History of the city of Erfurt
The history of Erfurt was shaped by its importance as a medieval trading center. Already established as an early Germanic settlement, it was able to create an outstanding position in the goods trade thanks to its favorable location at the intersection of trade routes (especially the Via Regia ). Shortly after its foundation, Erfurt developed into the center of the Thuringian region .
Prehistory and Middle Ages: Erfurt as an independent city
Traces of first settlement can already be found from prehistoric times. Archaeological finds in the north of Erfurt testify to human traces from the Paleolithic around 100,000 BC. Chr.
Finds in the Erfurt-Melchendorf mine show settlement in the Neolithic . They belong to the Baalberg culture (4200-3100 BC), the oldest stage of the early peasant beaker culture . The main area of distribution of the Baalberg culture was the middle Elbe - Saale region , but also Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Brandenburg .
After a Celtic period, Germanic groups, presumably Hermundurs , angling and warning groups , settled the region. West of Erfurt there was a settlement during the Roman Empire, about half of which was excavated from 2001 to 2003 (Erfurt-Frienstedt).
Although the traditions suggest the presence of the Thuringians ( Thuringi ) in the Erfurt area towards the end of the 5th century, no corresponding archaeological finds have been found in the old town area for the entire period between the 4th and 10th centuries. On the other hand, Roman imports from the Roman Empire were discovered - almost 200 coins dating back to the 3rd century, plus 150 Roman ceramic fragments - and more than 200 fibulae. There are also eleven body graves belonging to the Haßleben-Leuna group .
In 2012, while evaluating excavations in a large Germanic settlement between the city center and its districts Frienstedt and Gottstedt , archaeologists discovered the oldest script in Central Germany and the oldest written West Germanic word. A comb from around 300 AD has the inscription "Kaba" (comb) in runes .
Erfurt was first mentioned in a document in 742, by Mission Archbishop Bonifatius from Mainz with a request to Pope Zacharias for confirmation of "Erphesfurt". This diocese was united with that of Mainz in 755 . In 805, Charlemagne declared Erfurt to be one of the border trading centers on the border of the Franconian Empire . Then a first church dedicated to St. Mary was built, but it cannot be proven archaeologically. The oldest bone finds under the church could be dated to 1038 ± 44 using the radiocarbon method . They come from a reburial and refer to a possible previous building that has not yet been discovered. Erfurt was a royal palace under the Carolingians and Ottonians ; A coin from Lothar I dates from the Carolingian period . From around 1000 the archbishops of Mainz also appeared as secular lords in Erfurt.
In the years 852, 936 and 1181 important diets were held. For example, at the end of 1181 Henry the Lion was condemned by Friedrich Barbarossa and sent into exile for three years. On July 26th 1184 it came during a stay of the Roman-German King Heinrich VI. during a royal council meeting on the fall of the Erfurt latrine , at which a number of noble gentlemen found an inglorious end in a cesspool.
The city wall from 1066 is one of the earliest fortifications in Germany. As part of the investiture controversy, the Archbishop of Mainz joined the anti-king Rudolf von Rheinfelden . As a result, Heinrich IV turned against the Mainz city of Erfurt. In 1080 his troops captured the city and set it on fire. In the 11th and 12th centuries, royal and Mainz coins were minted side by side.
The archbishops had Erfurt administered by Vizedoms , whose office became hereditary for several generations in the Vitzthum family from the middle of the 13th century . In 1120 the "citizens of Erfurt" are mentioned for the first time. In 1212, in the wake of the turmoil of the Staufer-Welf throne dispute, a first council was formed, which was still shaped by ministerials; A fundamental council reform in 1255 led to the development of a powerful and independent civil parish, which now gradually took over the powers of the archbishop city lord and increasingly intervened as rulers in the region. The resulting disputes between the council and the Archbishop of Mainz reached a culmination point in 1279. Archbishop officials were ill-treated and driven from the city. The archbishop responded with the ban . The imposed interdict weighed on the city for two and a half years.
In 1289/90 Rudolf von Habsburg held court in the Erfurt Peterskloster , the city became the center of the imperial administration for ten months. At the Erfurt Reichstag the regulation of the succession to the throne with regard to the succession of his son Albrecht and the measures to restore imperial rights and the peace in Thuringia were on the agenda. To restore peace in Thuringia, over 60 robber barons' castles and walled courtyards were stormed and destroyed with the help of the Erfurters .
Some outstanding evidence of Jewish culture from the high Middle Ages has been preserved in Erfurt. These include the Old Synagogue , construction of which began in 1094, making it the oldest surviving synagogue in Europe today. The neighboring, dating from the 13th century mikvah is one of the oldest in Europe. In 1998, during excavations in Michaelisstrasse, a Jewish treasure was found, the content of which is one of the most important evidence of Jewish-medieval culture in Europe. The first Jewish community in Erfurt came to an abrupt end with a plague pogrom in 1349. Nevertheless, from 1354 onwards, Jews began to reside in Erfurt, including several wealthy families. The second Jewish community developed at times into one of the largest of its time. In 1453/54 the city council announced the protection of the Jews and forced their permanent emigration. After that, Jews did not resettle in the city until the 19th century.
With approx. 18,000 to 20,000 inhabitants, the city developed in the 14th and 15th centuries into a city in the rank of a medieval city, which was only surpassed in terms of size by Cologne , Nuremberg and Magdeburg . Erfurt thus reached the peak of its economic, political and spiritual-cultural development in the Middle Ages and became the center of trade in the Middle Holy Roman Empire. This also included the development of Erfurt, which began in the 13th century, into one of the largest woad markets in the empire. The woad plant was grown in around 300 villages in Thuringia, the leaves of which were used to obtain a coveted and profitable blue dye and which was closely linked to the city's economic boom. In 1331 Erfurt received the trade fair privilege from Emperor Ludwig IV.
As early as the 13th century, Erfurt had grown into an educational center of far-reaching importance. No other city in Germany had more students in the second half of the 13th century. In the Occultus Erfordensis of 1281/1283 the (probably fictitious) number of 1000 Erfurt scholars is given. This time was shaped by the work of Meister Eckhart , who had studied here from 1277 and was prior of the Erfurt Dominican monastery and vicar of his order for Thuringia from 1292 . With his sermons and writings he made Erfurt a center of theological philosophy of that time. In the first half of the 14th century, the Erfurt studium generale developed into the most important educational institution in the Roman-German Empire . The latest research showed that the university had already been founded in 1379 with its founding privilege as the first and oldest university on German soil. The previous dating to 1392 was due to the fact that official teaching began at this time. When founding the university, it should be noted that this was a non-princely, but rather bourgeois, university founded by the city council.
One of the most famous graduates of the University of Erfurt was Martin Luther , who studied here from 1501 to 1505 and received his master's degree from the philosophical faculty . The stormy enlightenment also came to him in the vicinity of Erfurt . Near Stotternheim (about ten kilometers north of the center of Erfurt) Luther was almost struck by lightning in a severe storm in 1505 and, according to legend, made his “Stotternheim vow” (“Saint Anna, I want to become a monk”). From then on he devoted his life to the church and joined the Augustinian order as a monk. Until 1511 Luther lived and preached in the Augustinian monastery . The university suffered a lot during the Reformation Wars. During this time the townscape was characterized by the towers of 25 parish churches, 15 monasteries and monasteries and ten chapels.
There were numerous disputes with the Saxon rulers of neighboring areas, who besieged the city several times without success . But the Saxons blocked the streets each time, so that trade was cut off. Therefore Erfurt had to sign a protection contract in 1483 and pay 1500 guilders a year . In 1509 and 1510 the people rose up against the extravagance of the council and the arrogance of some university doctors.The inner-city revolt became known as The Great Year of Erfurt and became a teaching example for Luther, who after his return was still an uninvolved witness of these events for the real causes of the unleashed violence of the angry sections of the population.
During the Reformation , the city turned to the evangelical creed. The council of Erfurt signed the Lutheran concord formula of 1577. This leads to constant disputes. On April 21, 1618, a contract was signed between the Archbishop of Mainz, Johann Schweikhard von Kronberg, and the city of Erfurt, confirming the religious freedom granted earlier and expressly expanding it to include the Erfurt countryside. Regarding the legal status of the city, it is stipulated that it is the property of the Archbishopric of Mainz and that it renounces any imperial estate .
Erfurt (with the districts of Hochheim, Hochstedt, Mittelhausen, Möbisburg and Töttelstädt) was affected by the persecution of witches from 1526 to 1705 . 16 people were involved in witch trials , seven women were executed and one died in prison.
The Thirty Years' War badly damaged the city. Erfurt is occupied by the Swedes from 1632 to 1635 and from 1637 to 1650 . The Peace of Westphalia did not bring the city the hoped-for imperial freedom. As a result of the Peace of Westphalia negotiated in 1648 , the Elector of Mainz was again confirmed his territorial rights to Erfurt. This will trigger disputes that will last for years.
The time of the Electoral Mainz domination
In 1664 French and Imperial execution troops of the Elector of Mainz and Archbishop Johann Philipp von Schönborn conquered Erfurt, which led to the restoration of Electoral Mainz rule over the city. As the capital of the Erfurt State , Erfurt was ruled together with Eichsfeld by a Mainz governor who had his seat in the Electoral Mainz governorship (today's State Chancellery). In 1682 and 1683 Erfurt experienced the worst plague years in its history, in 1683 alone over half of Erfurt's population died of the deadly disease. On October 21, 1736, a fire destroyed 188 houses in the area between Erfurt Cathedral , City Hall and Predigerkirche . The climax and end point of the Electoral Mainz era was the term of office of governor Karl Theodor von Dalberg 1772–1802.
In 1802 the city and country area of Erfurt came to the Kingdom of Prussia as compensation in accordance with the Franco-Prussian treaty . After the defeat of the Prussians in the battle of Jena and Auerstedt , the city capitulated on October 16, 1806. On October 17, the city was occupied by Napoleon's troops without a fight . In 1807 he declared Erfurt together with Blankenhain as the Principality of Erfurt to be an imperial domain that was not part of the Rhine Confederation , but was directly subordinate to the emperor.
In 1808 Napoléon received Tsar Alexander I and the princes of the Rhine Confederation in the Imperial Palace (Kurmainzische Lieutenancy) for the Erfurt Prince Congress (also Erfurt Congress ), which resulted in an alliance between France and Russia. Napoleon used the time in Erfurt to get to know Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, among other things . As Minister of State, Goethe was sent to the Prince's Congress by Duke Carl August von Weimar as a representative. On October 2, 1808, Goethe was invited to an audience with Napoleon. The audience was seen, especially in Germany, as the meeting of the two greatest men of the time - as a meeting of the genius on the battlefield and the genius of poetry. Napoleon is said to have greeted him with “Voilà un homme!” (Meaning “This is a man!”). Following the audience, Napoleon awarded Goethe the Legion of Honor Cross .
Erfurt as part of Prussia
In 1814, after a successful siege by Prussian, Austrian and Russian troops, the French occupation ended, and in 1815, due to the Congress of Vienna , Erfurt was again assigned to the Kingdom of Prussia , which ceded most of the Erfurt land area and the Blankenhainer area to Saxony-Weimar-Eisenach . In 1816 the University of Erfurt was closed. In the same year Erfurt became Stadtkreis (district-free city) and seat of the Prussian district government ( administrative district Erfurt ), which was subordinate to the President of the Prussian Province of Saxony in Magdeburg . However, the city district of Erfurt was connected to the district of Erfurt again in 1818.
In 1847 Erfurt was connected to the railway network with the Thuringian Railway (Halle – Bebra). Further railway lines followed in 1867 to Arnstadt (1879 to Ilmenau, 1884 to Schweinfurt and 1895 to Saalfeld), 1869 to Nordhausen, 1876 to Gera, 1881 to Sangerhausen and 1897 to Bad Langensalza.
From March 20 to April 29, 1850, the Erfurt Union Parliament met , which after the failure of the Frankfurt National Assembly wanted to achieve a constitution for a small German Empire under Prussian leadership. This attempt failed because of resistance from Austria.
Field Marshal Friedrich Carl Ferdinand Freiherr von Müffling died on January 16, 1851 and was buried in the Brühl cemetery . The small hall-like monument, executed in the Greek style, is still preserved.
In the same year Baron Carl von Oldershausen became Lord Mayor of the city of Erfurt.
In 1853 the insurance company "Thuringia" was founded in Erfurt with a share capital of 5 million thalers. Fortuna-Rückversicherungs-Aktiengesellschaft in Erfurt became the subsidiary of the company.
In 1856, the royal Prussian saltworks treasury ordered the construction of a rock salt mine in Erfurt's Johannesfeld. In 1862 the first minable rock salt deposit was reached by drilling and production began. In the same year Christian Hagans built an iron foundry and machine factory on the grounds of Dalbergsweg 15 and Kartäuserstraße 35/36. After the production of agricultural machines, cast articles, mills and saline supplies, the first locomotive was completed in 1872.
The first Erfurt gas station was put into operation in 1857 at Coal Market 45–50. The old oil lanterns are gradually being replaced by modern gas lights.
In 1857 the new construction of the Catholic Hospital in Hopfengasse / Karthäuserstraße was completed.
In 1859 a Royal War School was built on Schottengasse. It existed until 1885.
In 1860–62 the Erfurt gymnastics club formed a voluntary gymnastics fire brigade, which was supplemented in 1873 by a powerful rescue company for people and things.
In 1861 a “waiting and care facility” for small children was founded at 31 Pergamentergasse.
In 1862 the state-owned Prussian rifle factory on Mainzerhofplatz was completed and production began after three years of construction. In 1866, the company became the largest factory in the city with 420 employees.
In 1863, under the chairmanship of the city council and railway director Karl Hermann, the "Association for the history and antiquity of Erfurt" was founded in the meeting room of the old town hall.
In 1864 the first “share bathing establishment”, fed by a Gera branch, the “Falloch”, was opened on Friedrich-Wilhelm-Platz (Domplatz). It existed until 1879.
In 1864 Julius König founded the first large haulage and forwarding business in Erfurt.
In 1865 the " General German Workers' Association " (ADAV) founded a branch in Erfurt.
In 1865, the First International Agriculture and Horticultural Exhibition took place in Erfurt from September 9th to 17th. Place of exhibition: "Vogels und Hellingsgarten", the area between today's Theaterstrasse and Lutherstrasse.
In 1865/1866 all parts of the town hall that were still standing were demolished, with the exception of the tower, whose preservation had been discussed for years, and the building adjoining it to the south. The tower is demolished in 1870.
In 1866 the 4th general assembly of the “General German Workers' Association” took place in the Ratskeller on December 27th.
In 1866 the last and worst cholera epidemic raged in Erfurt, killing over 1000 people. Then the hygienist Max von Pettenkofer worked out a scientifically based hygiene analysis for the city.
In 1867, Niels Lund Chriesteren founded his art and commercial gardening business, which at first only dealt with the binding of wreaths and bouquets. A drying process invented by him makes it possible to preserve other flowers in addition to permanent flowers (immortelles). By growing agricultural seeds and sample grain, the company is known among gardeners and farmers throughout Germany.
On September 10, 1867, the Reichart monument , created by the Erfurt sculptor Georg Friedrich Carl Kölling , was inaugurated on Reichart-Platz, from 1900 on Kaiserplatz (today Karl-Marx-Platz). In 1900 the memorial was moved to the gatehouse.
In 1867, the Erfurt branch of the "General German Workers 'Association" joined the Social Democratic Workers' Party founded in Eisenach. August Bebel spoke about this on June 14th in the Ratskeller.
In 1869 the Erfurt - Nordhausen railway was put into operation. In 1864 Johann Georg Wolff founded the Erfurt Malzwerke .
On January 6, 1870 the foundation stone for the construction of the neo-Gothic town hall was laid in place of the previous medieval building that had been demolished in 1830.
On January 1, 1872, the city left the district of Erfurt again and became a district. Around this time, the partial demolition of the previously completely preserved imposing fortifications of the city, an outer and an inner wall as well as upstream entrenchments, began. The Zwinger, i.e. the space between the inner and outer city walls, had been leased to private users since the middle of the 18th century. In 1817 citizens complained to the council and demanded compensation "because the kennels are no longer pacified". The stones of the walls were knocked out for building purposes and the rubble was thrown into the Wilde Gera . As a result, the drainage of water was inhibited and silting is said to have occurred in many places. These are probably isolated cases, as the fortress writer Bernhardi states that all the walls were still standing until the middle of the 19th century. Only after the fortress was abolished in 1873 and the course of the Wild Gera (today's Juri-Gagarin-Ring ) was filled in, both the first double and the outer fortress ring were removed, after the inner gates and the four stone bridges and the three pedestrian walkways over the Wilde Gera had been removed. By 1880 all other gates, the outer wall and the fortifications fell. The two citadels remained.
In 1888 Otto Schwade founded the "Deutsche Automat-Dampfpumpen-Fabrik", in 1902 Hugo John founded a factory for chimney tops and sheet metal goods, and Henry Pels founded the "Berlin-Erfurt machine factory".
A trade census in 1883 showed that Erfurt was in first place in commercial gardening in Germany, in fifth place in shoe manufacture and eighth in clothing production. In October 1891, the Erfurt party congress of the German Social Democrats, who had called themselves Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) since 1890, took place in Erfurt . In the age of imperialism , the consul and colonial official Wilhelm Knappe from Erfurt also made headlines , whose important South Sea collection can be seen in the Museum of Thuringian Folklore in Erfurt .
In 1906 Erfurt became a major city with 100,000 inhabitants . The First World War killed 3,579 Erfurt citizens. When the state of Thuringia with the state capital Weimar was formed in 1920 , the Prussian areas of Thuringia including Erfurt were not included due to the resistance of the Prussian government. After positive development in the Roaring Twenties , Erfurt was massively hit by the global economic crisis from 1929 . Production fell to less than half and unemployment peaked. The election of the anti-Semite and weekly publisher (“Echo Germania”) Adolf Schmalix to the town hall in November 1929 made headlines across the country. In July 1932, the NSDAP achieved a record Reichstag election result of 42.2 percent.
In 1933 the NSDAP took control of the city; One of the first concentration camps was set up on Feldstrasse in Ilversgehofen . In the following years the economic development was determined by the onset of arms production. In addition, new industrial companies emerged, such as Feinmechanische Werke GmbH Erfurt (FEIMA), Telefunkenwerk and Reparaturwerk Erfurt GmbH (REWE) , which was founded by Josef Jacobs , a pilot awarded the Pour le Mérite . In addition, six new barracks and the Erfurt-Bindersleben air base were built and the Erfurt-Nord airport on the Roten Berg was expanded. In 1938 Erfurt was one of the largest garrisons in the German Reich. During the “ Reichspogromnacht ” the Great Synagogue was burned down and the deportation of around 800 Jewish residents began. Between 1939 and 1945 between 10,000 and 15,000 prisoners of war as well as women and men from numerous countries occupied by Germany had to do forced labor , mainly in the city's armaments factories . Monuments in the main cemetery and in the south park remind of the hundreds of dead. In 1940, the Erfurt company JA Topf und Sons began working with the SS . In the years that followed, the company supplied the crematoria, ventilation systems and gas-tight doors for the concentration camps in Dachau , Buchenwald and Auschwitz .
During the Second World War , Erfurt experienced 17 light and 10 medium air raids by the Royal Air Force and the US Army Air Force , mainly in 1944 and 1945. Over 1,100 tons of bombs were dropped on the city. About 1600 people (civilians) lost their lives. 530 buildings were totally destroyed, 790 heavily and 1,750 moderately damaged. 17 percent of the apartments were totally destroyed and many others were badly damaged, especially in the historic old town . 23,000 Erfurt residents were without a home. 100 industrial buildings were totally destroyed or badly damaged, the infrastructure was badly affected. Valuable cultural buildings were completely lost, such as the Collegium maius of the old university, the Barfüßerkirche and the library of the Augustinian monastery . All the churches in the city center were more or less severely damaged by bombs or artillery shelling. The ruins of the Barfüßerkirche, which was destroyed on November 26, 1944, still stand as a memorial today. The damage to military installations was limited, the numerous barracks of the army remained intact. For April 3 and 4, 1945, an area bombing with 2,740 tons of bombs was planned by the RAF, which was only canceled because of the rapid advance of the US ground forces in Thuringia.
On April 12, 1945 - after artillery bombardment, low-level aircraft attacks and fighting in and near Erfurt - units of the 3rd US Army under the command of General George S. Patton occupied the city.
After the Second World War
On July 1, 1945, the Prussian district government stopped its activities. The city was assigned to the state of Thuringia with the administrative district of Erfurt. On July 3, units of the Red Army finally took over the city based on the 1st London Zone Protocol of 1944 and the decisions of the Yalta Conference , Erfurt became part of the Soviet zone of occupation .
In 1945 Erfurt began to slowly recover from the aftermath of the war. 30,000 cubic meters of rubble were cleared from the streets, the tram and gas supply were put back into operation and the schools opened. The new Lord Mayors were appointed by the occupying powers. In the first local elections after the war in September 1946, the LDP became the strongest party and provided the mayor of Paul Hach . However, he was arrested and removed shortly afterwards on charges of sabotage.
In 1948, Erfurt was named the capital of Thuringia by the Thuringian state parliament , before the state of Thuringia was dissolved in 1952 and divided into three districts, with Erfurt becoming the seat of the Erfurt district .
Thousands of Erfurters, especially from the educated and property classes, left the city during the Soviet Zone and GDR and settled in West Germany. From 1960 to 1992, there was an association Heimattreue Erfurt , the regular meetings -mostly in their sister city Mainz-and Erfurt Heimatbrief was connected.
At the end of the 1960s, the large-scale demolition of the Krmpferviertel on the eastern edge of the old town began. The subsequent widening of the Juri-Gagarin-Ring and the new construction of 11- to 16-storey and up to 120-meter-long prefabricated buildings were permanently affected by the up to then partially undestroyed cityscape, characterized by church towers. In addition, new residential areas with a total of over 17,000 apartments were built on the outskirts of the city by the end of the 1970s. In the Löberstrasse area, too, the old town quarters were demolished and replaced by large blocks. In the Johannesstrasse area , after the demolition of old houses, the standard building height of four floors was used in the city center, which is why the prefabricated buildings there are a little better integrated into the cityscape. The demolition of the Andreasviertel was prevented by citizen protests and the fall of 1989.
In 1970 Federal Chancellor Willy Brandt came to Erfurt for the first German-German summit meeting with the Chairman of the Council of Ministers and Deputy GDR State Council Chairman Willi Stoph . Among other things, he showed himself at the window of the Hotel Erfurter Hof , which is opposite the main train station . The crowd greeted him enthusiastically with “Willy, Willy” - and “Willy Brandt at the window!” - shouts.
In 1989 there were increasingly larger demonstrations in Erfurt, which finally ushered in the political upheaval. On December 4, 1989, the state security building in Andreasstrasse was occupied by Erfurt citizens and a vigilante guard was set up. In 1991, 49 of 88 members of the state parliament voted for Erfurt as the Thuringian state capital. In 1994 the Erfurt University was re-established; also in that year the Episcopal Office Erfurt-Meiningen, which existed since 1973, was raised to the diocese of Erfurt.
The image of the city has changed significantly in the years since the fall of the Wall. Many buildings in the historic old town have been renovated, and new buildings have been built in some places.
On April 26, 2002, Erfurt gained worldwide media attention through the rampage at Gutenberg High School .
In 2008 the city received a gold medal in the federal competition Our city is blooming , and on May 25, 2009 the city received the title “ Place of Diversity ” awarded by the federal government .
Erfurt was one of four stops (alongside Berlin , the Etzelsbach pilgrimage chapel and Freiburg im Breisgau ) on Pope Benedict XVI's four-day visit to Germany . in September 2011. On September 23, he met with representatives of the Evangelical Church in Germany in the Augustinian monastery , a former place of activity of Martin Luther . A day later, he celebrated a Eucharistic celebration in front of around 30,000 believers on Cathedral Square .
Administrative history
The administration of the city of Erfurt was initially incumbent on a Vogt appointed by the king and the diocese of Mainz. In the 13th century, a committee developed into the City Council, which was first mentioned in 1212. Members of the council were the councilors and a varying number of councilors. By 1800 there were several changes to the council and the head of the city. After the transition to Prussia, the Prussian town order was introduced in 1822 . After that, the city was usually headed by a mayor. There was also still a council. During the Nazi era , the mayor was appointed by the NSDAP and after the Second World War the Soviet military administration formed the “City Council” or the city council , which was also “elected” by the people. In 1952 the city area was divided into the city districts center, south, east and west (from 1957 center, north and south) on the basis of a resolution by the city council. This classification remained in place until 1990.
After the reunification of Germany, the body, now known as the city council , was freely elected again. The chairman of this body was initially a President of the Council or "Council President". This office was initially held by Karl-Heinz Kindervater (CDU). The council also initially elected the mayor . Since 1994 the mayor has been directly elected by the people. Today he is also the chairman of the city council.
Religions
history
In 742 Bonifatius founded the Diocese of Erfurt, which was incorporated into the Diocese of Mainz in 755. Thus, the population of the city of Erfurt belonged to the diocese of Mainz for many centuries. In the 14th century the city had over 20 parish churches as well as three collegiate monasteries and over ten monasteries . Many of them are still well preserved today. At the beginning of the 16th century, Martin Luther was a student at the University of Erfurt.
The majority of the city later turned to the Reformation . Therefore, there were strong tensions between within the city denominations . In 1530, in the Hammelburg Treaty, the denominations were equal. After that, the Protestants kept eight churches. You were led by a senior . In 1563 an Evangelical Ministry was set up, the highest church authority responsible for the administration of the Protestants.
After the city of Erfurt was transferred to Prussia in 1815, the church structures were also reorganized. The Protestants from Erfurt became members of the Provincial Church of Saxony , which was established with the formation of the Prussian Province of Saxony. In 1817, Lutheran and Reformed congregations throughout Prussia were united to form a single regional church ( Uniate Churches ). After that, all of Erfurt's evangelical parishes belonged to the Evangelical Church in Prussia , or rather to its church province of Saxony , the head of which was the respective King of Prussia as summus episcopus . The ecclesiastical province of Saxony remained part of this regional church , which was called the Evangelical Church of the Old Prussian Union from 1922 after the sovereign church regiment had ceased to exist in 1918. In 1947, as the Evangelical Church of the Church Province of Saxony, it became an independent regional church with a bishop at its head. On January 1, 2009 the merger with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Thuringia took place to form the Evangelical Church in Central Germany . The Protestant churches belong Erfurt - it unless not to free churches is - to parish of Erfurt within the provost Erfurt-Nordhausen, whose seat is located in Erfurt. In 2003 the church district had around 28,000 members.
In response to the unification of the Lutheran and Reformed Churches in Prussia by King Friedrich Wilhelm III in 1817 . The Evangelical Lutheran (Old Lutheran) Church of Prussia was created by cabinet order . The Old Lutherans insisted on religious freedom by fully demanding Lutheran worship, constitution and teaching, which they were not granted. After a severe period of persecution by the state and with the approval of the regional church consistory, it was constituted in 1841 under King Friedrich Wilhelm IV and was tolerated under strict conditions. In the middle of the period of persecution, the Evangelical Lutheran Christ Church Congregation was established in 1836 with the departure of 21 families from the United Regional Church , which subordinated itself to the Upper Church College of the Evangelical Lutheran (Old Lutheran) Church in Wroclaw . Her church in Tettaustraße was not consecrated until 1913. Today this parish belongs to the church district of Saxony-Thuringia of the Independent Evangelical Lutheran Church .
The city's Roman Catholic parishes belonged to the diocese of Paderborn from 1821 . After the Prussian Concordat of 1929, the territories of the Roman Catholic dioceses were reorganized. The communities in Erfurt came to the diocese of Fulda . After the Second World War it became increasingly difficult for the bishop to exercise his official duties in the eastern part of his diocese. The same happened to the Bishop of Würzburg , to whom the southern parishes of Thuringia were assigned. In 1946, a vicar general was installed in Erfurt for the GDR areas of the dioceses of Fulda and Würzburg , who was appointed auxiliary bishop in 1953 and episcopal commissioner in 1967. Due to the reorganization of the Roman Catholic Church in the GDR , the areas were spun off and assigned to the Episcopal Office of Erfurt-Meiningen by decree of the Holy See on July 20, 1973 and thus formally separated from their previous dioceses. Head of this episcopal office was an apostolic administrator who was titular bishop . On June 14, 1994, the Episcopal Office Erfurt-Meiningen was raised to the Diocese of Erfurt and assigned to the ecclesiastical province of Paderborn . It became legally effective on July 7, 1994. The parish in Erfurt is now part of the Erfurt deanery within the diocese of Erfurt. In 2003 there were about 14,000 Roman Catholics in Erfurt.
In addition to the two large churches, there is also a small congregation of the Old Catholic Church , which is located in the Michaeliskirche , as well as congregations that belong to free churches, including a Methodist Church ( Aegidia Church ), a Free Evangelical Congregation , and an Adventist church who have favourited Jesus Freaks , a Mission Church, and the Christ Center. The New Apostolic Church , the Christian Community , Jehovah's Witnesses , the Apostolic Community and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are also represented in Erfurt.
Erfurt is also the seat of the Jewish community of Thuringia, which has around 650 members. Of these, 350 live in Erfurt itself. In the city there is the only synagogue built in the GDR , the New Synagogue , which is used as a prayer and community room, and the Old Synagogue , at 900 years one of the oldest surviving synagogues in Europe, and the small synagogue , which is now a museum and meeting place. As a testimony to the earlier community, the old ritual bath, the mikvah, near the old synagogue, built around 1100, was discovered by chance during earthworks near the Krämerbrücke with a largely preserved barrel vault in spring 2007 . The mikvah has been attested since 1250.
Other world religions can also be found in Erfurt. Examples of this are the Islamic Center on Leipziger Strasse and the Erfurt Buddhist Center on Stauffenbergallee.
statistics
Traditionally Catholic villages in what is now Erfurt's urban area were the four former Electoral Mainz kitchen villages of Daberstedt , Dittelstedt , Hochheim and Melchendorf , while all other parts of the city were traditionally evangelical. The population of the city of Erfurt in 1793 was about two thirds Protestant and one third Catholic. Even shortly after the Electorate of Erfurt fell to Prussia , the ratio in 1804/1805 was still unchanged at around 2: 1. The proportion of Catholics has been falling since the 19th century, whereas that of Protestants initially rose until the First World War. The following table shows the denominations of the Erfurt population from 1837 to 1939:
| Protestants | Catholics | Other Christians |
Jews | Others or non-denominational |
|||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| year | Population of the city or urban district of Erfurt 1 |
number | proportion of | number | proportion of | number | proportion of | number | proportion of | number | proportion of |
| 1837 | 24,308 | 19,017 | 78.23% | 5,142 | 21.15% | - | - | 149 | 0.61% | - | - |
| 1890 | 72,360 | 61.104 | 84.44% | 10.122 | 13.99% | N / A | - | 746 | 1.03% | 388 | 0.54% |
| 1900 | 85.202 | 73.268 | 85.99% | 10,666 | 12.52% | N / A | - | N / A | - | 1,268 | 1.49% |
| 1910 | 111,463 | 96,861 | 86.90% | 12,563 | 11.27% | N / A | - | N / A | - | 2,039 | 1.83% |
| 1925 | 135,579 | 115,578 | 85.25% | 13,466 | 9.93% | 241 | 0.18% | 819 | 0.60% | 5,475 | 4.04% |
| 1933 | 144,879 | 121,267 | 83.70% | 14,322 | 9.89% | 45 | 0.03% | 831 | 0.57% | 8,414 | 5.81% |
| 1939 | 159.201 | 126.080 | 79.20% | 16,982 | 10.67% | 906 | 0.57% | 261 | 0.16% | 14,972 | 9.40% |
1 The figures for 1837 refer to the civilian population.
In 1837 the proportion of Protestants among the civilian population was already around 78 percent, while that of Catholics was now around 21 percent. By 1890 their share decreased further to about 14 percent. After the incorporation of the predominantly Protestant village of Ilversgehofen on April 1, 1911, the value fell to below 10 percent, but initially exceeded this mark again after the incorporation of the predominantly Catholic villages of Hochheim and Melchendorf on April 1, 1938. At least since the incorporation of the year 1950, the proportion of Catholics from Erfurt in the total population has been in the single digits. After the fall of the Wall , the proportion of Catholics in Erfurt was a good 8 percent in 1992 and fell below this value after the extensive incorporation in 1994. The proportion of Protestants rose to around 87 percent by the First World War, began to decline during the Weimar Republic and fell below the 80 percent mark before the beginning of the Second World War.
While membership in the two large churches declined in the 20th century, the proportion of those with no religion rose from 0.5 percent in 1890 to 4 percent (1925) at the time of the National Socialist dictatorship to just under 10 percent. This trend continued to an increasing extent during the time of the GDR. The fact that the proportion of Catholics declined relatively less than that of Protestants after the Second World War is due on the one hand to attitudes in the GDR and on the other hand to the steady immigration of Catholics from Eichsfeld , with Erfurt a special one due to the common Electoral Mainz past has historical relationship. The immigration of Catholics from West Germany and abroad in the course of the establishment of the state administration after 1990 and the social restructuring in Erfurt also plays a role in this.
After there had been no Jewish community in Erfurt since 1454, the first Jew was granted urban citizenship in 1810. The Jewish community, which was then re-established in the early 19th century, had 149 members in 1837 and around 1890 reached its largest share of the city's population with a little more than one percent. By 1932 it grew to 1,290 members. By 1939, as a result of the National Socialist reprisals, the number fell drastically by over 1,000 people to 261 members. After the Holocaust , the community was re-established by a few surviving Erfurt Jews. The community initially grew through the influx of Silesian (especially from Breslau) and Eastern European Holocaust survivors. After many community members emigrated due to the political situation in the early 1950s, the number of Jewish Erfurt residents fell further to 26 by 1990. Due to immigration from the former Soviet Union , it rose again to 400 by 2005 and to around 500 by 2012. The Jewish state community of Thuringia has been the only Jewish community in Thuringia since the 1950s.
According to information from the register of residents as of December 31, 2010, around 13.7% of the population of the city of Erfurt were Protestant , around 6.5% Roman Catholic , 0.2% Jewish and 0.8% belonged to another registered religious community (before all other Christian communities such as the New Apostolic Church or the Russian Orthodox Church ). According to this, 78.8% of the Erfurt population are non-denominational or belong to another non-registered religious community. Only membership of religious communities that represent a corporation under public law is recorded in the population register , which is not the case with Islam in particular , but also with Buddhism , for example . In order to estimate the proportion of Muslims, the statistics in Germany often indicate the number of foreigners from predominantly Muslim countries of origin. In Erfurt there are around 1300 people, which would correspond to a Muslim population of around 0.65%, but takes into account or excludes non-Muslims and naturalized people from these countries and is therefore only relatively imprecise, especially since a considerable part of the immigrants from Central Asian countries the former Soviet Union, which was shaped by atheism and diverse minorities.
The mere membership in such a body also says nothing about the religiosity actually practiced . The number of people attending church services in the two larger Christian churches is significantly lower than the number of members (the overall German average in 2008 was around 5% of all Protestants and around 13% of all Catholics), while people without a recorded religious community can definitely practice a religion. In a representative household survey by the Erfurt statistics office from 2011, 11% of those questioned described themselves as religious and 81% as non-religious. For the 18 to 24 year olds it was 9% and 88% and for the over 65 year olds 14% and 70%.
Incorporations
The following communities and districts were incorporated into Erfurt:
| date | Incorporated places |
|---|---|
| 1813 (1) | Daberstedt |
| 1911, April 1st | Ilversgehofen |
| 1937 | Parts of the Marbach town hall |
| 1938, April 1st | Hochheim , Melchendorf and parts of the Bindersleben and Salomonsborner local corridors |
| 1950, January 1st | Bischleben-Stedten , Dittelstedt and Rhoda |
| 1950, July 1st | Bindersleben , Gispersleben , Marbach , Möbisburg and Schmira |
| 1994, April 1 | Alach , Ermstedt , Frienstedt , Gottstedt , Salomonsborn and Schaderode |
| 1994, July 1st | Azmannsdorf , Büßleben , Egstedt , Hochstedt , Kerspleben , Kühnhausen , Linderbach , Mittelhausen , Molsdorf , Niedernissa , Rohda , Schwerborn , Stotternheim , Tiefthal , Töttleben , Urbich , Vieselbach , Wallichen , Waltersleben and Windischholzhausen |
| 1994, October 12th | Töttelstädt |
(1) : The village of Daberstedt was destroyed by Napoleonic troops in 1813 and not rebuilt. The local corridor was then divided, with the northern part coming to the city of Erfurt and the southern part to Melchendorf .
literature
- Steffen Raßloff : History of the city of Erfurt. Erfurt 2012 (5th edition 2019), ISBN 978-3-95400-044-9 .
- Steffen Raßloff: A short history of the city of Erfurt. Ilmenau 2016 (2nd edition 2020), ISBN 978-3-95560-045-7 .
- Steffen Raßloff: 100 monuments in Erfurt. History and stories. With photographs by Sascha Fromm. Essen 2013, ISBN 978-3-8375-0987-8 .
- Alfred Overmann : Erfurt in twelve centuries. A city history in pictures. Erfurt 1929.
- Stephanie Wolf: Erfurt in the 13th century. Urban society between the Archbishop of Mainz, the nobility and the empire. Cologne / Weimar / Vienna 2005, ISBN 3-412-12405-2 .
- Constantin Beyer: Volume 1 - New Chronicle of Erfurt 1736-1815. Bad Langensalza, Reprint 1821/2002, ISBN 3-936030-31-6 .
- Constantin Beyer: Volume 2 - Supplements to the new chronicle of Erfurt 1736-1815. Bad Langensalza, Reprint 1823/2002, ISBN 3-936030-32-4 .
- Steffen Raßloff: Escape into the national community. The Erfurt bourgeoisie between the Empire and the Nazi dictatorship. Cologne / Weimar / Vienna 2003, ISBN 3-412-11802-8 .
- Steffen Raßloff: Civil War and the Roaring Twenties. Erfurt in the Weimar Republic. Erfurt 2008, ISBN 978-3-86680-338-1 .
- Hans Giesecke: The old Erfurt. With pictures by Klaus G. Beyer, Leipzig 1972.
- Helmut Wolf: Erfurt in the air war 1939–1945. Jena 2005 (2nd edition Zella-Mehlis 2013), ISBN 3-931743-89-6 .
- Martin Baumann and Steffen Raßloff (eds.): City of flowers Erfurt. Waid - Horticulture - iga / egapark. Erfurt 2011, ISBN 978-3-86680-812-6 .
- Messages from the Association for the History and Archeology of Erfurt (MVGAE). Vol. 1–53 (1865–1941), Vol. 54 ff. (1993 ff.)
- Yearbook for the history of Erfurt. 2006 ff., The society for history and local history of Erfurt.
- City and history. Magazine for Erfurt. (SuG). Issue 1 ff. (1998 ff.)
- Erfurt home letter. Letter for d. Erfurt in d. Federal Republic with West Berlin a. in western foreign countries. Issue 1–64 (1961–1992) of the association “Heimattreue Erfurter” (in Berlin-Wilmersdorf).
- JLK Arnold: Erfurt with its peculiarities and antiquities in historical, statistical, mercantile etc. terms. Gotha 1802 ( e-copy ).
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ This was stated in 2014 by Karin Sczech, the consultant for the State Office for Archeology ( Erfurt's roots are only available on paper so far , in: Thüringische Landeszeitung, March 29, 2014).
- ↑ Christoph G. Schmidt: The central German place of discovery Frienstedt: role model enemy? Germanic elite under Roman influence . Dissertation, 2015 (unpublished).
- ↑ Sensational find in Erfurt during excavations . Thuringian State Newspaper, April 13, 2012
- ↑ Grit König: The researchers electrified four letters. Oldest Central German runes discovered on a comb made of deer antlers . Thuringian newspaper, April 28, 2012.
- ↑ Karin Sczech: The medieval urban development of Erfurt according to the archaeological findings , in: Mark Escherich, Christian Misch, Rainer A. Müller (eds.): Origin and change of medieval cities in Thuringia , Lukas, Berlin 2007, pp. 112–126, here : P. 115.
- ↑ Karin Sczech: The medieval urban development of Erfurt according to the archaeological findings , in: Mark Escherich, Christian Misch, Rainer A. Müller (eds.): Origin and change of medieval cities in Thuringia , Lukas, Berlin 2007, pp. 112–126, here : P. 116.
- ^ Robert Gramsch: Erfurt - The oldest university in Germany. From general studies to university. ( Writings of the Association for the History and Archeology of Erfurt Vol. 9), Erfurt 2012, pp. 75–92
- ↑ See BSLK , p. 766; see. P. 17.
- ↑ Ronald Füssel: The witch persecutions in the Thuringian area , publications of the working group for historical witchcraft and crime research in Northern Germany, Volume 2, Hamburg 2003, pp. 239f, 247, 251
- ^ Official Journal of the Prussian Government in Erfurt 1871, p. 275, Ordinance on the formation of the Erfurt urban district
- ↑ Thuringian Association of the Persecuted of the Nazi Regime - Association of Antifascists and Study Group of German Resistance 1933–1945 (Ed.): Heimatgeschichtlicher Wegweiser to places of resistance and persecution 1933–1945 (= Heimatgeschichtliche Wegweiser. Volume 8). Erfurt 2003, ISBN 3-88864-343-0 , p. 56 ff.
- ↑ Helmut Wolf: Erfurt in the air war 1939-1945. Glaux, Jena 2005, ISBN 3-931743-89-6 , p. 249 ff .; Rudolf Zießler: District of Erfurt. In: Götz Eckardt (Ed.): Fates of German architectural monuments in the Second World War. Volume 2. Henschel, Berlin 1978, pp. 474-486.
- ↑ Anja Buresch: Battle for Erfurt. The American occupation of the city in April 1945. Erfurt 2016, ISBN 3-95400-718-5 .
- ↑ fowid, Weltanschauung research group in Germany: Big Cities - Church Members in the Population 2003 (PDF 145 kB) ( Memento from September 28, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
- ^ Netzeitung.de: Medieval mikveh found in Erfurt ( memento from January 16, 2009 in the Internet Archive ), April 11, 2007
- ↑ M. Jakob Dominikus: Erfurt and the Erfurt area according to geographical, physical, statistical, political and historical conditions, first part, Gotha, 1793, p. 139
- ^ Johann Emanuel Küster: Contribution to Prussian State Studies, First Collection, Berlin 1806, pp. 176-177, 196-197
- ↑ Geographical Statistical-Topographical Lexicon of the Kur- und Oberrheinischen Kreis, Ulm 1805, Sp. 168
- ↑ Detailed geographic-statistical-topographical description of the Erfurt administrative district 1841, p. 164
- ^ German administrative history Province of Saxony, Erfurt
- ↑ Lexicon for Theology and Church, Third Volume, Freiburg / Basel / Rome / Vienna 1995, Col. 760
- ↑ [1]
- ↑ alemannia-judaica.de
- ↑ Kommunalstatistische Hefte, Heft 76, S. 143 ( Memento of the original from December 28, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 5.0 MB)
