ERFURT

city, Thuringia Land (state), central Germany, located in the Thringer Basin, on the Gera River. It was first mentioned in 724 as Erpesfurt, the site of an abbey and a royal residence at a ford (Furt) on the Gera (originally named Erpf) River. Boniface founded a bishopric there in 742. By 805 it was a military strong point and an administrative and commercial centre on the eastern border of the Frankish empire. It was granted municipal rights about 1250 by the archbishop of Mainz and controlled extensive territories in the Middle Ages. Joining the Hanseatic League in the 15th century, it was until about 1600 a great commercial centre for woad, a plant then used for its blue dye extract. Erfurt's university, opened in 1392, was suppressed in 1816. Occupied by a Swedish garrison during the Thirty Years' War (161848), the city became part of the electorate of Mainz in 1664. It passed to Prussia in 1802, forming part of Prussian Saxony until 1945, except for a period of French domination (180613). In 1808 the Congress of Erfurt was attended by Napoleon, Alexander I of Russia, and the kings of Bavaria, Saxony, Westphalia, and Wrttemberg. In 1850 a conference of the short-lived Prussian Union took place there. The city is dominated by the cathedral and the Church of St. Severus, which stand side-by-side atop a hill called Domberg (Cathedral Hill). The cathedral (11541476) contains 15th-century glass and numerous notable works of art. Other buildings of interest in Erfurt include the Augustinian monastery where Martin Luther was a monk (150508), now an orphanage; the Krmerbrcke (1325; Merchant Bridge), lined with houses and shops; the Anger Museum of Art and History, located in a former merchant's house (170511); the palace of the governor of the electorate of Mainz (171120); the Teaching Institute (195359); and the Medical Academy (195459). There is a scientific library containing the Amplonian collection of 1400 and earlier, as well as a library of municipal archives, and a natural-history museum. Erfurt is an important road and railway junction and a commercial centre, with an airport 3 miles (5 km) northwest. Industries include metalworking and the manufacture of electrical apparatus, shoes, and clothing. Known for the cultivation of a wide variety of flowers and vegetablesan industry that originated in the large gardens attached to the monasteriesit exports seeds and processed foods. Pop. (1993 est.) 203,134.