Erfurt · DE
Erfurt Highlights: Medieval Old Town, Cathedral Hill & Luther
Cross the storied Merchants' Bridge, climb to the twin churches, and walk in Luther's footsteps through Thuringia's medieval capital.
What's the walk about?
Welcome to Erfurt, the capital of Thuringia and one of Germany's most astonishingly intact medieval cities. On this highlights walk you'll wander a compact, walkable loop through an Altstadt that survived the centuries almost untouched: a tangle of cobbled lanes, merchant houses, and church spires that Martin Luther himself once knew. We'll begin high on the cathedral hill, where the twin churches of the Mariendom and the Severikirche rise together above the great stone stair of the Domplatz, then descend into the living old town below. Along the way you'll cross the famous Krämerbrücke, still lined and inhabited with half-timbered houses; stand in the Fischmarkt beneath the Roland statue and the Rathaus; step into one of Europe's oldest synagogues; and follow Luther's own footsteps into the Augustinian monastery where he trained as a monk. From the baroque ramparts of the Petersberg Citadel to the bustle of the Anger boulevard, this is Erfurt's essential story told in a single, satisfying circuit.
What you'll see
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1
Erfurt Cathedral (Mariendom)
cathedral
A soaring Gothic cathedral crowning Erfurt's hilltop, reached by a grand open staircase and famed for the largest medieval bell still ringing anywhere in the world.
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2
St. Severus Church (Severikirche)
Church
A soaring Gothic hall church of three pointed spires standing shoulder to shoulder with the cathedral on Erfurt's Domberg. Inside waits one of the tallest baptismal canopies in Germany, a slender tower of carved stone that almost brushes the vault.
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3
Fischmarkt with the Rathaus and Roland
square
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.
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4
Old Synagogue (Alte Synagoge)
Museum
Hidden in a quiet courtyard off the Fischmarkt, this plain stone building is one of the oldest synagogues in Europe, with timbers dated to 1094. Forgotten for centuries and therefore preserved, it now guards the dazzling medieval Erfurt Treasure.
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5
Merchants' Bridge (Krämerbrücke)
bridge
A medieval stone bridge lined end to end with inhabited half-timbered houses, where the river vanishes beneath a cobbled shopping lane. It is the longest continuously inhabited bridge in Europe.
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6
Wenigemarkt
square
A snug triangular square at the eastern foot of the Krämerbrücke, ringed by half-timbered facades and warmed by cafe tables. Its little bronze fountain and the leaning church tower give it the feel of an outdoor living room.
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7
Allerheiligenkirche (All Saints' Church)
Church
A slender Gothic hall church at the fork of two medieval streets, its walls deliberately skewed to fit the plot, crowned by the tallest tower in Erfurt's old town and home since 2007 to Germany's first Catholic columbarium.
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8
Predigerkirche (Church of the Preachers)
Church
A vast, austere Gothic hall without a single external buttress, the working home of the medieval mystic Meister Eckhart and once a prisoner-of-war camp, its postwar windows pieced together from salvaged glass shards.
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