Back door Europe: Erfurt at Christmas

Our aim for this Christmas season was to seek out what was reported to be some of the best Christmas markets in southern Germany. We had plans to take in three cities in one day. It was a rather ambitious endeavor given that the three cities chosen were more than two hours from Frankfurt. Their reputation warranted the extra time and effort required. We started with Erfurt which is noted for two reputable universities. Marin Luther acquired both his Bachelors and Masters degree here. It has one of the largest market squares dominated by two churches--one catholic and the other protestant. These prominent edifices are perched atop a hill and reaching them involves a broad concrete staircase. From the vantage point in front of the two churches, one can see the cityscape and more particularly the square alive with colours of the Christmas season. In addition to the normal booths marketing various and sundry knick knacks, there were a number of craftsmen who obviously were taking advantage of the throngs of people frequenting the square at this time of year. We too could not resist and purchased a three level Christmas Carousel as a keepsake of our two Christmases in Germany.

Erfurt is the capital of Thuringia, was formerly part of East Germany and is the city closest to the geographical center of Germany so it has something in common with our little town of Vanderhoof in the center of British Columbia. The city itself was first mentioned in 742 and has an intact medieval city center. The churches date back to the 13th century and Erfurt claims to have the oldest still standing Jewish synogogue in Europe. Another remarkable site is the bridge which crosses the Gera River and has 32 buildings on it. It is hard to tell you are on a bridge, except where access
points between the building allow one to the see the river below. On one end of the bridge is an old church on the other a monastery. Quite a picturesque scene. The appeal of this city aside from the market and bridge was the splendid examples of architecture, the design work of the building facades and the energy so readily felt in this university town.

On the day we were there, fire men were removing snow from the down town roof tops to prevent the accumulation from sliding and injuring passersbys below. Their boom trucks and colorful apparel drew lots of spectators. Taking in the market is unquestionably part of the Christmas tradition in Germany. Every town boasts its Christmas market.

We went on to Weimer another 20 minutes down the road and took in their market as well. We plan on heading back to Weimer as it holds much appeal for other reasons.