Editing Erfurt (section)

== Economy and infrastructure ==
During recent years, the economic situation of the city improved: the unemployment rate declined from 21% in 2005 to 9% in 2013. Nevertheless, some 14,000 households with 24,500 persons (12% of population) are dependent upon state social benefits ([[Hartz concept|Hartz IV]]).<ref>{{Citation |last=Schindler |first=Martin |title=Chapter 4: What Does the Crisis Tell Us about the German Labor Market? |work=Germany In An Interconnected World Economy |url=https://www.elibrary.imf.org/display/book/9781616354244/ch004.xml |access-date=2024-04-15 |publisher=International Monetary Fund |language=en |isbn=978-1-61635-424-4}}</ref>

=== Agriculture, industry and services ===
[[File:Optima-Werk Erfurt.JPG|thumb|Former factory building, now reused for services.]]
[[File:Anger 1 Erfurt Kaufhaus Römischer Kaiser 686-vLh.jpg|thumb|''Anger 1'', a big department store in centre.]]

Farming has a great tradition in Erfurt: the cultivation of [[Isatis tinctoria|woad]] made the city rich during the Middle Ages. Today, horticulture and the production of flower seeds is still an important business in Erfurt. There is also growing of fruits (like apples, strawberries and sweet cherries), vegetables (e.g. cauliflowers, potatoes, cabbage and sugar beets) and grain on more than 60% of the municipal territory.<ref name=":0" />

Industrialization in Erfurt started around 1850. Until World War I, many factories were founded in different sectors like engine building, shoes, guns, malt and later electro-technics, so that there was no industrial monoculture in the city. After 1945, the companies were nationalized by the [[East Germany|GDR]] government, which led to the decline of some of them. After reunification, nearly all factories were closed, either because they failed to successfully adopt to a free market economy or because the German government sold them to west German businessmen who closed them to avoid competition to their own enterprises.{{citation needed|date=July 2014}} However, in the early 1990s the federal government started to subsidize the foundation of new companies. It still took a long time before the economic situation stabilized around 2006. Since this time, unemployment has decreased and overall, new jobs were created. Today, there are many small and medium-sized companies in Erfurt with electro-technics, semiconductors and photovoltaics in focus. Engine production, food production, the [[Braugold]] brewery, and [[Born Feinkost]], a producer of Thuringian mustard, remain important industries.{{Citation needed|date=September 2023}}

Erfurt is an ''{{lang|de|Oberzentrum}}'' (which means "supra-centre" according to [[Central place theory]]) in German regional planning. Such centres are always hubs of service businesses and public services like hospitals, universities, research, trade fairs, retail etc. Additionally, Erfurt is the capital of the federal state of Thuringia, so that there are many institutions of administration like all the Thuringian state ministries and some nationwide authorities. Typical for Erfurt are the logistic business with many distribution centres of big companies, the [[Erfurt Trade Fair]] and the media sector with [[KiKa]] and [[Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk|MDR]] as public broadcast stations. A growing industry is tourism, due to the various historical sights of Erfurt. There are 4,800 hotel beds and (in 2012) 450,000 overnight visitors spent a total of 700,000 nights in hotels. Nevertheless, most tourists are one-day visitors from Germany. The Christmas Market in December attracts some 2,000,000 visitors each year.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The official Erfurt Christmas Market Portal |url=https://weihnachtsmarkt.erfurt.de/wm/en/index.html |access-date=2024-05-11 |website=Erfurter Weihnachtsmarkt |language=en}}</ref>

=== Transport ===
[[File:Thuringia Erfurt Hbf asv2020-07 img1.jpg|thumb|[[Erfurt Hauptbahnhof]], Erfurt's main railway station.]]

==== By rail ====
The [[Intercity-Express|ICE]] railway network puts Erfurt 1{{frac|1|2}} hours from [[Berlin]], 2{{frac|1|2}} hours from [[Frankfurt]], 2 hours from [[Dresden]], and 45 minutes from [[Leipzig]]. In 2017, the ICE line to [[Munich]] opened, making the trip to [[Erfurt Hauptbahnhof|Erfurt main station]] only 2{{frac|1|2}} hours.

There are regional trains from Erfurt to [[Weimar]], [[Jena]], [[Gotha]], [[Eisenach]], [[Bad Langensalza]], [[Magdeburg]], [[Nordhausen, Thuringia|Nordhausen]], [[Göttingen]], [[Mühlhausen]], [[Würzburg]], [[Meiningen]], [[Ilmenau]], [[Arnstadt]], and [[Gera]].{{Citation needed|date=September 2023}}

In freight transport there is an [[intermodal freight transport|intermodal]] terminal in the district of Vieselbach ''({{lang|de|Güterverkehrszentrum, GVZ}})'' with connections to rail and the autobahn.<ref>[https://www.erfurt.de/ef/de/wirtschaft/gewerbestandorte/gebiete/108906.html Gewerbegebiet: Güterverkehrszentrum Erfurt (GVZ)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240225223429/https://www.erfurt.de/ef/de/wirtschaft/gewerbestandorte/gebiete/108906.html |date=25 February 2024 }}. Retrieved 25 February 2024</ref>

==== By road ====
The two [[Autobahn]]en crossing each other nearby at ''Erfurter Kreuz'' are the [[Bundesautobahn 4]] ([[Frankfurt]]–[[Dresden]]) and the [[Bundesautobahn 71]] ([[Schweinfurt]]–[[Sangerhausen]]). Together with the east tangent both motorways form a circle road around the city and lead the interregional traffic around the centre. Whereas the A 4 was built in the 1930s, the A 71 came into being after the reunification in the 1990s and 2000s. In addition to both motorways there are two [[Bundesstraße]]n: the [[Bundesstraße 7]] connects Erfurt parallel to A 4 with [[Gotha]] in the west and [[Weimar]] in the east. The [[Bundesstraße 4]] is a connection between Erfurt and [[Nordhausen, Thuringia|Nordhausen]] in the north. Its southern part to [[Coburg]] was annulled when A 71 was finished (in this section, the A 71 now effectively serves as B 4). Within the circle road, B 7 and B 4 are also annulled, so that the city government has to pay for maintenance instead of the German federal government. The access to the city is restricted as ''{{lang|de|[[Low-emission zone|Umweltzone]]}}'' since 2012 for some vehicles. Large parts of the inner city are a pedestrian area which can not be reached by car (except for residents).{{Citation needed|date=September 2023}}

==== By light rail and bus ====
[[File:Erfurt Straßenbahn Schlösserstr.JPG|thumb|Light rail tram near Anger square.]]
The Erfurt public transport system is marked by the area-wide {{lang|de|[[Erfurt Stadtbahn]]}} ([[light rail]]) network, established as a tram system in 1883, upgraded to a light rail (''{{lang|de|Stadtbahn}}'') system in 1997,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.stadtwerke-erfurt.de/pb/site/swegruppe/node/140107/Lde/index.html |title=Ausbau der Erfurter Straßenbahn zur Stadtbahn |publisher=Essener Verkehrs-Aktiengesellschaft (EVAG) |language=de |trans-title=Expansion of Erfurt tram to light rail |access-date=2013-10-20 |archive-date=30 December 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161230161952/https://www.stadtwerke-erfurt.de/pb/site/swegruppe/node/140107/Lde/index.html |url-status=live }}</ref> and continually expanded and upgraded through the 2000s. Today, there are six ''Stadtbahn'' lines running every ten minutes on every light rail route.{{Citation needed|date=September 2023}}

Additionally, Erfurt operates a bus system, which connects the sparsely populated outer districts of the region to the city center. Both systems are organized by ''SWE EVAG'', a transit company owned by the city administration. The public service, managed by SWE/EVAG, is guaranteed by buses and trams in service from morning until late evening, with a night service starting from midnight until 4AM.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Getting around Erfurt |url=https://kanoa.org.uk/erfurt/getting-around-erfurt/ |access-date=2025-03-02 |website=Kanoa UK |language=en-US}}</ref>

==== By airplane ====
[[Erfurt-Weimar Airport]] lies {{cvt|3|km|0}} west of the city centre. It is linked to the central train station via Stadtbahn (tram). It was significantly extended in the 1990s, with flights mostly to Mediterranean holiday destinations and to London during the peak Christmas market tourist season. Connections to longer haul flights are easily accessible via [[Frankfurt Airport]], which can be reached in 2 hours via a direct train from Frankfurt Airport to Erfurt, and from [[Leipzig Halle Airport|Leipzig/Halle Airport]], which can be reached within half an hour.{{Citation needed|date=September 2023}}

==== By bike ====
{{Unreferenced section|date=September 2023}}
Biking is becoming increasingly popular since construction of high quality cycle tracks began in the 1990s. There are cycle lanes for general commuting within Erfurt city.{{Citation needed|date=September 2023}}

Long-distance trails, such as the ''Gera track'' and the ''{{lang|de|Radweg Thüringer Städtekette}}'' (Thuringian cities trail), connect points of tourist interest. The former runs along the [[Gera (river)|Gera]] river valley from the [[Thuringian Forest]] to the river [[Unstrut]]; the latter follows the medieval [[Via Regia]] from [[Eisenach]] to [[Altenburg]] via [[Gotha]], Erfurt, [[Weimar]], and [[Jena]].{{Citation needed|date=September 2023}}

The [[Rennsteig Cycle Way]] was opened in 2000. This designated high-grade hiking and bike trail runs along the ridge of the Thuringian Central Uplands. The bike trail, about {{cvt|200|km|0}} long, occasionally departs from the course of the historic Rennsteig hiking trail, which dates back to the 1300s, to avoid steep inclines. It is therefore about {{cvt|30|km|0}} longer than the hiking trail.{{Citation needed|date=September 2023}}

The Rennsteig is connected to the [[E3 European long distance path]], which goes from the Atlantic coast of Spain to the Black Sea coast of Bulgaria, and the [[E6 European long distance path]], running from Arctic Finland to Turkey.{{Citation needed|date=September 2023}}

=== Education ===
After reunification, the educational system was reorganized. The [[University of Erfurt]], founded in 1379<ref name="ReferenceA"/> and closed in 1816, was refounded in 1994 with a focus on social sciences, modern languages, humanities and teacher training. Today there are approximately 6,000 students working within four faculties, the Max Weber Center for Advanced Cultural and Social Studies, and three academic research institutes.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.uni-erfurt.de/en/university-of-erfurt/faculties-institutes-services/ |title=Faculties, Institutes & Services |access-date=31 January 2016 |archive-date=28 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160328130639/https://www.uni-erfurt.de/en/university-of-erfurt/faculties-institutes-services/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> The university has an international reputation and participates in international student exchange programmes.<ref>[https://www.uni-erfurt.de/en/international/incoming/ Universität Efurt. International Students] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211102222701/https://www.uni-erfurt.de/en/international/incoming |date=2 November 2021 }}. Retrieved 15 January 2018</ref>

The ''Fachhochschule Erfurt'', is a [[Fachhochschule|university of applied sciences]], founded in 1991, which offers a combination of academic training and practical experience in subjects such as social work and social pedagogy, business studies, and engineering. There are nearly 5,000 students in six faculties, of which the faculty of landscaping and horticulture has a national reputation.{{Citation needed|date=September 2023}}

The [[International University of Applied Sciences Bad Honnef - Bonn|International University of Applied Sciences Bad Honnef – Bonn (IUBH)]], is a privately run university with a focus on business and economics. It merged with the former Adam-Ries-Fachhochschule in 2013.{{Citation needed|date=September 2023}}

The world renowned [[Bauhaus]] design school was founded in 1919 in the city of [[Weimar]],<ref>[https://www.bauhaus-2019.de/cms/website.php?id=/en/index.htm Bauhaus 2019. The Bauhaus in Thuringia.] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180116004431/https://www.bauhaus-2019.de/cms/website.php?id=%2Fen%2Findex.htm |date=16 January 2018 }} Retrieved 19 November 2016</ref> approximately {{cvt|20|km|0}} from Erfurt, 12 minutes by train. The buildings are now part of a [[World Heritage Site]] and are today used by the [[Bauhaus-Universität Weimar]], which teaches design, arts, media and technology-related subjects.{{Citation needed|date=September 2023}}

Furthermore, there are eight ''{{lang|de|[[Gymnasium (Germany)|Gymnasien]]}}'', six state-owned, one Catholic and one Protestant (Evangelisches Ratsgymnasium Erfurt). One of the state-owned schools is a ''{{lang|de|Sportgymnasium}}'', an elite boarding school for young talents in athletics, swimming, ice skating or football. Another state-owned school, ''{{lang|de|Albert Schweitzer Gymnasium}}'', offers a focus in sciences as an elite boarding school in addition to the common curriculum.{{Citation needed|date=September 2023}}

=== Media ===

The German national public television children's channel ''[[KiKa]]'' is based in Erfurt.<ref>{{Cite web |last=ZDF |first=KiKA-Kinderkanal von ARD und |date=2022-12-19 |title=KiKA makes programmes for children {{!}} KiKA |url=https://www.kika.de/eltern/ueber-uns/programming-for-children-100.html |access-date=2025-04-10 |website=kika.de |language=de}}</ref>

MDR, [[Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk]], a radio and television company, has a broadcast centre and studios in Erfurt.{{Citation needed|date=September 2023}}

The ''[[Thüringer Allgemeine]]'' is a statewide newspaper that is headquartered in the city.<ref>[http://www.thueringer-allgemeine.de/kontakt Thüringer Allgemeine. Kontakt] {{Webarchive |url=https://archive.today/20140114001648/http://www.thueringer-allgemeine.de/kontakt |date=14 January 2014 }}. Retrieved 13 January 2014</ref>