Our major stop today on the way from Leipzig to Trier is Erfurt. It is the capital of Thuringia and as such would have been interesting already but it is also otherwise described in the books as one of the best preserved cities in Germany so we had to stop on the way to see it. We park close to the downtown area right next to the Erfurt cathedral hill at the base of the Erfurt fortress in an underground parking lot and then it is time to explore.
From here we set our eyes on the Cathedral Hill where two twin churches, the cathedral and St Severi, are dominating the city. We just have to get there through the huge cathedral square which like other squares here, seems to prepare for a festival or something like that.
And then it is time to climb the hill to the Dom/Cathedral proper and we can take in how huge it is. It is also quite popular with lots of tourists climbing and visiting the cathedral.
And then it is time to enter it and even with all the people it seems almost empty given how huge it is. Surprisingly it is a Catholic church even though most of Thuringia is Protestant and is also the largest church in Erfurt. It also had its moment of infamy as in 1184 it was the site of the Erfurt latrine disaster. During an assembly summoned by Henry VI, King of Germany a floor collapsed and about 60 people, including many nobles, drowned in the liquid excrement underneath, quite a huge event that was talked about for many years.
Weirdly enough similarly to Leipzig there is live music, here it is an organ player playing the pipes and it is quite nice and we enjoy the music as we explore the church.
We continue exploring the church and it has many interesting details, we enjoy the wood engravings but also the fake pulpit like buildings through the church.
As usual there are many tombs, for whatever reason quite a few tomb stone engravings are without noses here. The paintings however seem to be more modern, maybe it got damaged during World War 2?
There are also chests that hold or held, we are not sure, saints relics and a lot more paintings and carvings everywhere we look.
What is more surprising is that we notice that some benches have carpets beneath them, this is not something we have seen in any other church before.
Of course we make our way also to the altar and that is quite ornate, this is a Catholic church after all. But compared to the most ostentatious churches this one is quite restrained likely due to the influence of the Reformation here.
And then we walk across from the Dom to the Severikirche, St. Severi church, the second church on the hill. It is also a Catholic church and a very old one from the 10th century. Documentation wise that is, of course the church itself has changed significantly over the years. The altar and the pipe organ are quite impressive and seem to be quite old and we enjoy exploring this slighly less popular church.
Similarly to the Dom it has many interesting details and we try to take them in as we make our tour and then exit as we still have a lot to explore.
Before leaving we take one more look at the Dom entrance, it is quite impressive with many saints protecting the ornate entrance. There are also some nice views of the cathedral from here, it looks more like a castle than a cathedral with the many towers above us.
And then after one more look from the top of the hill it is time to descend and make our way to the old city area which we are going to explore next for some time making our way to the famous covered bridge.
