuline monastery lies the "Anger 1" department store from 1908. On the south side next to Station Street is the , the art history museum of Erfurt, inside a Baroque palace from 1711. The western part of Anger square is surrounded by large historicist business houses from the late 19th century. The west end of the square is marked by the Angerbrunnen fountain from 1890. The Jesuit College near was built in 1737 and used until the ban of the Jesuits in 1773. * The ''

Willy Brandt Willy Brandt (; born Herbert Ernst Karl Frahm; 18 December 1913 – 8 October 1992) was a German politician and statesman who was leader of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) from 1964 to 1987 and served as the chancellor of West Ge ...

Square'' is the southern gate to the city centre in front of the main station. Opposite to the station is the former hotel ', where the first meeting of the East- and West-German heads of government took place in 1970. On the western side is the building of the old Erfurt station (1847–95) with a clock tower and the former offices of the Thuringian Railway Company. * The ' (Deer Garden) is a small park in front of the Thuringian government seat in the western city centre. The minister-president's seat is the ', a Renaissance-Baroque palace from the 17th century. * The ' (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 today one of the favourite nightlife districts of the Erfurters with various bars, restaurants and cafés. The central building of the old university, , was built in 1515, destroyed by Allied bombs in 1945 and originally rebuilt in 1999. * The ' is an inner-city circular road following the former inner city wall. The road was set out in the 1890s by closing a branch of the Gera river. The buildings along the street originate from all periods of the 20th century, including some GDR-era highrise residence buildings. An old building complex here is the former Great Hospital, established in the 14th century. Today, it hosts the museum of popular art and cultural anthropology. * The ' (St Andrew's Quarter) is a small quarter in the northern part of the city centre between in the south-west and in the north-east. It was the former craftsmen quarter with narrow alleys and old (16th/17th century) little houses. During the 20th century, there were plans to demolish the quarter because of its bad housing conditions. After 1990, the houses were redeveloped by private individuals so that it is one of the favourite neighbourhoods today. The largest building here is the former Municipal Corn Storage in Gothic style from 1466 with a floor area of . File:Krämerbrücke Erfurt II, Germany2.jpg, File:P1010412-Montage.jpg, Christmas market at File:Haus zum Roten Ochsen Fischmarkt.jpg, File:Wenigemarkt Erfurt.JPG, File:Hauptpost Erfurt2.JPG, Post office at File:Angermuseum Erfurt2.JPG, File:2011-05-19-erfurt-by-RalfR-44.jpg,

=Fortifications

=

From 1066 until 1873 the old town of Erfurt was encircled by a fortified wall. About 1168 this was extended to run around the western side of Petersberg hill, enclosing it within the city boundaries.Stadtverwaltung Erfurt (4 September 2012)
''Stadtbefestigung einst und jetzt''
Retrieved 28 December 2017 After

German Unification The unification of Germany (, ) was the process of building the modern German nation state with federal features based on the concept of Lesser Germany (one without multinational Austria), which commenced on 18 August 1866 with adoption of t ...

in 1871, Erfurt became part of the newly created German Empire. The threat to the city from its Saxon neighbours and from Bavaria was no longer present, so it was decided to dismantle the city walls. Only a few remnants remain today. A piece of inner wall can be found in a small park at the corner Juri-Gagarin-Ring and Johannesstraße and another piece at the flood ditch (''Flutgraben'') near Franckestraße. There is also a small restored part of the wall in the Brühler Garten, behind the Catholic orphanage. Only one of the wall's fortified towers was left standing, on Boyneburgufer, but this was destroyed in an air raid in 1944. The Petersberg Citadel is one of the largest and best preserved city fortresses in Europe, covering an area of 36 hectares in the north-west of the city centre. It was built from 1665 on Petersberg hill and was in military use until 1963. Since 1990, it has been significantly restored and is now open to the public as an historic site.Verein der Freunde der Citadelle Petersberg zu Erfurt e.V. (2015). ''350 Jahre Zitadelle Petersberg. Tagungsband: Wissenschaftliches Kolloquim zum 350. Jahrestages der Grundsteinlegung der Zitadelle Petersberg vom 29. Mai bis 31 Mai 2015. Universität Erfurt''. The is a smaller citadel south-west of the city centre, dating from 1480. Today, it houses the German horticulture museum.

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

= Between 1873 and 1914, a belt of ' architecture emerged around the city centre. The mansion district in the south-west around , and hosts some interesting ' and ''Art Nouveau'' buildings. The "Mühlenviertel" ("mill quarter"), is an area of beautiful Art Nouveau apartment buildings, cobblestone streets and street trees just to the north of the old city, in the vicinity of Nord Park, bordered by the Gera river on its east side. The

Schmale Gera Schmale Gera is a river of Thuringia, Germany. It is a distributary of the Gera in Erfurt Erfurt () is the capital and largest city in the Central German state of Thuringia. It is located in the wide valley of the Gera river (progression: ...

stream runs through the area. In the Middle Ages numerous small enterprises using the power of water mills occupied the area, hence the name "Mühlenviertel", with street names such as Waidmühlenweg (woad, or indigo, mill way), Storchmühlenweg (stork mill way) and Papiermühlenweg (paper mill way). The ''

Bauhaus The Staatliches Bauhaus (), commonly known as the Bauhaus (), was a German art school operational from 1919 to 1933 that combined crafts and the fine arts.Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 4th edn., 20 ...

'' style is represented by some housing cooperative projects in the east around and and in the north around . Lutherkirke Church in (1927), is an Art Deco building. The former malt factory "Wolff" at in the east of Erfurt is a large industrial complex built between 1880 and 1939, and in use until 2000. A new use has not been found yet, but the area is sometimes used as a location in movie productions because of its atmosphere. Examples of Nazi architecture include the buildings of the (Thuringian parliament) and (an event hall) in the south at . While the building (1930s) represents more the neo-Roman/fascist style, (1940s) is marked by some neo-Germanic ' style elements. The Stalinist early-GDR style is manifested in the main building of the university at (1953) and the later more international modern GDR style is represented by the horticultural exhibition centre "" at , the housing complexes like Rieth or and the redevelopment of and area along in the city centre. The current international glass and steel architecture is dominant among most larger new buildings like the Federal Labour Court of Germany (1999), the new opera house (2003), the new main station (2007), the university library, the Erfurt Messe (convention centre) and the ice rink. File:Ernst-Toller-Straße Erfurt.JPG, tenements in district File:Brunnen Jacobsenviertel Erfurt.JPG, Cubistic fountain in a Bauhaus housing complex File:Lutherkirche Erfurt2.JPG, Art Deco Luther's Church File:ThüringerLandtag.jpg, Entrance of the Thuringian parliament File:Audimax-Foyer der Universität Erfurt.jpg, Lobby of the university main building File:Statue Johannesplatz Erfurt.JPG, GDR architecture in district File:2011-05-19-bundesarbeitsgericht-by-RalfR-24.jpg, Inner yard of the Federal Labour Court

Economy and infrastructure

During recent years, the economic situation of the city improved: the unemployment rate declined from 21% in 2005 to 9% in 2013. Nevertheless, some 14,000 households with 24,500 persons (12% of population) are dependent upon state social benefits (Hartz concept, Hartz IV).

Agriculture, industry and services

Anger 1 Erfurt Kaufhaus Römischer Kaiser 686-vLh

Farming has a great tradition in Erfurt: the cultivation of Isatis tinctoria, woad made the city rich during the Middle Ages. Today, horticulture and the production of flower seeds is still an important business in Erfurt. There is also growing of fruits (like apples, strawberries and sweet cherries), vegetables (e.g. cauliflowers, potatoes, cabbage and sugar beets) and grain on more than 60% of the municipal territory. Industrialization in Erfurt started around 1850. Until World War I, many factories were founded in different sectors like engine building, shoes, guns, malt and later electro-technics, so that there was no industrial monoculture in the city. After 1945, the companies were nationalized by the GDR government, which led to the decline of some of them. After reunification, nearly all factories were closed, either because they failed to successfully adopt to a free market economy or because the German government sold them to west German businessmen who closed them to avoid competition to their own enterprises. However, in the early 1990s the federal government started to subsidize the foundation of new companies. It still took a long time before the economic situation stabilized around 2006. Since this time, unemployment has decreased and overall, new jobs were created. Today, there are many small and medium-sized companies in Erfurt with electro-technics, semiconductors and photovoltaics in focus. Engine production, food production, the Braugold brewery, and Born Feinkost, a producer of Thuringian mustard, remain important industries. Erfurt is an ' (which means "supra-centre" according to Central place theory) in German regional planning. Such centres are always hubs of service businesses and public services like hospitals, universities, research, trade fairs, retail etc. Additionally, Erfurt is the capital of the federal state of Thuringia, so that there are many institutions of administration like all the Thuringian state ministries and some nationwide authorities. Typical for Erfurt are the logistic business with many distribution centres of big companies, the Erfurt Trade Fair and the media sector with

KiKa KiKA (contraction of ''Der KinderKAnal von ARD und ZDF'' ARD and ZDF">ARD_(broadcaster).html" ;"title="he Children's Channel of ARD (broadcaster)">ARD and ZDF]) is a German free-to-air television channel based in Erfurt, Germany. It is man ...

and Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk, MDR as public broadcast stations. A growing industry is tourism, due to the various historical sights of Erfurt. There are 4,800 hotel beds and (in 2012) 450,000 overnight visitors spent a total of 700,000 nights in hotels. Nevertheless, most tourists are one-day visitors from Germany. The Christmas Market in December attracts some 2,000,000 visitors each year.

Transport

By rail

The

ICE Ice is water frozen into a solid state, typically forming at or below temperatures of 0 degrees Celsius or Depending on the presence of impurities such as particles of soil or bubbles of air, it can appear transparent or a more or less opaqu ...

railway network puts Erfurt 1 hours from

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

, 2 hours from

Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , " Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on it ...

, 2 hours from Dresden, and 45 minutes from

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as ...

. In 2017, the ICE line to

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...

opened, making the trip to Erfurt Hauptbahnhof, Erfurt main station only 2 hours. There are regional trains from Erfurt to

Weimar Weimar is a city in the state of Thuringia, Germany. It is located in Central Germany between Erfurt in the west and Jena in the east, approximately southwest of Leipzig, north of Nuremberg and west of Dresden. Together with the neighbouri ...

,

Jena Jena () is a German city and the second largest city in Thuringia. Together with the nearby cities of Erfurt and Weimar, it forms the central metropolitan area of Thuringia with approximately 500,000 inhabitants, while the city itself has a po ...

,

Gotha Gotha () is the fifth-largest city in Thuringia, Germany, west of Erfurt and east of Eisenach with a population of 44,000. The city is the capital of the Gotha (district), district of Gotha and was also a residence of the Ernestine House of Wet ...

,

Eisenach Eisenach () is a town in Thuringia, Germany with 42,000 inhabitants, located west of Erfurt, southeast of Kassel and northeast of Frankfurt. It is the main urban centre of western Thuringia and bordering northeastern Hessian regions, situat ...

, Bad Langensalza, Magdeburg, Nordhausen,

Göttingen Göttingen (, , ; nds, Chöttingen) is a university city in Lower Saxony, central Germany, the capital of the eponymous district. The River Leine runs through it. At the end of 2019, the population was 118,911. General information The ori ...

, Mühlhausen,

Würzburg Würzburg (; Main-Franconian: ) is a city in the region of Franconia in the north of the German state of Bavaria. Würzburg is the administrative seat of the ''Regierungsbezirk'' Lower Franconia. It spans the banks of the Main River. Würzburg ...

, Meiningen, Ilmenau, Arnstadt, and

Gera Gera is a city in the German state of Thuringia. With around 93,000 inhabitants, it is the third-largest city in Thuringia after Erfurt and Jena as well as the easternmost city of the ''Thüringer Städtekette'', an almost straight string of cit ...

. In freight transport there is an intermodal freight transport, intermodal terminal in the district of Vieselbach ''()'' with connections to rail and the autobahn.

By road

The two Autobahnen crossing each other nearby at ''Erfurter Kreuz'' are the Bundesautobahn 4 (

Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , " Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on it ...

–Dresden) and the Bundesautobahn 71 (Schweinfurt–Sangerhausen). Together with the east tangent both motorways form a circle road around the city and lead the interregional traffic around the centre. Whereas the A 4 was built in the 1930s, the A 71 came into being after the reunification in the 1990s and 2000s. In addition to both motorways there are two Bundesstraßen: the Bundesstraße 7 connects Erfurt parallel to A 4 with

Gotha Gotha () is the fifth-largest city in Thuringia, Germany, west of Erfurt and east of Eisenach with a population of 44,000. The city is the capital of the Gotha (district), district of Gotha and was also a residence of the Ernestine House of Wet ...

in the west and

Weimar Weimar is a city in the state of Thuringia, Germany. It is located in Central Germany between Erfurt in the west and Jena in the east, approximately southwest of Leipzig, north of Nuremberg and west of Dresden. Together with the neighbouri ...

in the east. The Bundesstraße 4 is a connection between Erfurt and Nordhausen in the north. Its southern part to Coburg was annulled when A 71 was finished (in this section, the A 71 now effectively serves as B 4). Within the circle road, B 7 and B 4 are also annulled, so that the city government has to pay for maintenance instead of the German federal government. The access to the city is restricted as ' since 2012 for some vehicles. Large parts of the inner city are a pedestrian area which can not be reached by car (except for residents).

By light rail and bus

The Erfurt public transport system is marked by the area-wide (light rail) network, established as a tram system in 1883, upgraded to a light rail (') system in 1997, and continually expanded and upgraded through the 2000s. Today, there are six ''Stadtbahn'' lines running every ten minutes on every light rail route. Additionally, Erfurt operates a bus system, which connects the sparsely populated outer districts of the region to the city center. Both systems are organized by ''SWE EVAG'', a transit company owned by the city administration. Trolleybuses were in service in Erfurt from 1948 until 1975, but are no longer in service.

By airplane

Erfurt-Weimar Airport lies west of the city centre. It is linked to the central train station via Stadtbahn (tram). It was significantly extended in the 1990s, with flights mostly to Mediterranean holiday destinations and to London during the peak Christmas market tourist season. Connections to longer haul flights are easily accessible via Frankfurt Airport, which can be reached in 2 hours via a direct train from Frankfurt Airport to Erfurt, and from Leipzig Halle Airport, Leipzig/Halle Airport, which can be reached within half an hour.

By bike

Biking is becoming increasingly popular since construction of high quality cycle tracks began in the 1990s. There are cycle lanes for general commuting within Erfurt city. Long-distance trails, such as the ''Gera track'' and the ' (Thuringian cities trail), connect points of tourist interest. The former runs along the

Gera Gera is a city in the German state of Thuringia. With around 93,000 inhabitants, it is the third-largest city in Thuringia after Erfurt and Jena as well as the easternmost city of the ''Thüringer Städtekette'', an almost straight string of cit ...

river valley from the

Thuringian forest The Thuringian Forest (''Thüringer Wald'' in German), is a mountain range in the southern parts of the German state of Thuringia, running northwest to southeast. Skirting from its southerly source in foothills to a gorge on its north-west side i ...

to the river Unstrut; the latter follows the medieval

Via Regia The Via Regia (Royal Highway) is a European Cultural Route following the route of the historic road of the Middle Ages. There were many such ''viae regiae'' associated with the king in the medieval Holy Roman Empire. History Origins The V ...

from

Eisenach Eisenach () is a town in Thuringia, Germany with 42,000 inhabitants, located west of Erfurt, southeast of Kassel and northeast of Frankfurt. It is the main urban centre of western Thuringia and bordering northeastern Hessian regions, situat ...

to Altenburg via

Gotha Gotha () is the fifth-largest city in Thuringia, Germany, west of Erfurt and east of Eisenach with a population of 44,000. The city is the capital of the Gotha (district), district of Gotha and was also a residence of the Ernestine House of Wet ...

, Erfurt,

Weimar Weimar is a city in the state of Thuringia, Germany. It is located in Central Germany between Erfurt in the west and Jena in the east, approximately southwest of Leipzig, north of Nuremberg and west of Dresden. Together with the neighbouri ...

, and

Jena Jena () is a German city and the second largest city in Thuringia. Together with the nearby cities of Erfurt and Weimar, it forms the central metropolitan area of Thuringia with approximately 500,000 inhabitants, while the city itself has a po ...

. The Rennsteig Cycle Way was opened in 2000. This designated high-grade hiking and bike trail runs along the ridge of the Thuringian Central Uplands. The bike trail, about long, occasionally departs from the course of the historic Rennsteig hiking trail, which dates back to the 1300s, to avoid steep inclines. It is therefore about longer than the hiking trail. The Rennsteig is connected to the E3 European long distance path, which goes from the Atlantic coast of Spain to the Black Sea coast of Bulgaria, and the E6 European long distance path, running from Arctic Finland to Turkey.

Education

After reunification, the educational system was reorganized. The

University of Erfurt The University of Erfurt (german: Universität Erfurt) is a public university located in Erfurt, the capital city of the German state of Thuringia. It was founded in 1379, and closed in 1816. It was re-established in 1994, three years after Germ ...

, founded in 1379 and closed in 1816, was refounded in 1994 with a focus on social sciences, modern languages, humanities and teacher training. Today there are approximately 6,000 students working within four faculties, the Max Weber Center for Advanced Cultural and Social Studies, and three academic research institutes. The university has an international reputation and participates in international student exchange programmes. The ''Fachhochschule Erfurt'', is a Fachhochschule, university of applied sciences, founded in 1991, which offers a combination of academic training and practical experience in subjects such as social work and social pedagogy, business studies, and engineering. There are nearly 5,000 students in six faculties, of which the faculty of landscaping and horticulture has a national reputation. The International University of Applied Sciences Bad Honnef - Bonn, International University of Applied Sciences Bad Honnef – Bonn (IUBH), is a privately run university with a focus on business and economics. It merged with the former Adam-Ries-Fachhochschule in 2013. The world renowned

Bauhaus The Staatliches Bauhaus (), commonly known as the Bauhaus (), was a German art school operational from 1919 to 1933 that combined crafts and the fine arts.Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 4th edn., 20 ...

design school was founded in 1919 in the city of

Weimar Weimar is a city in the state of Thuringia, Germany. It is located in Central Germany between Erfurt in the west and Jena in the east, approximately southwest of Leipzig, north of Nuremberg and west of Dresden. Together with the neighbouri ...

, approximately from Erfurt, 12 minutes by train. The buildings are now part of a

World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...

and are today used by the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar, which teaches design, arts, media and technology related subjects. Furthermore, there are eight ', six state-owned, one Catholic and one Protestant (Evangelisches Ratsgymnasium Erfurt). One of the state-owned schools is a ', an elite boarding school for young talents in athletics, swimming, ice skating or football. Another state-owned school, ', offers a focus in sciences as an elite boarding school in addition to the common curriculum.

Media

The German national public television children's channel ''

KiKa KiKA (contraction of ''Der KinderKAnal von ARD und ZDF'' ARD and ZDF">ARD_(broadcaster).html" ;"title="he Children's Channel of ARD (broadcaster)">ARD and ZDF]) is a German free-to-air television channel based in Erfurt, Germany. It is man ...

'' is based in Erfurt. MDR, Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk, a radio and television company, has a broadcast centre and studios in Erfurt. The Thüringer Allgemeine is a statewide newspaper that is headquartered in the city.

Politics

Mayor and city council

2018 Erfurt mayoral election (2nd round)

The first freely elected mayor after German reunification was Manfred Ruge of the Christian Democratic Union of Germany, Christian Democratic Union, who served from 1990 to 2006. Since 2006, Andreas Bausewein of the Social Democratic Party of Germany, Social Democratic Party (SPD) has been mayor. The most recent mayoral election was held on 15 April 2018, with a runoff held on 29 April, and the results were as follows: ! rowspan=2 colspan=2, Candidate ! rowspan=2, Party ! colspan=2, First round ! colspan=2, Second round , - ! Votes ! % ! Votes ! % , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Andreas Bausewein , align=left, Social Democratic Party of Germany, Social Democratic Party , 25,450 , 30.4 , 35,432 , 58.5 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Marion Walsmann , align=left, Christian Democratic Union of Germany, Christian Democratic Union , 18,348 , 21.9 , 25,118 , 41.5 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Stefan Möller , align=left, Alternative for Germany , 12,077 , 14.4 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Karola Stange , align=left, The Left (Germany), The Left , 9,312 , 11.1 , - , , align=left, Sebastian Perdelwitz , align=left, Better City Erfurt , 7,963 , 9.5 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Alexander Thumfart , align=left, Alliance 90/The Greens , 5,323 , 6.4 , - , , align=left, Daniel Stassny , align=left, Free Voters / Pirate Party Germany, Pirate Party , 3,519 , 4.2 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Marko Enke , align=left, Free Democratic Party (Germany), Free Democratic Party , 1,709 , 2.0 , - ! colspan=3, Valid votes ! 83,701 ! 99.3 ! 60,550 ! 98.0 , - ! colspan=3, Invalid votes ! 562 ! 0.7 ! 1,240 ! 2.0 , - ! colspan=3, Total ! 84,263 ! 100.0 ! 61,790 ! 100.0 , - ! colspan=3, Electorate/voter turnout ! 172,908 ! 48.7 ! 172,562 ! 35.8 , - , colspan=7, Source
Wahlen in Thüringen
2019 Erfurt City Council election

The most recent city council election was held on 26 May 2019, and the results were as follows: ! colspan=2, Party ! Lead candidate ! Votes ! % ! +/- ! Seats ! +/- , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Christian Democratic Union of Germany, Christian Democratic Union (CDU) , align=left, Michael Panse , 56,789 , 19.6 , 5.1 , 10 , 2 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Social Democratic Party of Germany, Social Democratic Party (SPD) , align=left, Andreas Bausewein , 49,627 , 17.1 , 11.6 , 9 , 6 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, The Left (Germany), The Left (Die Linke) , align=left, Matthias Bärwolff , 47,742 , 16.5 , 5.5 , 8 , 3 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Alternative for Germany (AfD) , align=left, Stefan Möller , 43,069 , 14.9 , 10.4 , 7 , 5 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Alliance 90/The Greens (Grüne) , align=left, Astrid Rothe-Beinlich , 34,318 , 11.8 , 2.1 , 6 , 1 , - , , align=left, Better City Erfurt (M) , align=left, Tina Morgenroth , 21,303 , 7.3 , New , 4 , New , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Free Democratic Party (Germany), Free Democratic Party (FDP) , align=left, Thomas Kemmerich , 15,513 , 5.4 , 2.9 , 3 , 2 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Free Voters (FW) , align=left, Daniel Stassny , 14,454 , 5.0 , 1.6 , 2 , ±0 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Pirate Party Germany (Piraten) , align=left, Peter Städter , 5,472 , 1.9 , 0.2 , 1 , ±0 , - , bgcolor=#0B6623, , align=left, The III. Path , align=left, Enrico Biczysko , 1,635 , 0.6 , New , 0 , New , - ! colspan=3, Valid votes ! 97,492 ! 96.8 ! ! ! , - ! colspan=3, Invalid votes ! 3,232 ! 3.2 ! ! ! , - ! colspan=3, Total ! 100,724 ! 100.0 ! ! 50 ! ±0 , - ! colspan=3, Electorate/voter turnout ! 172,389 ! 58.4 ! 11.1 ! ! , - , colspan=8, Source
Wahlen in Thüringen

Twin towns – sister cities

Erfurt is Sister city, twinned with: * Győr, Hungary (1971) * Vilnius, Lithuania (1972) * Kalisz, Poland (1982) *

Mainz Mainz () is the capital and largest city of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Mainz is on the left bank of the Rhine, opposite to the place that the Main joins the Rhine. Downstream of the confluence, the Rhine flows to the north-west, with Ma ...

, Germany (1988) * Lille, France (1991) * Shawnee, Kansas, Shawnee, United States (1993) * San Miguel de Tucumán, Argentina (1993) * Lovech, Bulgaria (1996) * Haifa, Israel (2000) * Xuzhou, China (2005) * Kati, Mali (2011)

Notable people

*''See: List of people from Erfurt''

Footnotes

References

Bibliography

External links

Erfurt City Panoramas
– Panoramic Views and virtual Tours
Kraemerbruecke

with Shawnee, Kansas
World Shots. Germany. Erfurt.
– Collection of photographs (English, Russian, Hebrew)
Memorial and Museum Topf & Sons.
– Builders of the Auschwitz Oven

- Eran Laor Cartographic Collection, The National Library of Israel i
Historic Cities Research Project
{{Authority control Erfurt, German state capitals Medieval German architecture Members of the Hanseatic League Holocaust locations in Germany