At the time of its construction in the early 13th century, the building site of the church was owned by the Vitzthum von Rustenberg, an archbishop's administrative official from the Eichsfeld region.

The approval for the construction of the church by Archbishop Siegfried II of Mainz was for a plot of land that was close to the already existing Paulskirche in Erfurt.

They were four highly educated friars from the Paris convent who chose the path to Erfurt to spread the new ideas of Dominicus de Guzman and to alleviate the social needs of the city's population.

The friars possessed rights guaranteed in writing by the Pope, which also allowed them to hear confessions, grant indulgences and bury the deceased – until then the services of the parish clergy, which were provided with income.

The fifteen altars in the Predigerkirche, which were certainly also significant in terms of artistic craftsmanship, were parted with in order to suppress the memory of the Catholic imagery and the "Old Doctrine".

The friary, which was then sold to the city council, was used as a secular educational institution, but continued the tradition of Erfurt's conventual schools as the forerunners of an urban-civic university.

Apparently, the Erfurt Dominicans had an increased interest in reclaiming their former friary buildings in the early 17th century and tried in vain to press the council for a decision.

During the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648), Erfurt and the Cyriaksberg hill were occupied by Union troops of Gustavus Adolphus II of Sweden in 1631.

Due to a lack of funds for building maintenance, parts of the friary complex probably already collapsed, the rest presumably fell victim to the city fire of 1737.

The Predigerkirche suffered only minor damage to the tower in this fire, while the majority of the adjacent buildings and neighbouring churches burnt out.

During the Napoleonic Wars in 1806, the church was used by the French as a prisoner-of-war camp and hay store, which led to damage, loss of inventory and devastation of the furnishings with sculptures and paintings.

[3] In 1850, the Predigerkirche was initially intended as the meeting place of the Erfurt Union Parliament, which, however, then met in the Augustinian Monastery.

When the German National Assembly had to evade the bloody revolution in Berlin in January 1919, Erfurt with its Predigerkirche was considered as an alternative, too.

[4] During the air raids on Erfurt in 1944–45, the church suffered indirect damage with destruction of the windows and extensive roofing.

Many of these stones showed signs of multiple use; pictures and writing mostly attest to donors from Erfurt patrician families.

The central shrine shows a Lamentation of Christ, which was fitted in place of a Coronation of Mary in post-Reformation times, surrounded by the apostles Peter and Paul.

The Sunday side shows in eight pictures the Last Supper, the Garden of Gethsemane, the Scourging, Mocking, Descent from the Cross, Entombment and Ascension of Christ, and the Assumption of Mary.

Inside the church, 30 octagonal pillars (28 stand free) carry the load of the high nave walls and the cross-ribbed vault.