ERFURT

Erfurt, the capital city of Thuringia, is a beautiful and picturesque city surrounded by religious and historical buildings, including the oldest synagogue in Europe. It is, in short, a small journey back to the Middle Ages.

This charming city was a member of the Hanseatic League, an alliance of trading associations and market towns. It was also famous for the production of Isatis tinctoria, the indigo dye made from the plant of the same name.

Erfurt was a major economic center in the past, as it was located on the Via Regia, a route through which a medieval network of trade routes crossed, extending throughout Europe. Today, it is a logistics hub, thanks to the high-speed rail lines and other important modes of transport that continue their journeys across the European continent.

An interesting fact: During the time of the German Democratic Republic, it almost lost its medieval city center when a highway was planned to cut right through it. Fortunately, with German reunification in 1989, these plans were cancelled.