Fischmarkt with the Rathaus and Roland
The ceremonial heart of Erfurt's old town, a compact square ringed by richly ornamented Renaissance merchant houses. At its centre a helmeted Roman warrior in stone has stood guard since 1591, watched over by the soaring neo-Gothic town hall.
About this place
Once the site of Erfurt's medieval fish trade, the Fischmarkt long ago became the civic stage of the city, the place where councils were sworn in, proclamations were read and citizens gathered. Its four sides preserve a remarkable cross-section of the city's building history, from the gabled Renaissance facades raised on the fortunes of the woad dye trade to the towering neo-Gothic Rathaus completed in the eighteen seventies. In the middle rises the figure the locals simply call the Römer, the Roman, a fully armed warrior bearing the city's flag who was set here in 1591 in front of the ornate Haus zum Breiten Herd. Though he is often nicknamed the Roland after the freedom statues of imperial cities, Erfurt never held that rank, which has earned him the affectionate label of Erfurt's false Roland. Together the statue, the merchant houses and the frescoed town hall make this square a compact lesson in five centuries of civic pride.
Key facts
- 1591 year — The armed 'Römer' statue was erected on the square in front of the Haus zum Breiten Herd
- 1874 year — The neo-Gothic town hall was completed after four years of construction
- 4 legends — The town hall's murals illustrate the tales of Faust, Luther, Tannhäuser and the Count of Gleichen
📍 Fischmarkt, 99084, Erfurt