Erlangen

Erlangen sits along the Regnitz River in Middle Franconia and belongs to the Nuremberg metropolitan region with around 115,000 residents living on relatively flat terrain. The city consists of two clearly distinguishable cores: the old market town with narrow lanes and the systematically planned new town with straight streets that cross at right angles and radiate from the palace complex with its palace garden.

The settlement was first documented in 1002 and remained a small market town under various rulers until the 17th century. Following the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, French religious refugees arrived from 1686 onward and the margrave had a new settlement built for them, which shapes the cityscape to this day and made Erlangen one of the largest Huguenot settlements in the German-speaking world.

The Huguenot Church on Huguenot Square carries French inscriptions and still shows the origin of the refugees who found a new home here. In the old town, narrow half-timbered houses line up close together, while the Baroque new town features wide streets and symmetrical squares that make the contrast between the two districts visible.

The city center can be comfortably explored on foot or by bicycle, as distances between attractions are short and bike paths are available everywhere. Visitors arriving from the train station reach the city center and the palace in a few minutes via the main street, which runs through both historical city cores.

The university botanical garden houses over 4,000 plant species on extensive grounds that are freely accessible and often used as a recreation space by local residents. In the old town stands the so-called Margrave Theater, one of the oldest still operating Baroque theaters in southern Germany, whose interior has preserved the original wooden fittings from the 18th century.