Erfurt: Simple, Unspoiled Germany

By Rick Steves
View of Erfurt, Germany
Stained Glass Window, Erfurt, Germany
At Preachers' Church, the colorful stained-glass windows shattered during World War II have been beautifully salvaged. (photo: Rick Steves)


The capital of the German region of Thuringia, Erfurt has history swinging from its eaves. It's most notable as the place where Martin Luther studied and became a monk, essentially planting the roots that set into motion the Protestant Reformation. It's also the rare city in the center of Germany that emerged relatively unscathed from World War II,  after which it became stuck in the strange cocoon of East German communism for half a century. Because of this, Erfurt has a surprising time-capsule quality.

I arrived in Erfurt by train. After spending the previous week in Hard Rock Café Munich, Climb Every Mountain Salzburg, and Boys' Choir Vienna, I was excited to be in a city that was unfamiliar.


To orient myself, I took a walk through the city, starting in the main shopping square called Anger. Meaning "Meadow," the name evokes the grazing land that once sprawled just outside the city walls. Famished, I dropped by a characteristic bratwurst stand to buy a Thüringer brat, a long, skinny pork sausage. The man paused until I realized I was supposed to pick up and spread open my roll so he could place the sausage in it. I beaded it with hearty mustard and then snuck in a little ketchup (a tourist move, I admit). Purists put only the locally made Born brand mustard on their brat.


As I explored, it started sinking in: I wasn't in quaint, beer-and-pretzel Bavaria anymore. Erfurt has that old Tupperware aura of East Germany. People seemed more hardscrabble, less exposed to the world. English was suddenly very foreign. I hadn't heard an American voice all day. Despite being very popular among German tourists and Martin Luther pilgrims, Erfurt remains largely undiscovered by American visitors.

I walked across the Merchants' Bridge that spans the river. Unlike the famous shop-lined Ponte Vecchio in Florence, people actually make their homes along this bridge. As in ages past, the residents live upstairs and run shops downstairs, such as at Theatrum Mundi, featuring the brilliant work of puppetmaker Martin Gobsch. For €1, I saw an intricately detailed, fully articulated rendering of Snow White.



My walk through Erfurt culminated on the vast Cathedral Square, dominated by twin churches — the Church of St. Severus and the cathedral where Martin Luther was ordained a priest. As I soaked up the scene, I was enveloped by the sounds of an opera troupe rehearsing on the square while the dark churches rung with the sound of pipe organists practicing. 
