25 churches, houses sitting on a medieval bridge and tunnels hiding underneath a giant fortress… Erfurt definitely has a LOT more going on than I expected!
Erfurt has a population of 211,113 (2018)
The old town is one of the best preserved medieval cities in Germany, you really feel like you are on a movie set while here
I couldn’t believe when I read this but there are 25 Churches in the city centre alone and when I counted the steeples from the castle walls I did count over 10 but didn’t know it would be that many in a small area
LOCATION
Erfurt is the largest city in the state of Thuringia in central Germany and the capital
The city sits city between Frankfurt and Leipzig, and only around 20 km from historic Weimar.
Unlike many other cities in Germany, it wasnt destroyed in WWII and we are so lucky to be able to enjoy the mix of medieval, baroque and neoclassical architecture mixed with modern buildings here
WONDERING WHERE TO STAY IN ERFURT?
Whether you want to sleep beside a medieval bridge, stay up on historic Petersberg or simply find somewhere cheap to dump the backpack, Erfurt has everything from gorgeous historic hotels to wallet-friendly stays!
| TYPE | HOTEL | INFO |
|---|---|---|
| 💰 SPLURGE | DAS KEHRS – Hotel auf dem Petersberg | Perfectly placed for exploring the citadel and walking into Erfurt’s gorgeous Old Town |
| 💶 MID-RANGE | Hotel Erfurt “Krämerbrücke” Altstadt | Right beside the famous Krämerbrücke bridge in Erfurt’s Old Town |
| 💸 BUDGET | OPERA Hostel | Useful for backpackers, solo travellers or anyone who would rather spend their money exploring the city than on the room |
ERFURT DOMPLATZ
Main market square Infront of the cathedral complex, there was a cute little vegetable and fruit market set up with the country farmers coming into the city to sell their wares… Love how they still do such a thing
The weather here was just so on and off, it was hot one min and then cold the next so I always have to be on guard with a jacket, but a beer stop when it starts pouring is never a bad thing 🙂
The houses here are so cute too! They are different than the cities up north with the pastel coloured walls and all basically the same height they are just so cute to look at and every photo comes out like a postcard!
KRAMERBRUCKE (MERCHANTS BRIDGE)
The bridge that disappeared! Its the longest bridge in Europe continuously lined with inhabited buildings!
A 15th century bridge is unique to this type of architecture, the bridge is totally covered by buildings and apparently you don’t see a lot of this in Germany. Walking across the bridge you see so many cute shops and looking up you see where people live and the building all have a crooked medieval look to them
THEY NEARLY DEMOLISHED THIS!!
As Erfurt modernised they seriously thought of demolishing this bridge… I would literally go up and pinch the person who even suggested this!!
Luckily… they didnt go through with the demolishing… modernisation pisses me off sometimes, i gotta admit that to you
ERFURT CATHEDRAL COMPLEX
It’s a huge view walking up to these buildings! The photo does not do it any justice at all, the Cathedral on the left looks huge and looms over the square
PETERSBERG CASTLE
This citadel is one of the best preserved town fortresses in Europe, it was huge! It’s 36 hectares in size to be exact and took.us a good 2hrs at least to walk around the whole complex (but we did take a lot of photos and explored as many tunnels and nooks as we could)
This place has such an interesting history! Building began by the Electorate of Mainz of the Roman Empire in 1665 and was built on the site of a Benedictine Monastery which date back to the 12th C.
The likes of Napoleon as well as Hitler, Prussia (1802) & Sweden at some stage have taken control and influenced the buildings and progression of the place at some point in history
We walked around the original walls (built 1665) which go on for over 2kms around the complex and had an awesome view of the city centre
There are tunnels built within these walls, they are called “listening tunnels” because there are no moats or trenches, the guards used to walk around and due to the way these tunnels were built the soldiers were able to listen to see if anyone was tunneling under / through the walls
I was already in awe after exploring the Cathedral complex but I couldn’t get sick of it seeing it from the walls of the castle
We walked through some of the tunnels connecting the seperate castles and other buildings in the complex, the way they are built blows my mind, the cobblestone and the sturdiness of the tunnel is brilliant, I really felt like I was back in the medieval ages
We decided to stay at the caravan park for the 2nd night tonight as it’s a great place, 10mins outside city centre with the tram (either #1 or 3), €10.30 for the 3 of us on the 1 ticket for a full day of travel, trams come every 3 or so minutes, so easy!
MY CAMPERVAN ACCOMMODATION
We stayed outside of the city in a privately owned small van park, was tough to park our van in! But enjoyed it here, shared bathroom at a close by house
The sunset at 10pm tonight was gorgeous while I watched from my deck chair while reading my book 🙂
Before I finish this blog, there is one story about Martin Luther…
A lightening bolt that changed history!
in 1505 he was apparently caught in a full on thunderstorm just outside Erfurt and he believed he was going to die! so he vowed to become a monk if he survived… and he did, and then shortly afterwards he entered the Erfurt Augustinian Monastery
Slow day… 15,365 steps
25JUN18
So beautiful Jazz.
I love the idea of the listening tunnels. That’s paranoia to the max.
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Yeah I know right?? It would have been hard living back then always thinking you were going to get a rock to the head 😳
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