international students, researchers and lecturers
Ladies and gentlemen,
dear students
Dr. Siegfried Balleis
Welcome to Erlangen! You have chosen Erlangen as your place of studies and it will be your residence for the coming years. We are pleased with your decision to live in our city. As measured by its number of inhabitants, Erlangen counts among the smaller ones of the “big cities” but it is nevertheless a cosmopolitan place. Its cosmopolitan character which it owes above all to its global player, the Siemens company, and, of course, to its university, is also reflected by our city´s motto “Open and broad-minded out of tradition”. It is the mission of our local politics, of our city administration but also of all of Erlangen´s organisations, institutions and associations to live up to this motto in the city´s everyday life.
A glance at the city´s past makes it clear that Erlangen is committed to its motto, that it is deeply rooted in its millenarian history. Thus, the most important steps in the development of our community may be ascribed in large part to people who came to Erlangen from other towns or from other countries. This is why our present-day prosperity is due to a great extent to the diligence, the skills and the perseverance of those newcomers. We appreciate that and we are grateful for it. In 1686 the Huguenots arrived, religious refugees from France, and they found a new home in Erlangen. Not only did they bring about a considerable rise in the number of inhabitants but they also introduced new branches of industry which proved to be a real “fountain of youth” for Erlangen´s economic activities still suffering from the effects of the Thirty Years´ War. For those newcomers, Margrave Christian Ernst had a baroque quarter built outside the town gates of medieval Erlangen. Another important event in Erlangen´s history is the foundation of the Friedrich-Alexander University in 1743 which turned the small provincial community into a university town.
The third stage of Erlangen´s economic boost started after World War II when Erlangen, like so many other towns, absorbed refugees from different regions. Finally, the establishing of the Siemens Schuckert Works turned out to be a stroke of luck for Erlangen. Since Berlin had been almost completely bombed, the Siemens concern was looking for a new location to rebuild its production facilities and established itself in Erlangen which had escaped destruction. Thus, the course was finally set for Erlangen´s development into a modern industrial and business location.
At present, people from more than 140 countries live in Erlangen, more than 20 percent of our population have a migration background. We are happy and proud to see that all inhabitants of Erlangen, no matter where they were born and independently of their family stories, are taking an active and positive part in the city´s life, opening a new page in its history. The chronicles of the years to come will be proof of the fact that Erlangen´s international character was a great chance for all of its citizens, for both the old-established ones and the newcomers. Therefore we do hope that you feel at ease in Erlangen, that you will make many new friends and that, apart from your studies, you will have time enough to get to know our region and its people, that you will have pleasant memories of Erlangen once you finished your studies and that, maybe, some you will even make Erlangen their new home. Once again: Welcome to our city!
Dr. Siegfried Balleis
Lord Mayor
