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Erfurt
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Erfurt is a city in central Germany. It is the capital of the state of Thuringia with a population of 202,929 (2007). Erfurt is located 100 km SW of Leipzig, 150 km N of Nürnberg and 180 km SE of Hannover. Erfurt Airport can be reached by plane via Munich.
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.
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Encyclopedia
Erfurt is a city in central Germany. It is the capital of the state of Thuringia with a population of 202,929 (2007). Erfurt is located 100 km SW of Leipzig, 150 km N of Nürnberg and 180 km SE of Hannover. Erfurt Airport can be reached by plane via Munich.
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 the hilly forest of 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 1349, during the wave of pogroms which followed the Black Plague across Europe, the Jews of Erfurt were rounded up, with more than 100 killed and the rest driven from the city. Recently, the medieval synagogue have been discovered beneath newer buildings, and are being restored until 2009.
In 1392 the University of Erfurt, where Martin Luther was matriculated, was founded, which was famous in its time, became defunct in 1816, and was refounded in 1994 by the Thuringian state parliament.
Erfurt became part of the Kingdom of Prussia in 1802, part of the First French Empire in 1806 as Principality of Erfurt, and was returned to Prussia in 1815 after the Napoleonic Wars. Although enclosed by Thuringian territory in the west, south and east, the city remained part of the Prussian Province of Saxony until 1944. The city was the site of the failed Erfurt Union of German states in 1850.
On April 12, 1945, during World War II, Erfurt was taken by units of the U.S. Third Army under General George Patton. On July 3, American troops left the city and it was occupied by the Soviet Red Army. In contrast to most other major German cities, Erfurt suffered only limited damage from Allied air raids during the war. Erfurt fell in the Soviet Zone of occupation, which would later become East Germany.
After German reunification, Erfurt became the capital of the re-established state of Thuringia.
On April 26, 2002, the student Robert Steinhäuser killed thirteen teachers, two students, a police officer and himself at Erfurt's Gutenberg-Gymnasium school (see Erfurt massacre).
Main sights
Erfurt has preserved an intact medieval city centre.
Erfurt is symbolised by the two churches, Erfurt Cathedral (Mariendom) and 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 called Domstufen.
Another remarkable site is the Krämerbrücke, a bridge crossing the narrow Gera River. The bridge is covered with 32 inhabited buildings. It was built in 1325 with a church on either bridgehead, one of which, the Ägidienkirche, is still functional.
The Augustinerkloster is an old Augustinian monastery. Martin Luther studied at the university and lived in the Augustinerkloster for a few years after 1505.
The eleventh century Erfurt Synagogue is thought to be the oldest synagogue building still standing in Europe. It is now a museum displaying the Erfurt Treasure.
Culture
Martin Luther attended the University of Erfurt and received his bachelor's and master's degrees of theology there. Luther lived there as a student from 1501 to 1511 and, as a monk, from 1505 to 1511.
Erfurt is the birthplace of one of Johann Sebastian Bach's cousins, Johann Bernhard Bach, as well as Johann Sebastian Bach's father Johann Ambrosius Bach. Bach's parents were married in 1668 in a small church, the Kaufmannskirche (Merchant's Church), that still exists on the main square, Anger. Meister Eckhart and the economist and sociologist Max Weber was born there in 1864.
Johann Pachelbel served as organist at the Prediger church in Erfurt. Pachelbel composed approximately seventy pieces for organ while in Erfurt. After 1906 the composer Richard Wetz lived in Erfurt and became the leading person in the town's musical life. His major works were written here, including three symphonies, a Requiem and a Christmas Oratorio.
Erfurt Theater
Since 2003, the modern new built opera house is home of Theater Erfurt 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 by Philip Glass premiered in the opera house. The Erfurt Theater has been source of controversy recently. In 2005 a performance of Humperdinck's opera Hänsel und Gretel stirred up the local press since the performance contained suggestions of pedophilia and incest. The opera was advertised in the program with the addition "for adults only".
On April 12, 2008, a version of Verdi's opera Un ballo in maschera directed by Johann Kresnik opened at the Erfurt Theater. The production stirred deep controversy by featuring nude performers in Mickey Mouse masks dancing on the ruins of the World Trade Center and a female singer with a painted on Hitler toothbrush moustache performing a straight arm Nazi salute, along with sinister portrayals of American soldiers, Uncle Sam, and Elvis Presley 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 premiere was sold out.
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 (via Weimar, Naumburg, Halle and Wittenberg), Dresden (via Weimar, Naumburg, Leipzig and Riesa), Frankfurt am Main (via Gotha, Eisenach, Bebra, Fulda and Hanau), Würzburg (via Arnstadt, Suhl, Meiningen, Bad Neustadt and Schweinfurt), Ilmenau, Saalfeld, Nordhausen (via Sondershausen), Magdeburg (via Sömmerda, Sangerhausen, Staßfurt and Schönebeck), Bad Langensalza and Kassel/Göttingen (via Mühlhausen, Leinefelde-Worbis and Heiligenstadt).
Twin towns
- Gyor, Hungary, since 1971
- Vilnius, Lithuania, since 1972
- Kalisz, Poland, since 1982
- Mainz, Germany, since 1988
- Lille, France, since 1991
- Shawnee, United States, since 1993
- San Miguel de Tucumán, Argentina, since 1993
- Lovech, Bulgaria, since 1996
- Haifa, Israel, since 2000
- Xuzhou, People's Republic of China, since 2005
External links
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- - Panoramic Views and virtual Tours
- with Shawnee, Kansas
- - Collection of photographs (English, Russian, Hebrew)
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