Erfurt, Germany

Erfurt is the capital of Thuringia in central Germany, home to about 214,000 residents along the Gera River and founded as a bishopric in 742. Its medieval core survives in landmarks like the Krämerbrücke, a 120-meter span completed in 1325 that ranks as the longest series of inhabited bridges in Europe, lined with half-timbered houses that people still occupy. On the Domplatz, the 1154 Erfurt Cathedral and the 1272 Severikirche stand side by side. Martin Luther studied at the 1392 University of Erfurt, the third oldest in Germany, before taking monastic vows at the Augustinian Monastery in 1505.