Today was my planned trip to Erfurt and Arnstadt, despite many hours on trains in the last two days, so after a hasty breakfast I walked the short distance to the station and was on the platform with my ticket in five minutes. The weather was as dull as yesterday, and all the commuters were wearing coats. As we approached Erfurt I noticed a huge Ikea distribution centre, painted off-white to match the sky.
Erfurt turned out to be much larger and more commercial than I'd expected from the guide book. I walked through the attractive, clean and mostly pedestrianised streets to the Dom and Severikirche. The huge Mediaeval square - the Domplatz - over which they tower is ringed now by the inevitable market stalls, white vans and bratwurst kiosks, with a helping of tour buses on the side. So a good view and photos of the two churches on top of their hill is difficult.
Inside, the Dom is in two halves: a huge, open and relatively light hall, with a small but exquisite painting of the Madonna with Saints Catherine and Barbara by Lucas Cranach; and a very dark and more conventional chancel with heavy woodwork and superb full length stained glass windows. The Severikirche next door is also a 'hall church', so open that you hardly notice its five aisle. A pink sandstone tomb of St Severus from about 1365, and an interesting pulpit.
When I came our of the church there was a distinct feeling of warmth from the sky, and by the time I'd walked to the Krämerbrücke - the longest inhabited bridge in Europe - the sky was blue and the sun was shining. Had I even thought of bringing sunglasses and sunscreen? At least the camera had work to do.
My plan was to move on to Arnstadt, home of various members of the Bach family for many years, at around 12:30, returning to Erfurt late in the afternoon, but I decided to take a train an hour earlier as I'd seen as much as I wanted to in Erfurt for now. So a brisk walk back to the busy station.
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