July 2, 2023 - Germany
Erfurt

The monastery Luther attended wasn't all the town of Erfurt had to offer.  We did the Rick Steves' walking tour of Erfurt which was very nice and interesting.

 
   
This impressive building has been restored and now hosts the "Anger Museum".  No, it's not about being angry but contains paintings, applied arts, and medieval artifacts.  The building faces Anger Square – hence the name.  We did not go in for some reason.
   
Characters from Germany's public-television children's channel: KiKA (short for Kinder Kanal).  The kids are all over them
   
P13
   
The Wenigemarkt -- Little Market Square -- encircled with al fresco cafes.
   

Multi-storied, half-timbered houses with flower-encrusted balconies sit atop the Merchants' Bridge.  Residents live upstairs and run shops downstairs.  The bridge over the Gera River dates from 1325 but the shops line it showed up around Martin Luther's time.  The bridge is one of the very few remaining medieval bridges with dwellings on it that still stands to this day.

"Like any German town with a "-furt" in its name, Erfurt is named for a shallow point where ancient travelers could ford a river."  ... Rick Steves.
   
You can just see the Gera River at lower left.
   
Now walking across Merchants' Bridge.  You would never know that you were on a bridge.
   
Looking back at the fortified tower of the Methodist church of St. Aegidius.
   
A local puppetmaker's shop featuring the "Theatrum Mundi" where you can put two Euros in a slot and watch an "intricately detailed, fully articulated rendering of the Snow White story -- complete with creepy evil queen.
   
The evil queen really was kind of creepy.
   
Emerging from the bridge, we find a cafe in and out of a half-timbered building.
   
This pink building was Erfurts first university building.  The University of Erfurt was founded in 1379, was the third in present-day Germany and counts Martin Luther and Johannes Gutenberg as alumni.
   
Outside the University Building.  Notice the graffiti.  We would notice that graffiti is big in Germany.
   
Another KiKA character -- "a morose, SpongeBob-looking slice of bread named Bernd das Brot".
   
 Town Hall, built in 1880, overlooks the Fischmarkt square.  The town hall (Rathaus) was built in the 1880s in Neo-Gothic, but the original town hall was said to have stood in the location around 1275.
   

The statue in the center of the square holds a flag and shield, both with the city symbol -- a wheel in a shield.

Behind the statue is the “Art Gallery of Erfurt”.  This gorgeous Renaissance building called “Haus zum Roten Ochsen” or “House of the Red Ox” is the entrance to the gallery.  We didn't go in but I understand it is a Visual Arts Museum.
   
Down the street, we emerge into the huge Domplatz or Cathedral Square.  Ornate buildings with cafes out front ring the square.
   
Across the square are the giant Erfurt Cathedral on the left and the smaller St. Severus church on the right.
   
A good look at Domplatz (Cathedral Square).
   
We had a nice lunch at that cafe in the middle.
   
The Cathedral on the left is where Martin Luther became a priest.
   
At the base of the Cathedral.
   
Ornate entrance to the Cathedral, which was the seat of a bishopric founded in the 8th-century by St. Boniface.
   
This bronze candelabra -- shaped like a man holding up a pair of candles, fighting off evil with light -- was created in 1160!
   
CHURCH
   
The choir wat in these intricately carved oak seats.
   

These magnificent stained-glass windows were made around 1370-1410.

The Cathedral is home to “Gloriosa” – the largest medieval bell in the world.
   
Martin Luther must have been at this altar many times.
   
A tomb relief panel showing the Duke of Gleichen flanked by two women.  There is a funny story behind this panel; read Rick Steves Germany book to learn it.
   
Inside the Cathedral was a special exhibit on the Shroud of Turin which is believed to be the actual burial shroud used to wrap the body of Jesus of Nazareth after his crucifixion.  I'm always interested in the Shroud of Turin because my college roommate wrote a paper on it and then used the paper in at least two, and maybe three, different classes!
 
 
   

So what's the latest on the Shroud of Turin?  In 1988, radiocarbon dating by three different laboratories established that the shroud's linen material was produced between the years 1260 and 1390 (to a 95% confidence level), which corresponds with its first documented appearance in 1354.  But defenders of the authenticity of the shroud have questioned those results, usually on the basis that the samples tested might have been contaminated or taken from a repair to the original fabric.

 
   
The nature and history of the shroud have been the subjects of extensive and long-lasting controversies in both the scholarly literature and the popular press.  Currently, the Catholic Church neither endorses nor rejects the authenticity of the shroud as a relic of Jesus.
   
Now we are in the Church of St. Severus, an early Gothic "hall church" with five parallel naves and no perpendicular transept.
   
Close-up of the altar.
   
On the hill above Domplatz is the Petersberg Citadel.
   
With a nice Erfurt sign.
   
Lynnette looks out over the city from the Citadel which was built from the 17th to the 19th century and is one of the best-preserved citadels of its kind in Europe.
   
A nice view of Erfurt could be had from the Citadel.
   
Looking at the Cathedral and Church of St. Severus although it is hard to tell which is which from this angle.
   
A good look at a small portion of the massive Citadel.
   
The Citadel was a pleasant place to spend an afternoon.
   
Back down in the town.  Erfurt was part of East Germany during the Cold War.  This red-brick building was a Stasi -- East Germany's secretpolice -- prison, reserved for those who were caught trying to escape to the West.  It is on what was called during communist times "the longest street in Erfurt".  "It takes give minutes to go in, and five years to get out."
   
Lynnette checks out the Stasi prison.  A place you did not want to be, I am sure.
   
 
   
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