Why was Erfurt important in the Middle Ages?

Its wealth came from woad, the blue dye traded through the city's own markets; by the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries it held eighteen to twenty thousand people, a size in the medieval empire exceeded only by Cologne, Nuremberg and Magdeburg.

What is Erfurt's connection to Martin Luther?

He arrived in April 1501 to study at the university, took his master's degree in 1505, and that same July asked to be admitted to the Augustinerkloster — the beginning of the path that led, by way of Wittenberg, to the Reformation.

When was Erfurt's bishopric founded?

In 755, a year after Bonifatius — who had asked for it — was killed by Frisian raiders; it was folded into the archdiocese of Mainz almost at once, and the cathedral has answered to Mainz ever since.

Is the University of Erfurt Germany's oldest?

It counts itself so, on the strength of its 1379 founding charter — six years before Heidelberg's and nine before Cologne's.

What are the main sights in Erfurt's old town?

Cathedral Hill (the Dom St. Marien and the Severikirche), the Krämerbrücke, the Zitadelle Petersberg and the Augustinerkloster — the sights a day trip from Weimar plans around.

Erfurt

20km West

About Erfurt

Erfurt, Thuringia's state capital, sits twenty kilometres west of Weimar and grew on the medieval woad and wool trade into one of the empire's largest cities, behind only Cologne, Nuremberg and Magdeburg. Its old town survived largely whole: a cathedral and a five-naved Gothic hall church share one hill above the Domplatz, a stone bridge built in 1325 still carries houses and shops across the Breitstrom, and a baroque citadel crowns the skyline above both.

A bishopric founded the year its founder died, 742–755

Bonifatius named the settlement, already an old fortified place, in a letter to Pope Zacharias II in 742: a third bishopric alongside two others he had established, in loco Erphesfurt, which he called a place that had long been a stronghold of pagan farmers. He was killed by Frisian raiders at Dokkum in 754, and the bishopric of Erfurt he had asked for was founded the following year, 755 — then folded into the archdiocese of Mainz almost at once.^[1] The cathedral has answered to Mainz ever since.

A great city built on dye, 13th–15th century

From the thirteenth century Erfurt's wealth came from woad, the blue dye grown across the Thuringian Basin and traded through the city's own markets. By the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries the city held eighteen to twenty thousand people, a size in the medieval empire exceeded only by Cologne, Nuremberg and Magdeburg.^[1] Erfurt's university followed the same money: Pope Clement VII granted its founding charter in 1379, six years before Heidelberg's and nine before Cologne's, and the city opened it in 1392, uniting philosophy, theology, medicine and law under one roof. The university counts itself the oldest in today's Germany on the strength of that charter.^[2]

Luther's university town, 1501–1505

Martin Luther arrived in April 1501, seventeen years old, to study at Erfurt's university; he took his bachelor's degree the next year and his master's in 1505.^[3] That same year, in July, he asked to be admitted to the Augustinian monastery here — the beginning of the path that led, by way of Wittenberg, to the Reformation.

What the city offers a visitor

The old town Erfurt built on wool and woad is still there to walk: the cathedral and Severikirche on their shared hill, the Krämerbrücke's shops crossing the river on stone arches nearly seven hundred years old, the citadel on the Petersberg above it all, and the Alte Synagoge holding the city's medieval Jewish history in a building that never stopped standing. egapark and the Thuringian Zoo give a day here a slower half.

Questions visitors ask

How far is Erfurt from Weimar?: About twenty kilometres west.
Why was Erfurt important in the Middle Ages?: Its wealth came from woad, the blue dye traded through the city's own markets; by the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries it held eighteen to twenty thousand people, a size in the medieval empire exceeded only by Cologne, Nuremberg and Magdeburg.^[1]
What is Erfurt's connection to Martin Luther?: He arrived in April 1501 to study at the university, took his master's degree in 1505, and that same July asked to be admitted to the Augustinerkloster — the beginning of the path that led, by way of Wittenberg, to the Reformation.^[3]
When was Erfurt's bishopric founded?: In 755, a year after Bonifatius — who had asked for it — was killed by Frisian raiders; it was folded into the archdiocese of Mainz almost at once, and the cathedral has answered to Mainz ever since.^[1]
Is the University of Erfurt Germany's oldest?: It counts itself so, on the strength of its 1379 founding charter — six years before Heidelberg's and nine before Cologne's.^[2]
What are the main sights in Erfurt's old town?: Cathedral Hill (the Dom St. Marien and the Severikirche), the Krämerbrücke, the Zitadelle Petersberg and the Augustinerkloster — the sights a day trip from Weimar plans around.

Sources

Erfurt — Wikipedia, retrieved 30 August 2026
Geschichte der Universität Erfurt — Universität Erfurt, retrieved 30 August 2026
Martin Luther in Erfurt — Stadt Erfurt, retrieved 30 August 2026

Quick Information

Distance from Weimar

20km West

Population

215,199 residents

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Highlights & Attractions

Cathedral Hill: the Dom St. Marien and the Severikirche, side by side above the Domplatz

The Krämerbrücke, rebuilt in stone in 1325, the only bridge north of the Alps still built up with houses on both sides

Zitadelle Petersberg, one of the largest and best-preserved baroque town fortresses in central Europe

The Augustinerkloster, where Martin Luther lived as a monk from 1505 to 1508

The Alte Synagoge, part of it dating from around 1094, part of Erfurt's medieval Jewish heritage inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage list in September 2023

The University of Erfurt, chartered in 1379, six years before Heidelberg's, and opened in 1392

The neo-Gothic Rathaus on the Fischmarkt, its murals telling the city's own legends and history

egapark and the Thuringian Zoo

Historical Significance

A bishopric founded in 755 and, on the strength of the woad dye trade, one of the largest cities of the medieval empire; Thuringia's state capital since 1991.