Erlangen

Districts and statistical districts

Gemarkungen

Erlangen is divided into the following Gemarkungen:

Historical city districts

Some still common names of historical districts were not taken into account with the official designations. Examples are:

• Brucker Werksiedlung (in Gemarkung Bruck)
• Erba-Siedlung (in Gemarkung Bruck, am Anger)
• Essenbach (near Burgberg, north of Schwabach)
• Heusteg (in Gemarkung Großdechsendorf)
• Königsmühle (in Gemarkung Eltersdorf)
• Paprika-Siedlung (in Gemarkung Frauenaurach)
• Schallershof (in Gemarkung Frauenaurach)
• Siedlung Sonnenblick (in Gemarkung Büchenbach)
• Stadtrandsiedlung (in Gemarkung Büchenbach)
• St. Johann (in the statistical district Alterlangen)
• Werker (near Burgberg, east of the Regnitz)
• Zollhaus (eastern city center)

Climate

Erlangen is located in a transition zone from maritime to continental climate: the city is relatively low in precipitation (650mm per year), as usual in continental climate, but relatively warm with an annual mean temperature of 8.5 °C. The castle mountain in particular protects the area of the core city from cold polar air. In contrast, the Regnitzgrund is the cause of frequent fog.^[7]

Early history

The Kosbacher Altar

In the prehistory of Bavaria, the Regnitz valley already played an important role as a passageway from north to south. In Spardorf a blade scraper was found in loess deposits, which could be attributed to the Gravettians, which places it at an age of about 25,000 years.^[8] Due to the relatively barren soils in the area farming and settlements could only be detected at the end of the Neolithic (2800-2200 BC).^[8] The "Erlanger Zeichensteine" (Erlangen Sign Stones, sandstone plates with petroglyphs) in the Mark-Forst north of the city also originated in this time period.^[9] The stone plates were later resused as grave borders in the Urnfield period (1200-800 BC).^[10]

Once investigated in 1913, it was found that the burial mound in Kosbach contained finds from the urnfield time as well as from the Hallstatt and La Tène period.^[11] Next to the hill, the so-called "Kosbacher Altar", which was originated in the late Hallstatt period (about 500 BC),^[12] was constructed. The altar is unique in this form and consists of a square stone setting with four upright, figural pillars at the corners and in the middle. The reconstruction of the site can be visited in the area, the middle guard is exhibited in the Erlangen city museum.^[13][14]

Later history

Certificate of Holy Roman Emperor Henry II. from 1002, first mentioning Erlangen

Erlangen is first mentioned by name in a document from 1002. The origin of the name Erlangen is not clear. Attempts of local research to derive the name of alder (tree species) and anger (meadow ground), do not meet toponymical standards.^[15]

As early as 976, Emperor Otto II had donated the church of St. Martin in Forchheim with accessories to the diocese of Würzburg.^[16] Emperor Henry II confirmed this donation in 1002 and authorized its transfer from the bishopric to the newly founded Haug Abbey.^[17] In contrast to the certificate of Otto II, the accessories, which also included the "villa erlangon" located in Radenzgau, were described in more detail here. At that time the Bavarian Nordgau extended to the Regnitz in the west and to the Schwabach in the north. Villa Erlangon must therefore have been located outside of these borders and thus not in the area of today's Erlangen Altstadt. However, as the name Erlangen is unique to today's town in Germany, the certificate could have only referred to it. The document also provides an additional piece of evidence: In 1002, Henry II bestowed further areas west of the Regnitz, including one mile from the Schwabach estuary to the east, one mile from this mouth upstream and downstream. These two squares are described in the document only by their lengths and the two river names. No reference to a specific place is given. They are also unrelated to the accessories of St. Martin, which included the villa erlangon, another reason why it must have been physically separated from the area of the two miles. Size and extent of the two squares correspong approximately to the area requirement of a village at the time, which supports the assumption that at the time of certification a settlement was under construction, which should be legitimized by this donation and later, as in similar cases, has adopted th name of the original settlement.^[15] The new settlement was built in a triangle, today bordered by the streets Hauptstraße, Schulstraßeand Lazarettstraße, on a flooding-free sand dune.

Only 15 years later, in 1017, Henry II confirmed an exchange agreement, through which St. Martin and its accessories (including Erlangen) were given to the newly founded Bishopric of Bamberg, where it remained until 1361. During these centuries, the place name appears only sporadically.^[18]

On 20 August 1063, Emperor Henry IV created two documents "actum Erlangen" while on a campaign. Local researchers therefore concluded that Erlangen must have already gained so much in extent that in 1063, Henry IV took his residence there with many princes and bishops^[19] and was therefore the seat of a King's Court. It was even believed that this court could have been located in the Bayreuther Straße 8 and given away without mention by the certificate of 1002. Other evidence of this estate is also missing.^[15] It is regarded as most likely today, that Henry IV was not residing in the "new" Erlangen, but rather in the older villa erlangon, as the north-south valley road changed to the left river bank of the Regnitz and then ran in the direction of Alterlangen, Kleinseebach-Baiersdorf to the north, to avoid the heights of the Erlangen Burgberg.^[20]

Otherwise, Erlangen was usually only mentioned if the bishop pledged it due to lack of money. How exactly the village developed is unknown. Only the designation "grozzenerlang" in a bishop's urbarium from 1348 may be an indication that the episcopal village had outstripped the original villa erlangon.^[20]

In December 1361, Emperor Charles IV bought "the village Erlangen including all rights, benefits and belongings".^[19] and incorporated it into the area designated as New Bohemia, which was a fief of the Kingdom of Bohemia. Under the crown of Bohemia, the village developed rapidly. In 1367 the emperor spent three days in Erlangen and gave the "citizen and people of Erlangen" grazing rights in the imperial forest.^[15] In 1374, Charles IV granted the inhabitants of Erlangen seven years of tax exemption. The money should instead be used to "improve" the village.^[15] At the same time he lent the market right to Erlangen. Probably soon after 1361, the new ruler of the administration of the acquired property west of the town built the Veste Erlangen, on which a bailiff resided. King Wenceslaus built a mint and oficially granted township to Erlangen in 1398. He also gave the usual town privileges: Collection of tolls, construction of a department store with bread and meat bank and the construction of a defensive wall.^[19]

Ruins of the Veste Erlangen, around 1730

Two years later, in 1400, the prince-electors unelected. He sold his Frankish possessions, including Erlangen, to his brother-in-law, the Nuremberg burgrave Johann III due to lack of funds in 1402. During the process of division of the burggrave property in Franconia, Erlangen was added to the Upper Principality, the future Principality of Bayreuth. The Erlangen coining facility ceased its operation because the Münzmeister was executed for counterfeiting in Nuremberg.^[21]

During the Hussite Wars the town was completely destroyed for the first time in 1431.^[15] The declaration of war by Margrave Albrecht Achilles to the city of Nuremberg in 1449 lead to the First Margrave War. However, as the army of Albrecht could not completely enclose the city, Nuremberg troops broke out again and devastated the Margravial towns and villages. As reported by a Nuremberg chronicler, they "burnt the market at most in Erlangen and brought a huge robbery". As soon as the town had recovered, Louis IX, Duke of Bavaria attacked the Margrave in 1459. Erlangen was raided and plundered again, this time by Bavarian troops. In the following years the town recovered again. Erlangen was spared from the Peasants' War in 1525 and the introduction of the Reformation in 1528 was peaceful. However, when Margrave Albert Alcibiades triggered the Second Margrave War, Erlangen was attacked again by the Nurembergers and partially destroyed. It was even considered to completely abandon the town. Because Emperor Charles V imposed the imperial ban on Albrecht, the Nurembergers incorporated Erlangen into their own territory. Albrecht died in January 1557. His successor, George Frederick, requested that the imperial sequestation over the Principality of Kulmbach be reversed and was able to take back the government one month later. Under his rule, the town recovered from the war damage and remained unharmed until well into the Thirty Years' War.^[21]

During the four year Napoleonic occupation, 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. In 1810 it became part of the Kingdom of Bavaria, together with the rest of former Brandenburg-Bayreuth.

While it was still part of Brandenburg-Bayreuth, the first French Huguenot refugees arrived in Erlangen in 1686. Margrave Christian Ernst of Brandenburg-Bayreuth, 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 merged into one.

In 1742, Frederick, Margrave of Brandenburg-Bayreuth, founded a university for his royal seat of 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 and Emmy Noether.

Erlangen around 1915

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 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, thus in 1974 it had more than 100,000 inhabitants.