ERFURT, a city of Germany, in Prussian Saxony, on the Gera and the railway, about midway between Gotha and Weimar. Pop. 144,892. The origin of Erfurt (Med. Erpesfurt, Erphorde, Lat. Er f ordia) is obscure, but in 741 it was sufficiently important for St. Boniface to found here a bishopric, which was, however, reabsorbed in that of Mainz. In 805 the place received certain market rights from the emperor Charlemagne. Later the overlordship was claimed by the archbishops of Mainz, on the strength of charters granted by the emperor Otto I., and they succeeded in upholding their claims to it in spite of many vicis situdes. In 1255, however, the archbishop granted the city municipal rights, and Erfurt became practically a free town. Its power was at its height early in the 15th century, when it joined the Hanseatic League. It had acquired by force or purchase various countships and other fiefs in the neighbourhood, and ruled a considerable territory; and its wealth was so great that in 1378 it established a university, the first in Europe that em braced the four faculties. Feuds with Mainz and the religious struggles of the i6th century caused its decay and during the Thirty Years' War Erfurt was for a while occupied by the Swedes. In 1664 it was captured by the troops of the archbishop of Mainz, and remained in the possession of the electorate till 1802, when it came into the possession of Prussia. In 1808 Napoleon and the emperor Alexander I. of Russia, with the kings of Bavaria, Saxony, Westphalia and Wurttemberg met here at the congress of Erfurt, and here in 185o the parliament of the short-lived Prus sian Northern Union (known as the Erfurt parliament) sat.
The city, which is dominated on the west by the two citadels of Petersberg and Cyriaxburg, is irregularly built, the only feature in its plan being the Friedrich Wilhelmsplatz. On the south western side of this square is the Domberg, an eminence on which stand, side by side, the cathedral and the great church of St. Severus with its three spires (i4th century) . The cathedral (Beatae Mariae Virgins) was begun in the 1 zth century, but the nave was rebuilt in the i3th in the Gothic style. The chancel 2 ), with the i4th-century crypt below, rests on massive substructures, known as the Cavate. The cathedral contains, besides fine 15th century glass, some very rich portal sculptures and bronze castings, among others the coronation of the Virgin by Peter Vischer. Besides the cathedral and St. Severus, Erfurt possesses several very interesting mediaeval churches ; among these may be mentioned the Predigerkirche, dating from the latter half of the 1 2th century; the Reglerkirche, with a 12th century tower; and the Barfiisserkirche, a Gothic building containing fine i4th century monuments. All these were originally monastic churches. Of the former religious houses there survive a Francis can convent, and an Ursuline convent. The Augustinian mon astery, in which Luther lived as a friar, is now used as an orphanage, while a statue of the reformer stands in the chief street. At one time Erfurt had a university, whose charter dated from 1392 ; but it was suppressed in 1816, and its funds devoted to other purposes, among these being the endowment of an insti tution founded in 1758 and called the academy of sciences, and the support of the library, which now contains 6o,000 volumes and over I ,000 manuscripts. On the west and south-west new quarters have grown up. Erfurt possesses a picture gallery and an antiquarian collection.
The educational establishments of the town include a school of agriculture, and an academy of music. The most notable indus try of Erfurt is the culture of flowers and of vegetables. This industry had its origin in the large gardens attached to the monasteries. It has also manufactures of rolling stock, machines, furniture, woollen goods, ladies' mantles, boots, musical instru ments, agricultural implements, leather, tobacco, chemicals, etc. Brewing, bleaching and dyeing are also carried on on a large scale.