Krämerbrücke
About This Site
The Krämerbrücke is the oldest secular building in Erfurt and one of its best-known landmarks: a pedestrian bridge over the Breitstrom, closed in on both sides by half-timbered houses, joining the Benediktsplatz to the Wenigemarkt.[1] First mentioned in 1117 and rebuilt in stone in 1325, it is the only bridge north of the Alps built up with houses and lived in, once with 62 of them and today with 32.[2] Potters, woodcarvers and glassblowers still show and sell their work here, beside speciality shops and galleries.[3]
A wooden market bridge at the ford, 1110–1293
The bridge arose beside a ford through the Gera and was part of the Via Regia, the trade route from west to east. Built first of wood, it is first mentioned in 1117, after one of its many fires; the first record of its name as pons rerum venalium, a bridge of goods for sale, dates from 1156, and traders had set up stalls to left and right even on the wooden bridge. The chapel of St Aegidius at its eastern end is first mentioned in 1110. After fires in 1175, 1178, 1213, 1222, 1245, 1265 and 1293, the city council bought all the rights to the bridge from the monasteries in 1293 so that it could build in stone.[1] In the Middle Ages the merchants here sold luxury goods from near and far, among them silk, spices, dyes and precious metals.[4]
Six vaults of stone, 1293–1325
The new arch bridge, 79 metres long and built of limestone and sandstone, rests on six visible barrel vaults with spans of 4.8 to 7.8 metres. It was finished in 1325, at first with timber stalls on it in which no one lived. At its two ends stood stone churches with gateways: the Benediktikirche in the west and the Ägidienkirche in the east.[1]
Sixty-two houses after the fire of 1472, 1472–1510
The city fire of 1472 destroyed half of Erfurt and the houses on the bridge. The Krämerbrücke was rebuilt in its present form, but with 62 half-timbered buildings; to make the three-storey houses, 13 to 15 metres high, more habitable, timber struts set beside the vaults gave them greater depth. Completed in 1486, the bridge has since been about 26 metres wide, with a street 5.5 metres wide between the rows of houses, and by 1510 at the latest the name Krämerbrücke was in common use.[1]
Herbs, woad and street music, 1325–1624
For about a century after the stone bridge was built its stalls sold mainly local produce, and Erfurt's monasteries kept stalls there for herbs, wine and vegetables. Later came paper, goldsmiths' work, silk, spices and frankincense from far away, and the woad for which Erfurt was renowned was sold here to traders who carried the dye across Europe. In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries toymakers, furriers, trimmings makers and tanners worked on the bridge, and in 1624 the city council allowed street musicians to play on and around it, as they still do.[5]
Fewer houses and a lost church, 18th century–1952
Houses were merged and rebuilt after fires, so that by the eighteenth century their number had fallen to 38; today 32 remain. The Benediktikirche was sold in 1807 and pulled down in 1810 to make way for a house; its tower gave way in 1895 to the new Rathausbrücke alongside, and the city even considered demolishing the whole bridge. After damage from American artillery in April 1945, houses 12 and 13 were pulled down and rebuilt in 1952, when the timber struts of the neighbouring houses had to be replaced with trunks 11.5 metres long.[1] Of the two bridgehead churches only the Ägidienkirche at the eastern end still stands.[4]
Caring for a monument, 1967–2025
In the GDR the bridge received special care as a monument: all its houses were restored between 1967 and 1973, and the vaulted bridge itself was repaired in 1985 and 1986 and again in 2002. All the houses except numbers 15, 20, 24 and 33 belong to the city.[1] The Stiftung Krämerbrücke, founded in 1996, looks after the bridge and its houses,[4] with the aim of preserving both the fabric and the character of its use.[6] In the foundation's house, number 31, a permanent exhibition with a model of the bridge at 1:100 tells its history. In 2025 the stone bridge turned 700, marked among other things by a special postage stamp.[1]
Workshops, shops and the Krämerbrückenfest, today
The bridge was and still is a place where makers show and sell their crafts, in pottery, woodcarving and glassblowing workshops; speciality shops with regional and exotic goods and galleries invite visitors to linger, and the Erfurt tourist information stands directly by the bridge.[3] Erfurt's largest city festival, the Krämerbrückenfest, is named after the bridge and takes place around it and in the old town on the third weekend in June.[1] In 2026 it ran from 19 to 21 June, with live music on stages across the inner city and the historic bridge at its heart.[7]
Questions visitors ask
- When was the Krämerbrücke built in stone?
- After repeated fires on the wooden bridge, first mentioned in 1117, the city bought the bridge rights in 1293 and finished the stone bridge in 1325.[1]
- How many houses are on the Krämerbrücke?
- Thirty-two today. After the fire of 1472 the bridge was rebuilt with 62 half-timbered houses, and merging and rebuilding had reduced them to 38 by the eighteenth century.[1]
- What makes the Krämerbrücke unique?
- It is the only bridge north of the Alps that is built up and lived in along its length, and the longest bridge in Europe lined with houses all the way across.[2][1]
Sources (7)
- Krämerbrücke — Wikipedia, retrieved 13 September 2026
- Krämerbrücke — Stadt Erfurt, retrieved 13 September 2026
- Krämerbrücke — Erfurt Tourismus und Marketing GmbH, retrieved 13 September 2026
- Krämerbrücke — Erfurt-Lese, retrieved 13 September 2026
- Krämerbrücke — Wikipedia, retrieved 13 September 2026
- Krämerbrückenstiftung — Stadt Erfurt, retrieved 13 September 2026
- Krämerbrückenfest — Stadt Erfurt, retrieved 13 September 2026
Visit Information
Krämerbrücke, between Benediktsplatz and Wenigemarkt, 99084 Erfurt
50.9787, 11.0308
In the history of Erfurt
Historic sites
Waagegasse 8, 99084 Erfurt
The medieval Jewish quarter lay between the town hall, the Krämerbrücke and the Michaeliskirche, and the mikveh was rediscovered beside the bridge in 2007.
Fischmarkt, 99084 Erfurt
To the east the Fischmarkt passes into the Benediktsplatz, where the Krämerbrücke begins.
Around Weimar
20 km West
Erfurt's oldest secular building and the only bridge north of the Alps lived in along its length, lined with 32 half-timbered houses between the Benediktsplatz and the Wenigemarkt.