Erlangen

Erlangen around 1915

Erlangen is a German city in Middle Franconia. It is located at the confluence of the river Regnitz and its tributary, the Untere Schwabach. Erlangen has more than 100,000 inhabitants.

Erlangen is today dominated by its university and the numerous branch offices of the Siemens AG, as well as a large Institute of the Fraunhofer Society. An event still influencing the city is the settlement of Huguenots after the withdrawal of the Edict of Nantes in 1685.

History

Erlangen was first mentioned officially in 1002 under the name of "villa erlangon". In 1361, the village was sold to Emperor Karl IV. Three years later, a city was built close to the village, which in 1374 got its own coining station. In 1398, the municipal rights were confirmed. In 1402, the city was vested to the Hohenzollern as part of the principality of Brandenburg-Kulmbach (from 1603 on Bayreuth), staying under their rule until 1806. 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. After a four-year French occupation, it finally became part of the Kingdom of Bavaria, together with the Bayreuth prinicipality.

While being part of the Bayreuth county, the first French Huguenot refugees arrived in Erlangen in 1686. The Bayreuth count Christian Ernst 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 finally merged into one.

In 1742, Count Friedrich of Bayreuth founded a university for the residency town 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.

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 on 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, so that by 1974 it had more than 100,000 inhabitants.

University

The Erlangen castle is home of a large part of the university administration

The University of Erlangen (Friedrich-Alexander-Universität, [1]) was originally founded in 1742 by Margrave Friedrich of Brandenburg-Bayreuth in the city of Bayreuth, but was relocated to Erlangen the next year. Today, it features 11 departments (German "Fakultäten"), 2 of which (Economics and Education) are located in Nuremberg. About 24,000 students study at this university, of which about 20,000 are located in Erlangen.

Bergkirchweih

The Bergkirchweih is an annual beer festival similar to the Oktoberfest in Munich, but smaller in scope, and therefore more intimate. It takes place during the twelve days before and after Pentecost, under the spring trees of the "Berg" and draws more than one million visitors each year.

American soldiers from the former Ferris Barracks in Erlangen called it the "Strawberry Fest", although it is much more commonly known by local residents as "Bergkerwa" (pronounced "bairg'-care-va" in English).

Districts

*Am Anger
*Alterlangen
*Erlangen-Bruck|Bruck, pop. 20,000
*Büchenbach
*Erlangen-Burgberg|Burgberg
*Dechsendorf
*Eltersdorf, pop. around 3,200
*Frauenaurach
*Häusling
*Hüttendorf
*Innenstadt
*Kosbach
*Kriegenbrunn
*Erlangen-Neusses|Neuses
*Röthelheim
*Schallershof
*Siedlung Sonnenblick
*Sieglitzhof/Buckenhofer Siedlung
*Steudach
*Tennenlohe [2]

Historical population

Year	Population
1495	292
1630	550
1752	7,939
1830	9,800
December 1, 1871¹	12,500
December 1 1890¹	17,559
December 1, 1900¹	22,953
December 1 1910¹	24,877
June 16 1925¹	29,597
June 16 1933¹	32,348
May 17 1939¹	35,964
September 13 1950¹	50,690
June 16 1961¹	69,552
May 27 1970¹	84,110
June 20 1975	100,700
June 30 1980	100,900
June 30 1985	100,000
May 27 1987¹	99,808
June 30, 1997	100,700
December 31 1997	100,330
December 31 1998	100,775
December 31 1999	100,750
December 31 2000	100,778
December 31 2001	101,912
December 31 2002	102,198
December 31 2003	102,449
December 31 2004	102,627
December 31 2005	103,425