Erfurt vs Turku

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Erfurt ( AIR-furt, AIR-foort; German pronunciation: [ˈɛʁfʊʁt] (listen)) is the capital and largest city in the state of Thuringia, central Germany. Erfurt lies in the southern part of the Thuringian Basin, within the wide valley of the Gera river. It is located 100 km (62 mi) south-west of Leipzig, 300 km (186 mi) south-west of Berlin, 400 km (249 mi) north of Munich and 250 km (155 mi) north-east of Frankfurt. Together with a string of neighbouring cities Gotha, Weimar, Jena and others, Erfurt forms the central metropolitan corridor of Thuringia called Thüringer Städtekette (German "Thuringian city chain") with over 500,000 inhabitants. Erfurt's old town is one of the best preserved medieval city centres in Germany. Tourist attractions include the Krämerbrücke (Merchants' bridge), the Old Synagogue, the ensemble of Erfurt Cathedral and Severikirche (St Severus's Church) and Petersberg Citadel, one of the largest and best preserved town fortresses in Europe. The city's economy is based on agriculture, horticulture and microelectronics. Its central location has led to it becoming a logistics hub for Germany and central Europe. Erfurt hosts the second-largest trade fair in eastern Germany (after Leipzig) as well as the public television children's channel KiKa.

The city is situated on the Via Regia, a medieval trade and pilgrims' road network. Modern day Erfurt is also a hub for ICE high speed trains and other German and European transport networks. Erfurt was first mentioned in 742, as Saint Boniface founded the diocese. Although the town did not belong to any of the Thuringian states politically, it quickly became the economic centre of the region and it was a member of the Hanseatic League. It was part of the Electorate of Mainz during the Holy Roman Empire, and later became part of the Kingdom of Prussia in 1802. From 1949 until 1990 Erfurt was part of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany). The University of Erfurt was founded in 1379, making it the first university to be established within the geographic area which constitutes modern-day Germany. It closed in 1816 and was re-established in 1994, with the main modern campus on what was a teachers' training college. Martin Luther (1483–1546) was its most famous student, studying there from 1501 before entering St Augustine's Monastery in 1505. Other noted Erfurters include the medieval philosopher and mystic Meister Eckhart (c. 1260–1328), the Baroque composer Johann Pachelbel (1653–1706) and the sociologist Max Weber (1864–1920).

Source: Wikipedia

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Turku ( TOOR-koo; Finnish: [ˈturku] (listen); Swedish: Åbo [ˈǒːbʊ] (listen), Finland Swedish: [ˈoːbu] (listen); Latin: Aboa; Russian: Турку, formerly Або) is a city and former capital on the southwest coast of Finland at the mouth of the Aura River, in the region of Finland Proper (Varsinais-Suomi) and the former Turku and Pori Province (Turun ja Porin lääni; 1634–1997). The region was originally called Suomi (Finland), which later became the name for the whole country. As of 30 September 2018, the population of Turku was 191,499 making it the sixth largest city in Finland after Helsinki, Espoo, Tampere, Vantaa and Oulu. There were 330,192 inhabitants living in the Turku sub-region, ranking it as the third largest urban area in Finland after the Greater Helsinki area and Tampere sub-region. The city is officially bilingual as 5.2 percent of its population identify Swedish as a mother-tongue.It is unknown when Turku gained city rights. The Pope first mentioned the town Aboa in his Bulla in 1229 and the year is now used as the foundation year of Turku. Turku is the oldest city in Finland, and served as the most important city of the eastern part of the Kingdom of Sweden (modern-day Finland). After the Finnish war, Finland became an autonomous grand duchy of the Russian Empire in 1809. Turku lost its status as capital of the Grand Duchy in 1812, when Tsar Alexander I of Russia decided to move the capital to Helsinki.

It was only after the last great fire in 1827 that most governmental institutions were moved to Helsinki along with the Royal Academy of Turku (Turun Akatemia) founded in 1640, which then became the University of Helsinki. Turku continued to be the most populous city in Finland until the end of the 1840s, and it remains the regional capital and an important business and cultural center and port. Because of its long history, it has been the site of many important events, and has extensively influenced Finnish history. The history of the country is closely linked to Turku, the former capital. Along with Tallinn, the capital city of Estonia, Turku was designated the European Capital of Culture for 2011. In 1996, it was declared the official Christmas City of Finland. Also, Turku has been officially declared the "Food Capital of Finland", because it holds a number of Finland's oldest and high-qualited restaurants, including the country's top-rated Indian restaurant Delhi Darbar, and a historically famous fish market held twice a year.Due to its location, Turku is a notable commercial and passenger seaport with over three million passengers traveling through the Port of Turku each year to Stockholm and Mariehamn.

Source: Wikipedia