Erfurt’s Marktstraße was first mentioned in 1223 as “lata platea Erphordie”, the street of Erfurt. Before that, it was called “An der Straße” – a reference to the great trade route from Mainz via Frankfurt and Erfurt to Breslau. It runs from Domplatz in the west to Fischmarkt in the east and is very popular with locals and tourists alike for strolling and browsing. The special thing about this shopping street is that you won’t find any branches of large retail chains here. The shops in the time-honoured houses are so small that only owner-operated businesses and small cafés can be found here.
