European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - June 4, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse The Spires of two great churches St. Mary s Cathedral on the left and St. Severus on the right dominate the area known As Cathedral up for its 1,250th birthday a and the future built in the 14th Century .1 Ford in the River passes through the town and held merchants stands so that Trade could continue when the River was too High to Cross on foot. The Bridge was enlarged and the buildings along its Side altered several times. It is the Only Bridge of its kind Ortli of the Alps according to guidebooks. More than two dozen of the buildings in Erfurt s old City Are known by their names not an address. After All that was the medieval practice before Street names and House numbers were used. Many of the names Are poetic and based on real or legendary animals hero it deeds or geographical features. 7.um Sim Nybom Quot Sun Fountain quo built 111 1 5 Dot is now the City registry office. 1 he i 5tlw entry 7nm s War in Horn Quot Black h. Irn Quot housed a printing shop where Luther s first hymn Holt it a and Many of his pamphlets were published. Zur we Muhle Quot Windmill Quot Dales irom the t j the ent Ury and today i jus Quot it a Musu so i100i. I he Stone Gateway into the it ourt wird is Bevelled on it a All Side s to make it a aerl it a wagons and it aits to to it to it irn the Narri it a Strep 1. Man of the building in the old t ,111 1 it n n / 1 11 a go Iby Crystal Laureano staff writer Erfurt the new capital of the former East German state of Thuringer is celebrating its 1,250th birthday this year. Town officials Are using the Opportunity to Spruce up the historically Rich City in an Effort to draw More visitors from the West. Even though Erfurt was a popular tour bus Stop for vacationing Eastern europeans before the unification of Germany Little was spent on the general Upkeep of the town s medieval Center. On one hand this Means Many of the old structures Are in disrepair on the other no historical buildings or ruins were torn Down in the name of Progress. Stately mansions and impressive buildings torn last centuries of wealth Grace almost every Street of the City. There Are spiral towers intricately carved stonework and and ornate structures with Large Oriel windows and balconies. Throughout the City Are clusters of half timbered buildings old warehouses held great wealth and court lies with soaring steeples and Beautiful windows. Ith a Little imagination it is possible to conjure up How truly grand some of these buildings looked a and will look after a serious sandblasting and a mat of the flurry of activity to repaint restore and refurbish the old town makes it an area of Stark contrasts. Buildings freshly painted and trimmed stand beside others untouched by a Painter s Brush for 45 years and deeply stained by pollution creating a Checkerboard effect. But despite the scaffolding and cracked aging Walls it is possible to see signs of the City s past grandeur and imagine the significance that helped it draw such Well known residents and visitors As Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Johann Sebastian Bach Johann Gutenberg Friedrich von Schiller and Martin Luther to name a few. Erfurt sat at the Crossroads of two major Trade routes a the via Regia or King s Road which stretched from France to Kiev in present play Ukraine and the Volt Reg or Highway of nations from Northern Germany to Nurnberg its location helped make it a major Trade c enter from the 1 3th to the 1 5th centuries. But what brought the City and its people most of its wealth during what is now1 called the Ity s Quot Golden age Quot was grow my and trading Woad a Blue vegetable Dye available Long Belore the r Imam Irnen used dig it 1 be of tie Sansbu a a a lie Ity \ trading i h a. The a a Farr Fiji of or men t ant t if i i a it a june 4, i we strips mjg inv
