Maria Gloriosa in the context of Erfurt Cathedral

Erfurt (German pronunciation: [ˈɛʁfʊʁt] ) is the capital and largest city of the Central German state of Thuringia, with a population of around 216,000. It lies in the wide valley of the River Gera, in the southern part of the Thuringian Basin, north of the Thuringian Forest, and in the middle of a line of the six largest Thuringian cities (Thüringer Städtekette), stretching from Eisenach in the west, via Gotha, Erfurt, Weimar and Jena, to Gera in the east. Together with Kassel and Göttingen, it is one of the cities with more than 100,000 inhabitants lying closest to the geographic centre of Germany. Erfurt is 100 km (62 mi) south-west of Leipzig, 250 km (155 mi) north-east of Frankfurt, 300 km (186 mi) south-west of Berlin and 400 km (249 mi) north of Munich.

Erfurt's old town is one of the best preserved medieval city centres in Germany. The Gera is spanned by the Merchants' Bridge (Krämerbrücke), one of the rare bridges with houses built on it. On the Erfurt Cathedral Hill is the ensemble of Erfurt Cathedral—which houses the world's largest free-swinging medieval bell—and St Severus' Church. Petersberg Citadel is one of the largest and best preserved town fortresses in Central Europe. Erfurt's Old Synagogue is the oldest synagogue in Europe, and together with the Erfurt Mikveh [de], which was only rediscovered in 2007, and the Stone House [de], forms the UNESCO World Heritage Site Jewish-Medieval Heritage of Erfurt.

Geert van Wou (1440, Hintham—December 1527, Kampen) was a well-known Dutch bellfounder. He is best known today for the Maria Gloriosa (1497) of Erfurt Cathedral. The son of a bellfounder, he is considered one of the most important bellfounders of the Middle Ages, though records suggest he participated in other casting.

The most famous bells for the cathedrals include those in Erfurt (Maria Gloriosa, e, 1497), Braunschweig (1502), Naumburg (1502), Utrecht (7 bells on F, 1505/06), and the St. Michael's Church in Kampen (1493/96) and that of today's new tower in Kampen (1481–83). A Van Wou bell also hangs in Zeerijp (1500) and another there by him was recast in 1955 by van Bergen because of a crack in the bell foundry. He cast two other bells (of 1493) hanging in the Lamberti Church in Munster. In Eernewoude also a Van Wou-bell from the year 1500. For St. Michaelis and St. Nicolai in Lüneburg he also poured bells (two in St. Michaelis, one in St. Nicolai, 1491) and for St. Mary in Stendal and the St. Mary's Cathedral in Hamburg (1487, the bell "Celsa", which since 1804 is now in the St. Nicholas Church (Hamburg- Altengamme depends)). Another bell hangs in the minster Mildam roads in the church of St. Gudula. Cast in 1492, the Regina Bell of Osnabrück Cathedral, already cast in 1485, is now in the tower of Holy Cross Church at Osnabrück. The Grote Kerk, Haarlem in Haarlem houses another van Wou bell, the Roelant cast in 1503, weighing in at almost 5000 kg.