Erlangen is one of the best preserved baroque planned cities in Germany and it boasts an amazingly lively history. Erlangen gained its reputation as an open-minded city in the 17th century when the Huguenots made it their second home. The international atmosphere dating back to this time still exists – not least due to Erlangen’s position as a centre for medicine and medical technology and one of the major sites of Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg with its almost 30,000 students from both Germany and abroad. The mixture of new city dwellers of all ages and “locals” already born here ensures that the “savoir-vivre” of the French immigrants lives on. As a result, Erlangen today offers a rich cultural scene with a variety of events: acoustic art and figure theatre are as much at home here as the poetry festival and the comic salon. And, last but not least, there is of course the annual “Erlanger Bergkirchweih”, the queen of beer festivals, which – as rumour has it – is especially popular among students.
