Why is Erfurt the capital of Thuringia?

Erfurt became the capital of Thuringia following the administrative reorganization of the region after World War II.

When the state of Thuringia was first established in 1920 under the Weimar Republic, Weimar served as the capital, while Erfurt remained part of the Prussian province of Saxony. Following the war, the Soviet-occupied zone dissolved Prussia and constituted an enlarged Thuringia with rationalized frontiers that incorporated the southwestern part of the former Prussian province of Saxony. In this new administrative structure, Erfurt was designated as the capital.1

After the dissolution of East German states in 1952, Thuringia was divided into several districts. Upon the reunification of Germany in 1990, the state was reconstituted with boundaries similar to its post-World War II predecessor, and Erfurt was retained as the capital.1