Thomaskirche Erfurt

The Thomaskirche in Erfurt is a Protestant church in the Löbervorstadt district, built in Gothic Revival style to a design by Rudolph Eberhard Hillebrand and consecrated on 15 June 1902. It replaced an older parish church, documented in the thirteenth century and demolished in 1903, from which medieval furnishings were transferred. Bombing on 31 March 1945 severely damaged the new church; it was reconsecrated in September 1950. Restoration around 2000 included changes to the chancel that also accommodated choral and orchestral performances. Erfurt kept so many churches through the Middle Ages that it acquired the nickname of a Thuringian Rome, and the Thomaskirche belongs to that dense inheritance. It opens its nave to music. Erfurt's concert life has always leaned on such rooms, and the habit long predates any purpose-built hall in the city.