erlangen & nuremberg
The towns of Erlangen and Nuremberg lie in Bavaria, in the region called Central
Franconia. Together with the neighbouring communities of Fürth and Schwabach,
Nuremberg and Erlangen make up a quartet of communities which draws large numbers
of tourists to the Franconian region. Each of the towns brings its own special
charms to this “family city”. Nuremberg, which was once a free city
of the Holy Roman Empire, has, while retaining its medieval flair, become a centre
for international fairs and exhibitions, and attained a modern cosmopolitan air.
Fürth, Nuremberg’s close neighbour, boasts a medieval town centre,
and Schwabach boasts a romantic marketplace and genteel town houses. Erlangen,
some 10 miles from Nuremberg, is a centre of excellence for scientific and medical
research, a town of splendid Baroque architecture with a university which dates
from the time of the German Enlightenment.
The tours organized by the society “Geschichte für Alle” (“History for everyone”) in Nuremberg, Fürth, Erlangen and Bamberg are highly recommended.
Erlangen is Bavaria’s eighth-largest city, with a little over 100,000 inhabitants. Its social infrastructure provides a wide range of opportunities. Erlangen is first mentioned in documents dating from 1002, but its real history began with the influx of Huguenot refugees from France in 1686. The town was specially rebuilt for the Huguenot settlers, and that original layout and that essential architectural concept can be seen to this day. In Germany there are few examples of the “ideal cities” of the Baroque period which are so well-preserved as Erlangen.
One of Erlangen’s best known and best loved attractions – aside from the extensive network of cycle paths – is the Bergkirchweih, the local beer festival, though local is hardly an apt description. The beer festival has taken place at Pentecost ever since 1755! It is one of the most enjoyable and enjoyed festivals in southern Germany, and each year it attracts around 1 million visitors from near and far. Among the other highlights of the colourful cultural year in Erlangen are the International Comic-Salon, the Figurentheater-Festival (puppet theatre), the Poets’ Festival, and Arena, a week-long international festival of theatre by young people. This panoply of the arts has ensured Erlangen’s reputation as a unique cultural venue.
In the wider world, Erlangen is also renowned both as home to the second largest university in Bavaria, which is home itself to a highly regarded Faculty of Engineering, and as the original home of Siemens AG which still maintains a substantial presence in the city.
Erlangen also enjoys an international reputation as a committedly environmentalist city.
With its broad range of privately and publicly funded research facilities Erlangen has developed into an important European centre in the field of micro-electronics. The basis of much of the success has been the close co-operation between science and business. Currently, Erlangen is establishing itself as a significant centre in the fields of Medicine and Health.
The main railway station in Nuremberg is an important national and international junction. It is integrated into the Euro-city network, into the German Railways’ IC network, and into the high-speed network (ICE). Erlangen (15 minutes away by train) can thus be reached easily from all over Europe. Within Germany, train times to Erlangen (via Nuremberg) are, for example: Frankfurt 2.5 hours, Munich 1.5 hours, Berlin or Hanover 4 to 5 hours.
Information on train connections
A large number of national and international airlines fly into Nuremberg Airport, and so all almost all European capital cities can be reached direct from Nuremburg Airport. Destinations which cannot be reached directly from Nuremberg can be reached via Frankfurt or Munich.
