Editing Erfurt (section)

==== Secular architecture ====
Besides the religious buildings there is a lot of historic secular architecture in Erfurt, mostly concentrated in the city centre, but some 19th- and 20th-century buildings are located on the outskirts.{{Citation needed|date=September 2023}}
[[File:Michaelisstraße Erfurt.JPG|thumb|The {{lang|de|Michaelisstraße}} is known as the lithic chronicle of Erfurt.]]

=====Street and square ensembles=====
* The ''{{lang|de|[[Krämerbrücke]]}}'' (Merchants' bridge) is the most famous tourist attraction of Erfurt. This 15th-century bridge is completely covered with dwellings and unique in Europe north of the Alps. Today, there are some art handicraft and souvenir shops in the houses.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Merchants' Bridge - Erfurt Tourismus |url=https://www.erfurt-tourismus.de/en/all-about-erfurt/places-of-interest/merchants-bridge |access-date=2024-05-01 |website=www.erfurt-tourismus.de}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Merchant's Bridge |url=https://www.radissonhotels.com/en-us/destination/germany/erfurt/merchant-s-bridge |access-date=May 1, 2024 |website=www.radissonhotels.com}}</ref>
* The ''{{lang|de|Domplatz}}'' (Cathedral Square) is the largest square in Erfurt and one of the largest historical market squares in Germany. The cathedral and St Severus' Church on its western side can be reached over the ''{{lang|de|Domstufen}}'', a wide flight of stairs. On the north side lies the courthouse, a historic building from 1880. The eastern and southern side is fronted by early-modern patrician houses. On the square are the Minerva Fountain from 1784 and the Erthal Obelisk from 1777. The Domplatz is the main setting of the Erfurt Christmas Market in December and the location for "DomStufen-Festival", an open-air theatre festival in summer.{{Citation needed|date=September 2023}}
* The ''{{lang|de|Fischmarkt}}'' (Fish Market) is the central square of Erfurt's city centre. It is surrounded by renaissance-style patrician houses and the town hall, a neo-gothic building from 1882. In the middle of the square is a statue called ''{{lang|de|Römer}}'' (Roman), a symbol of the city's independence, erected by the citizens in 1591.{{Citation needed|date=September 2023}}
* The ''{{lang|de|Wenigemarkt}}'' (Minor Market) is a small square on the east side of the Gera river (opposite to the Fischmarkt on the west side), surrounded by early-modern patrician and merchants' houses. The fountain on this square with the sculpture "Scuffling Boys" was created in 1975. Today, {{lang|de|Wenigemarkt}} square also has various cafés and bars. Next to the {{lang|de|Wenigemarkt}} in {{lang|de|Futterstraße}} is the {{lang|de|Kaisersaal}} building, a neoclassicistic event hall from 1831 (current building). The [[Congress of Erfurt]] took place here in 1808.
* The ''{{lang|de|Anger}}'' (originally the German term for "[[village green]]") is a protracted square{{clarify|date=October 2014}} in the eastern city centre. All tram lines are linked here, so that it became the new city centre during the 20th century with many important buildings. On its northern side is the main post office, built in 1886 in neo-gothic style with its prominent clock tower. In the north-east there is the Martin Luther monument from 1889 in front of the Merchants' Church. Between the church and the Ursuline monastery lies the "Anger 1" department store from 1908. On the south side next to Station Street is the {{lang|de|Angermuseum}}, the art history museum of Erfurt, inside a Baroque palace from 1711. The western part of Anger square is surrounded by large historicist business houses from the late 19th century. The west end of the square is marked by the Angerbrunnen fountain from 1890. The Jesuit College near {{lang|de|Schlösserstraße}} was built in 1737 and used until the ban of the Jesuits in 1773.{{Citation needed|date=September 2023}}
* The ''[[Willy Brandt]] Square'' is the southern gate to the city centre in front of the main station. Opposite to the station is the former hotel ''{{lang|de|Erfurter Hof}}'', where the first meeting of the East- and West-German heads of government took place in 1970. On the western side is the building of the old Erfurt station (1847–95) with a clock tower and the former offices of the Thuringian Railway Company.{{Citation needed|date=September 2023}}
* The ''{{lang|de|Hirschgarten}}'' (Deer Garden) is a small park in front of the Thuringian government seat in the western city centre. The minister-president's seat is the ''{{lang|de|Kurmainzische Statthalterei}}'', a Renaissance-Baroque palace from the 17th century.{{Citation needed|date=September 2023}}
* The ''{{lang|de|Michaelisstraße}}'' (Michael's Street) is known as "the lithic chronicle of Erfurt", because of its mostly medieval buildings. It is the main street of the Latin quarter around the old university and today one of the favourite nightlife districts of the Erfurters with various bars, restaurants and cafés. The central building of the old university, {{lang|la|Collegium Maius}}, was built in 1515, destroyed by Allied bombs in 1945 and originally rebuilt in 1999.{{Citation needed|date=September 2023}}
* The ''{{lang|de|Juri-Gagarin-Ring}}'' is an inner-city circular road following the former inner city wall. The road was set out in the 1890s by closing a branch of the Gera river. The buildings along the street originate from all periods of the 20th century, including some GDR-era highrise residence buildings. An old building complex here is the former Great Hospital, established in the 14th century. Today, it hosts the museum of popular art and cultural anthropology.{{Citation needed|date=September 2023}}
* The ''{{lang|de|Andreasviertel}}'' (St Andrew's Quarter) is a small quarter in the northern part of the city centre between {{lang|de|Domplatz}} in the south-west and {{lang|de|Moritzwallstraße}} in the north-east. It was the former craftsmen quarter with narrow alleys and old (16th/17th century) little houses. During the 20th century, there were plans to demolish the quarter because of its bad housing conditions. After 1990, the houses were redeveloped by private individuals so that it is one of the favourite neighbourhoods today. The largest building here is the former Municipal Corn Storage in Gothic style from 1466 with a floor area of {{cvt|1800|m2|0}}.{{Citation needed|date=September 2023}}

<gallery widths="200px" heights="180px">
File:Krämerbrücke Erfurt II, Germany2.jpg|{{lang|de|[[Krämerbrücke]]}}
File:P1010412-Montage.jpg|Christmas market at {{lang|de|Domplatz}}
File:Haus zum Roten Ochsen Fischmarkt.jpg|{{lang|de|Fischmarkt}}
File:Wenigemarkt Erfurt.JPG|{{lang|de|Wenigemarkt}}
File:Hauptpost Erfurt2.JPG|Post office at {{lang|de|Anger}}
File:Angermuseum Erfurt2.JPG|{{lang|de|Angermuseum}}
File:2011-05-19-erfurt-by-RalfR-44.jpg|{{lang|de|Hirschgarten}}
</gallery>

=====Fortifications=====
[[File:Zitadelle_Erfurt.jpg|thumb|[[Petersberg Citadel]].]]
From 1066 until 1873 the old town of Erfurt was encircled by a fortified wall. About 1168 this was extended to run around the western side of Petersberg hill, enclosing it within the city boundaries.<ref name=walls>Stadtverwaltung Erfurt (4 September 2012). [http://www.erfurt-web.de/Stadtbefestigung ''Stadtbefestigung einst und jetzt''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211026171154/http://www.erfurt-web.de/Stadtbefestigung |date=26 October 2021 }}. Retrieved 28 December 2017</ref>

After [[German Unification]] in 1871, Erfurt became part of the newly created [[German Empire]]. The threat to the city from its Saxon neighbours and from Bavaria was no longer present, so it was decided to dismantle the city walls. Only a few remnants remain today. A piece of inner wall can be found in a small park at the corner Juri-Gagarin-Ring and Johannesstraße and another piece at the flood ditch (''Flutgraben'') near Franckestraße. There is also a small restored part of the wall in the Brühler Garten, behind the Catholic orphanage. Only one of the wall's fortified towers was left standing, on Boyneburgufer, but this was destroyed in an air raid in 1944.<ref name=walls />

The [[Petersberg Citadel]] is one of the largest and best preserved city fortresses in Europe, covering an area of 36 hectares in the north-west of the city centre. It was built from 1665 on Petersberg hill and was in military use until 1963. Since 1990, it has been significantly restored and is now open to the public as an historic site.<ref name="350jahre">Verein der Freunde der Citadelle Petersberg zu Erfurt e.V. (2015). ''350 Jahre Zitadelle Petersberg. Tagungsband: Wissenschaftliches Kolloquim zum 350. Jahrestages der Grundsteinlegung der Zitadelle Petersberg vom 29. Mai bis 31 Mai 2015. Universität Erfurt''.</ref>

The {{Interlanguage link multi|Cyriaksburg Citadel|de|3=Zitadelle Cyriaksburg}} is a smaller citadel south-west of the city centre, dating from 1480. Today, it houses the German horticulture museum.<ref>[https://www.gartenbaumuseum.de/die-cyriaksburg.html ''Die Cyriaksburg: Sitz des Deutschen Gartenbaumuseums Erfurt''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171229232259/https://www.gartenbaumuseum.de/die-cyriaksburg.html |date=29 December 2017 }}. Retrieved 23 December 2017</ref>

=====19th- and 20th-century architecture in the outskirts=====
Between 1873 and 1914, a belt of ''{{lang|de|[[Gründerzeit]]}}'' architecture emerged around the city centre. The mansion district in the south-west around {{lang|de|Cyriakstraße}}, {{lang|de|Richard-Breslau-Straße}} and {{lang|de|Hochheimer Straße}} hosts some interesting ''{{lang|de|Gründerzeit}}'' and ''Art Nouveau'' buildings.{{Citation needed|date=September 2023}}

The "Mühlenviertel" ("mill quarter"), is an area of beautiful Art Nouveau apartment buildings, cobblestone streets and street trees just to the north of the old city, in the vicinity of Nord Park, bordered by the Gera river on its east side. The [[Schmale Gera]] stream runs through the area. In the Middle Ages numerous small enterprises using the power of water mills occupied the area, hence the name "Mühlenviertel", with street names such as Waidmühlenweg (woad, or indigo, mill way), Storchmühlenweg (stork mill way) and Papiermühlenweg (paper mill way).{{Citation needed|date=September 2023}}

The ''[[Bauhaus]]'' style is represented by some housing cooperative projects in the east around {{lang|de|Flensburger Straße}} and {{lang|de|Dortmunder Straße}} and in the north around {{lang|de|Neuendorfstraße}}. Lutherkirke Church in {{lang|de|Magdeburger Allee}} (1927), is an [[Art Deco]] building.{{Citation needed|date=September 2023}}

The former malt factory "Wolff" at {{lang|de|Theo-Neubauer-Straße}} in the east of Erfurt is a large industrial complex built between 1880 and 1939, and in use until 2000. A new use has not been found yet, but the area is sometimes used as a location in movie productions because of its atmosphere.{{Citation needed|date=September 2023}}

Examples of Nazi architecture include the buildings of the {{lang|de|Landtag}} (Thuringian parliament) and {{lang|de|Thüringenhalle}} (an event hall) in the south at {{lang|de|Arnstädter Straße}}. While the {{lang|de|Landtag}} building (1930s) represents more the neo-Roman/fascist style, {{lang|de|Thüringenhalle}} (1940s) is marked by some neo-Germanic ''{{lang|de|Heimatschutz}}'' style elements.{{Citation needed|date=September 2023}}

The Stalinist early-GDR style is manifested in the main building of the university at {{lang|de|Nordhäuser Straße}} (1953) and the later more international modern GDR style is represented by the horticultural exhibition centre "{{lang|de|Egapark}}" at {{lang|de|Gothaer Straße}}, the {{lang|de|Plattenbau}} housing complexes like Rieth or {{lang|de|Johannesplatz}} and the redevelopment of {{lang|de|Löbertor}} and {{lang|de|Krämpfertor}} area along {{lang|de|Juri-Gagarin-Ring}} in the city centre.{{Citation needed|date=September 2023}}

The current international glass and steel architecture is dominant among most larger new buildings like the Federal Labour Court of Germany (1999), the new opera house (2003), the new main station (2007), the university library, the Erfurt Messe (convention centre) and the {{lang|de|[[Gunda Niemann-Stirnemann]]}} ice rink.{{Citation needed|date=September 2023}}<ref>Source: Official Website of the city of Erfurt - "Architecture in Erfurt" (https://www.erfurt.de/ef/de/service/aktulles/pm/2015/119202.html{{Dead link|date=May 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }})</ref>

<gallery widths="200px" heights="180px">
File:Ernst-Toller-Straße Erfurt.JPG|{{lang|de|Gründerzeit}} tenements in {{lang|de|Johannesvorstadt}} district
File:Brunnen Jacobsenviertel Erfurt.JPG|Cubistic fountain in a Bauhaus housing complex
File:Lutherkirche Erfurt2.JPG|Art Deco Luther's Church
File:ThüringerLandtag.jpg|Entrance of the Thuringian parliament
File:Audimax-Foyer der Universität Erfurt.jpg|Lobby of the university main building
File:Statue Johannesplatz Erfurt.JPG|GDR architecture in {{lang|de|Johannesplatz}} district
File:2011-05-19-bundesarbeitsgericht-by-RalfR-24.jpg|Inner yard of the Federal Labour Court
</gallery>