# Erfurt, July 2005

At the end of July 2005 my friend Iain Simcock was on the jury of the third Erfurt organ competition. He suggested we make a trip of it, so I came for the final (which turned out to take place over two days). I hadn't been to the former DDR's territory since 1985, and was interested to see what it was like. Indeed, the only part I had ever visited was East Berlin; all I remember of the drive there and back was featureless fields on either side of an almost empty road.

In fact, other than from prices being a little lower than one might expect, I couldn't tell much difference between Thüringia and, say, Bavaria. Perhaps after fifteen years this is not so surprising. Iain tells me, though, that the East Germans still revered Bach and Luther, and so preserved much of the historic fabric associated with them. I imagine they couldn't afford to knock it down, anyway, and Erfurt is a pretty old city.

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A couple of interesting things: a raised fountain, and a building, one of several built over arches, only one of which has water flowing underneath.

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