Germany > Erlangen

Erlangen

Erlangen is a Middle Franconian city in Bavaria, Germany. It is located north-west of Nuremberg at the confluence of the river Regnitz and its large tributary, the Schwabach. Erlangen has more than 100,000 inhabitants.

As of 2015 Erlangen is dominated by the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg and the numerous branch offices of Siemens AG, as well as a large research Institute of the Fraunhofer Society and the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light. An event that left its mark on the city was the settlement of Huguenots after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685.

Felix Klein's Erlangen program of 1872, considering the future of research in mathematics, is so called because Klein then taught at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg.

History

Erlangen was first mentioned in official records in 1002 under the name of Villa Erlangon. In 1361, the village was sold to Emperor/King Charles IV. It became part of the Czech Kingdom. Three years later, a city was built close to the village, which in 1374 was given its own mint. In 1398, the municipal rights were confirmed by King Wenceslaus IV of Bohemia. In 1402, the city came into the possession of the House of Hohenzollern as part of the Principality of Brandenburg-Kulmbach (from 1603 on Brandenburg-Bayreuth), remaining under their rule until 1806. During the four year Napoleonic occupation, Erlangen was the capital of the so-called "Low County" (Unterland) of the principality, encompassing the area until Neustadt an der Aisch and separated from the "High County" (Oberland) by a land corridor. In 1810 it became part of the Kingdom of Bavaria, together with the rest of former Brandenburg-Bayreuth.

While it was still part of Brandenburg-Bayreuth, the first French Huguenot refugees arrived in Erlangen in 1686. Margrave Christian Ernst of Brandenburg-Bayreuth, built a "new town" (Neustadt) for them. In 1706, the old town (just below the site of the annual Bergkirchweih) was almost completely destroyed by a fire, but soon rebuilt. In 1812, the old and new towns were merged into one.

In 1742, Frederick, Margrave of Brandenburg-Bayreuth, founded a university for his royal seat of Bayreuth, but due to the rebelliousness of the local students, the university was transferred to Erlangen. Only later did it obtain the name of "Friedrich-Alexander-University" and become a Prussian state university. Famous students of these times were Johann Ludwig Tieck and Wilhelm Heinrich Wackenroder and Emmy Noether.

Already during the Bavarian municipal reform of 1818, the city was endowed with its own administration. In 1862, the canton administration Erlangen was founded, from which later arose the administrative district of Erlangen. In 1972, this district was merged with the administrative district of Höchstadt. Erlangen became the capital of this newly founded district Erlangen-Höchstadt. During this municipal reform, Erlangen was effectively enlarged considerably, thus in 1974 it had more than 100,000 inhabitants.

Points of interest

Bergkirchweih

The Bergkirchweih is an annual beer festival, similar to the Oktoberfest in Munich but smaller in scale. It takes place during the twelve days before and after Pentecost (that is, 49 days after Easter); this period is called the "fifth season" by the locals. The beer is served at wooden tables in one-litre stoneware jugs under the trees of the "Berg", a small, craggy, and wooded hill with old caves (beer cellars) owned by local breweries. The cellars extend for 21 km (14 miles) throughout the hill (the "Berg") and maintain a constant cool underground temperature. Until Carl von Linde invented the electric refrigerator in 1871, this was considered to be the largest refrigerator in Southern Germany.

The beer festival draws more than one million visitors annually. It features carnival rides of high tech quality, food stalls of most Franconian dishes, including bratwurst, suckling pig, roasted almonds, and giant pretzels.

It is commonly known by local residents as the "Berchkärwa" (pronounced "bairch'-care-va") or simply the "Berch", like in "Gehma auf'n Berch!" ("Let's go up the mountain!").

This is an outdoor event frequented and enjoyed by Franconians. Despite a relatively high number of visitors, it is not commonly known by tourists, or people living outside Bavaria.

Districts

Mayors of Erlangen

Notable residents

Though a small village for much of its history and now only a small city of only 100k inhabitants, Erlangen has made significant contributions to the world, primarily through its many Lutheran theologians, to its University of Erlangen-Nuremberg scholars, and the Siemens AG pioneers in science and technology.

Among its noted residents are:

For a more complete list, please check out Category:People from Erlangen


Alphabetical Index of Pages | Hierarchical Index of Pages

All content originates from the English Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0