Erfurt is the capital city of Thuringia and the main city nearest to the geographical centre of Germany, located 100 km SW of Leipzig, 150 km N of Nuremberg and 180 km SE of Hannover. Erfurt Airport can be reached by plane via Munich. 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 Steigerwald forest.
In 2010, Erfurt had a population of over 200,000 and is part of the Erfurt-Weimar-Jena metropolitan area with a population of about 500,000.
Erfurt has preserved an intact medieval city centre. The city is known for its two churches, Erfurt Cathedral (Mariendom) and Severikirche, which stand 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. 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.
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. The city 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. The sociologist Max Weber was born in Erfurt, and the theologian and philosopher Meister Eckhart was Prior of Erfurt’s Dominican Order.
