Renowned travel writer Andrew T. Nelson, who pens the Substack newsletter Lost in Place, has a theory: Europe’s biggest sights have become so crowded they’ve started to feel like theme parks. His prescription for travelers is to head somewhere with room to breathe, both literally and historically, and Historic Highlights of Germany Erfurt made his short list of cities still worth discovering on your own terms.
Why Erfurt Caught His Attention:
- An Old Town so intact it lets you wander for hours without a plan, not a checklist
- The medieval merchant houses still lining the Krämerbrücke Bridge
- The soaring St. Mary’s Cathedral, anchoring a skyline centuries in the making
- A deep, lived-in connection to Martin Luther
- Just two hours by high-speed rail from either Frankfurt or Munich airport
- And yes, a street vendor who handed him a free bratwurst, simply to prove Erfurt’s is the best in the country
“Go get lost in Erfurt,” Nelson writes. He means it as a compliment to Erfurt, the kind of place that still rewards travelers willing to explore by simply wandering.
For Nelson, Erfurt’s real draw is what he calls psychological space: the freedom to encounter a centuries-old city rather than simply consume it. Its Old Town has survived intact enough that history isn’t roped off behind a ticket booth; it’s simply where you happen to be standing, whether that’s beneath the timbered merchant houses on the Krämerbrücke or in the shadow of St. Mary’s Cathedral. Add a storied connection to Martin Luther and a city built for wandering rather than queuing, and it’s easy to see why he singled it out.
And then there’s the icing on the cake: a local food stall vendor who pressed a free bratwurst into Nelson’s hand, simply to make sure he understood Erfurt’s is the best in the country. It’s the kind of unscripted moment, he notes, that’s getting harder to find anywhere else in Europe.
Read Andrew Nelson’s full piece, “Over There,” on Lost in Place.
