The Protestant merchants' church on the northern Anger is one of the oldest parish churches in the city and is the only city church in Erfurt with two towers. Its Romanesque predecessor was first mentioned in 1248 and served as a church for the merchants living in Erfurt. After the severe city fire of 1291, it was rebuilt as a three-aisled Gothic basilica with a high Gothic choir and two Romanesque towers and has essentially been preserved to this day.

The Kaufmannskirche is one of the authentic Luther sites. Martin Luther preached an important sermon here on October 22, 1522: „On the cross and suffering of a Christian“. To commemorate this important sermon, there is a memorial stone in the shape of a cross on the outer church wall. The Erfurt Luther Monument is also located directly in front of the church.

The Kaufmannskirche is considered House church of the Bach family. More than 100 baptisms, weddings and funerals of the Erfurt family of musicians are recorded in the church registers. Johann Sebastian Bach's parents were also married in 1668. After moving to Eisenach, there were regular so-called „Bach family days“, to which Johann Sebastian Bach also traveled to Erfurt.