Erfurt; Wednesday, 01 August, 2012

I had a large breakfast before heading out for a day’s sightseeing, with the first stop being the hefty climb up to the Citadel that overlooks the city. The views from the bastions were stunning, particularly of the cathedral and the domplatz.

From the citadel I wandered through town, roughly following a suggested itinerary in the guide book, picking up the main sights that I hadn’t see the previous day on my wanders.

I wandered past the ruins of the Barfüßerkirche, destroyed during the war and left in ruins as a memory, and on to the Haus zum Stockfisch to look round the Stadtmuseum located there.

After pausing for lunch in the main shopping street I continued my walk and stopped off at the Predigerkircge, the Michaeliskirche and the Augustinerkloster before heading over to the museum in the Alte Synagogue.

The Synagogue is, possibly, the oldest in central Europe, though for over 500 years it lay hidden and unknown. The large Jewish community of Erfurt was either killed or fled during pogroms in the late middle of the 14th century, and after that point the Synagogue was used for storage, and eventually converted into a dance hall. It was only a few years ago that it was realised exactly what it was and at that point a restoration programme started to return it to as close as it would have been at the height of the Jewish community.

After looking around the synagogue I wandered past the Rathaus and Fischmarkt before heading back over towards the Domplatz to find some dinner.

After dinner, and quickly popping back to the hotel to freshen up, I wandered back out to take in the sites in the last of the days sun, wandering up to the Citadel to watch the sun fade over the city.

I had a long wander through town and ended up at the Domplatz illuminated not just by the floodlight cathedrals, but also by an amazingly bright full moon.

I ended the evening wandering part of the way back up to the Citadel to take a few photos of the floodlight cathedrals before heading back to the hotel to pack and then go to bed.