Attraction · Erfurt · Updated on 1 November 2026.

Erfurt Cathedral

Erfurt Cathedral is an attraction in Erfurt, Thuringia. This place has an audio tour of about 2 minutes, in English or Dutch. 33 of the 50 well-known points of interest nearby are within 1 km. Within 480 m you'll find a bench, a water point, a public toilet and a bike pump.

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The story

Wikipedia ↗Official website ↗

Audio tour · Erfurt Cathedral

2:21

You're standing at Erfurt Cathedral, the largest and oldest church in the city. It sits on a hill above the Domplatz, Cathedral Square, right next to St Severus' Church. Together the two churches are the city's landmark. Notice that the cathedral has no grand main entrance on its west side? There simply wasn't room for one on the hill.

Read and hear the whole story in the Outdoor Pitstop app: check in at this place and it is yours (with Pro; new users are Pro for the first 4 weeks).

Opening hours and admission

Opening hours: Mo-Sa 10:00-17:00; Su,PH 13:00-17:00
Wheelchair: Partly accessible

Source: OpenStreetMap and Wikidata.

Photos

10 photos from Wikimedia Commons. In the app you add your own photo when you are there.

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Photo: User:MatthiasKabel · Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 3.0View the photo on Wikimedia Commons

Erfurt Cathedral: the largest church in Erfurt

Erfurt Cathedral is the oldest church in the city. The church is known for Maarten Luther being ordained as a priest here in 1507. It also houses the Gloriosa, the largest medieval bell in the world. You can find this attraction in Erfurt at Domstufen. Other places nearby are Sankt Severi, Minerva and the Erthal-Obelisk.

What you can see at Erfurt Cathedral

The cathedral stands on a hill above the Domplein, next to the Severikerk. There is no grand main entrance on the west side, as there was no room for one on the hill. On the north side you can see the portal with statues of the Wijze en Dwaze Maagden. Beneath the great choir, in the substructure, are cavities where people once lived. Inside, the stained-glass windows in the choir are over 18 metres high. Here you will find an oak choir stall with 89 seats and a high altar more than 16 metres tall. There is also a bronze candelabrum called Wolfram and the tomb of graaf von Gleichen with his wives. The bell Gloriosa hangs in the central tower.

Erfurt Cathedral's history

Bonifatius built a church on this spot as early as the eighth century. In 1154 work began on a basilica. During the construction, graves were found, which were attributed to the holy bishops Adolar and Eoban. The donations this brought in sped up the building work. A few years later, in 1184, something strange happened during a royal gathering. A floor gave way, and around 60 people, including many nobles, drowned in a cesspit beneath the church. From the end of the thirteenth century, the church was rebuilt in a new style. The choir grew so large that it no longer fitted on the hill, so a substructure with hollow spaces, known as the kavaten, was built beneath it. People lived in these spaces until the nineteenth century. Later, soldiers used the cathedral as a horse stable.

Opening hours and accessibility at Erfurt Cathedral

You can find the opening hours of Erfurt Cathedral on the official website, dom-erfurt.de. From Monday to Saturday, the church is open from 10:00 to 17:00. On Sunday and public holidays, you can go inside between 13:00 and 17:00, so the opening hours of Erfurt Cathedral differ from day to day. The church is partly accessible by wheelchair. Inside, there is a toilet suitable for wheelchair users.

Drinking water, benches and toilets near Erfurt Cathedral

You'll find drinking water 99 metres from Erfurt Cathedral, at the Domplatz; this tap is wheelchair accessible. There are 4 water taps within 500 metres in total. For a toilet near Erfurt Cathedral, walk 112 metres to the Domplatz, where a wheelchair-accessible toilet is located. Within roughly 500 metres there are 11 public toilets. Benches are plentiful around Erfurt Cathedral. The nearest bench is 28 metres away, by the Domstufen, and there are 114 benches within 500 metres. For a bike pump, walk 481 metres to the Selbsthilfefahrradwerkstatt FaWe - Fahr Weiter e.V. This is the only bike pump within 500 metres.

Walks and sights around Erfurt Cathedral

Several places are within easy reach of the cathedral. Sankt Severi is 64 metres away, and the Minerva memorial is 99 metres on from there. Next comes the Erthal-Obelisk at 138 metres, followed by the DenkNadel memorial at 177 metres. Slightly further on, the Museum Alte Synagoge Erfurt lies 536 metres away, and it offers an audio story. The Krämerbrücke is 640 metres from the cathedral. In the Outdoor Pitstop app, you can also listen to an audio story about Erfurt Cathedral on the spot. It lasts 2 minutes.