In 1635, during a celebration in Erfurt's city center, there was a momentous altercation with a drunken soldier in which two town musicians were killed. Johann Bach, a great uncle of Johann Sebastian Bach, heard about this event and applied for one of the vacant positions as town musician. After a successful audition at the city council he got the job and lived from then on in the "Haus zum Schwarzen Ross".

Today, a Thuringian specialty market is located here.