In the Middle Ages, Saalfeld's copper and silver mines and its location on the trading route to Bohemia made it one of the most important towns in Thuringia. Numerous historical buildings are a reminder of this prosperous past: the Renaissance town hall on the Marktplatz, whose fine façade with a stair tower is framed by two oriel windows. The Market Pharmacy opposite is one of the region's few Romanesque buildings (restored). The main doorway of Johanneskirche (church) depicts the Last Judgment (late 14C).