Erfurt

Erfurt a city in the Prussian province of Saxony, with, in 1885, 58,386 inhabitants. In 741, Erfurt became the seat of a bishop, but St. Adalar was the last as well as the first bishop, the see being united with that of Mentz. In 1378 the city received permission from the pope residing at Avignon (Clement VII) to establish a university, and the permission was in 1389 confirmed by the Roman pope Urban VI. In 1392 the university was opened, being the fifth university of Germany. At the beginning of the 16th. century, Luther was for some time one of its professors. Subsequently its reputation dwindled down, and; it was abolished in 1816. — Wetzer u. Welte, Kirchen-Lexikon, 3:661.