ERFURT

'Erfurt' is a city in central Germany. It is the capital of the state of Thuringia with a population of 202,619 (2006).
Erfurt is located 100 km SW of Leipzig, 113 km SE of Kassel and 180 km SE of Hannover. Erfurt Airport can be reached by plane via Munich, Cologne, Düsseldorf and Hamburg.

Contents

Geography

History

Main sights

Culture

Transport

External links

References

Geography

Since the Reunification of Germany on October 3, 1990, Erfurt is the main city nearest to the geographical centre of the country. It lies in the southern part of the Thuringian Basin, within the wide valley of Gera River, a tributary of the Unstrut. To the south, the city is surrounded by hilly forest ("Steigerwald").

History

Erfurt was first mentioned in 742 under the name of "Erphesfurt". It was an important trading town during the Middle Ages near a ford across the Gera river. Together with the other five Thuringian woad-towns of Gotha, Tennstedt, Arnstadt and Langensalza it was the centre of the German woad trade. In 1392 Erfurt University was founded, which was famous in its time, became defunct in 1816, and was refounded in 1994 by the Thuringian state parliament. In 1802 Erfurt became a part of Prussia, in 1806 a part of France and in 1815 again a part of Prussia. Although enclosed by Thuringian territory, the city remained Prussian until 1944. On April 12, 1945, Erfurt was taken by units of the U.S. Third Army under general George Patton. On July 3, 1945, American troops left the city and it was occupied by the Red Army. Erfurt fell in the Soviet Zone of occupation, which would later become the GDR. After German reunification Erfurt became the capital of the re-established state of Thuringia.
In contrast to most other major German cities, Erfurt suffered only limited damage from Allied air raids during World War II.
On April 26, 2002 the student Robert Steinhäuser killed 13 teachers, 2 students, a police officer and himself at the Gutenberg-Gymnasium school (see Erfurt massacre).

Main sights

Erfurt has preserved an intact medieval city centre.
Erfurt is symbolised by the two churches, the ''Mariendom'' and the ''Severikirche'', which stand directly side by side and together form the emblem of the city. Both churches tower above the townscape and are accessible via huge open stairs.
Another remarkable site is the Krämerbrücke, a bridge crossing the narrow Gera River. The bridge is covered with inhabited buildings. It was built in 1325 with a church on either bridgehead, one of which still functional.
The ''Augustinerkloster'' is an old Augustinian monastery. Martin Luther studied in the Augustinerkloster for a few years after 1505.

Culture

Martin Luther attended the University of Erfurt and received his bachelor's and master's degrees there. Luther lived there as a student from 1501-1511 and as a monk from 1505–1511.
Erfurt is the birthplace of one of Johann Sebastian Bach's cousins, Johann Bernhard Bach (1676–1749), Johann Sebastian Bach's father Johann Ambrosius Bach (1645–1695), Meister Eckhart and also sociologist Max Weber (1864–1920). Bach's parents were married in a small church that still exists on the main square, Anger.
Johann Pachelbel served as organist at the Prediger church in Erfurt. Pachelbel composed approximately seventy pieces for organ while in Erfurt. Since 1906 the composer Richard Wetz (1875-1935) lived in Erfurt and became the leading person in the town's musical life. His major works were written here, too, so three symphonies, a Requiem and a Christmas Oratorio.
In 1349, during the wave of pogroms which followed the Black Plague across Europe, the Jews of Erfurt were rounded up, more than 100 killed and the rest driven from the city, and the ghetto burned. Recently, the remains of the medieval synagogue have been discovered beneath newer buildings, and are being restored.
Erfurt is an important population centre in the fictional United States of Europe in the popular thought provoking alternate history book series based on the novel 1632. It is the major city of substantial size located nearest (to the displaced in time and space) town of Grantville, WV whose citizens are the joint protagonists unifying Germany and introducing the industrial revolution'' 'a few centuries early' '' during the complications posed by the Thirty years war.

Transport

Erfurt lies on two Bundesstraßen (federal motorways):

★ Bundesstraße 4 from Ilmenau in south to Nordhausen in north and

★ Bundesstraße 7 from Gotha in west to Weimar in east.
Also there are two Autobahnen crossing each other at ''Erfurter Kreuz'' nearby: The Bundesautobahn 4 from Frankfurt am Main to Dresden and the Bundesautobahn 71 from Würzburg to Sangerhausen (and Halle (Saale) via Bundesautobahn 38).
There have been trams in the city since 1883. Today there are seven tram lines to most of the parts of Erfurt.
Railways run from Erfurt station to Berlin (through Weimar, Halle and Wittenberg), Dresden (through Weimar, Leipzig and Riesa), Frankfurt am Main (through Gotha, Eisenach, Bebra, Fulda and Hanau), Würzburg (through Arnstadt, Suhl, Bad Neustadt and Schweinfurt), Ilmenau, Saalfeld, Nordhausen (through Sondershausen), Magdeburg (through Sömmerda, Sangerhausen, Staßfurt and Schönebeck), Bad Langensalza and Kassel/Göttingen (through Mühlhausen, Leinefelde-Worbis and Heiligenstadt).

External links

★ Official website (German, English, French)

★ Erfurt City Panoramas - Panoramic Views and virtual Tours

★ Kraemerbruecke

★ Sister City (since 1993) with Shawnee, Kansas

★ World Shots. Germany. Erfurt. - Collection of photographs (English, Russian, Hebrew)

References

1. Population of Thuringia by district Thüringer Landesamt
für Statistik