Erlangen – A young town with a long history

"Between romantic bike trips and micro-electronics - Erlangen, Franconia’s 250-year-old creative hotbed for academics, is head and feet ahead of the times." This is how "Merian" magazine describes the Huguenot town today.

Although the first documented mention of the town dates back to 1002, Erlangen’s success story began comparatively late. In the 17th century, the then small town took in refugee Huguenots from France. It was thanks to these settlers that a Baroque town ensemble was built using the state-of-the-art knowledge of the time. The houses built in the ‘ideal town’ by master builders such as Johann Moritz Richter created the backdrop for today’s particularly enjoyable strolls and shopping experience.

With its magnificent gardens, Margrave Castle is the heart of Erlangen’s city centre. Today, the castle is home to the administration of Friedrich Alexander University which was founded in 1743. The university was named after the two lords of the manor at the time.

In the town in which Johann Gottlieb Fichte, Friedrich Rückert, August von Platen and Georg Simon Ohm once lectured and learned, it was, above all, the Siemens company which lent new development impetus after 1945. The establishment of the Siemens-Schuckert company in the practically unscathed town set Erlangen on its way to becoming the flourishing business location that it has remained until today.

In 2002, Erlangen was able to look back proudly at 1000 years of history.

Source: www.erlangen.de