What to See in Erlangen - Top Sights and Attractions

19th-century university botanical garden. The Botanical Garden Erlangen is a botanical garden, which is 2 hectares in size, maintained by the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg and located on the north side of the castle garden in the city center at Loschgestraße 3, Erlangen, Franconia, Germany. It is open daily except Monday.

The garden's origins date back to 1626 when the hortus medicus was established in Altdorf bei Nürnberg. In 1747 the first botanical garden in Erlangen was established in front of the former Nuremberg Gate, and since 1828 the botanical garden has been established at its current location.

Today the garden contains about 4,000 species representing a wide range of plants of different climates, including those maintained within greenhouses (about 1700 m2). The garden also contains Neischl Grotto, an artificial cave renovated in May 2008. The Herbarium Erlangense is a herbarium containing about 158,000 records from around the world.^[2]

Building in Erlangen, Germany. The Schloss Erlangen is a residence in Erlangen, built between 1700 and 1704 by George William, Margrave of Brandenburg-Bayreuth. Work was initially led by Antonio della Porta and after his death in 1702 by Gottfried von Gedeler. It was the first baroque building built from scratch in Franconia.

Christian Ernst moved his third wife Margravine Elisabeth Sophie of Brandenburg into the Schloss in 1703 when it was still incomplete, giving it its initial name, the Elisabethenburg. Behind it was a 280 metre wide and 550 metre long garden with an orangery (completed in 1706), the Konkordienkirche (completed in 1706, now the Geological Institute), the Hugenottenbrunnen fountain, an equestrian statue and a now-lost Sylvan theater.

After a short time as a princely residence, the castle served as a widow's residence until the early 19th century. It suffered several fires in the 18th century and on 14 January 1814 a final serious fire broke out in a roof space filled with rubbish - it could not be extinguished since the temperature was -25 °C and the water froze in the hoses and even once the water had been heated the syringes could not pump it high enough. The castle was completely destroyed and only its furniture was saved.

It was only rebuilt between 1821 and 1825, to plans by the university architect Friedrich Wilhelm Örtel with much flatter roofs than the original structure, and used to house the library of the Friedrich-Alexander-Universität. It was used as a reserve hospital during the First and Second World Wars and after 1945 it has only been used by the university.^[3]

Public university in Erlangen, Germany. Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg is a public research university in the cities of Erlangen and Nuremberg in Bavaria, Germany. The name Friedrich–Alexander comes from the university's first founder Friedrich, Margrave of Brandenburg-Bayreuth, and its benefactor Alexander, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach.

FAU is the second largest state university in the state of Bavaria. It has 5 faculties, 24 departments/schools, 25 clinical departments, 21 autonomous departments, 579 professors, 3,457 members of research staff and roughly 14,300 employees.

In winter semester 2018/19 around 38,771 students (including 5,096 foreign students) enrolled in the university in 265 fields of study, with about 2/3 studying at the Erlangen campus and the remaining 1/3 at the Nuremberg campus. These statistics put FAU in the list of top 10 largest universities in Germany. In 2018, 7,390 students graduated from the university and 840 doctorates and 55 post-doctoral theses were registered. Moreover, FAU received 201 million Euro (2018) external funding in the same year, making it one of the strongest third-party funded universities in Germany.

FAU is also a member of DFG (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft) and the Top Industrial Managers for Europe network.^[6]

The Kunstpalais Erlangen is the successor institution of the Städtische Galerie Erlangen. Since 1974, it has been located in the Palais Stutterheim, which was built between 1728 and 1730 by order of and for Christian Hieronymus von Stutterheim and is situated in the center of the Huguenot city. After a two-year renovation phase, the Kunstpalais opened in 2010 with exhibition space on the first floor and basement of the Palais Stutterheim doubled to more than 500 m² under founding director Claudia Emmert.

The exhibition program of the Kunstpalais, conceived by Claudia Emmert, focused on relevant positions of the international art scene that offer a connection to contemporary discourse within and outside of art. Conceptual references to questions of literature, philosophy and film were given special consideration. Interdisciplinary accompanying programs, among others in cooperation with the Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU), anchored the content of the art on a broad social level. Amely Deiss has been the new director of the Kunstpalais and the Städtische Sammlung since February 2015.

The Städtische Sammlung Erlangen belongs to the Kunstpalais. It comprises more than 4500 graphics, multiples, artists' books and portfolios. It reflects essential currents of international art after 1945 and sees itself as a history of ideas of art, which is continued with the targeted acquisition of selected contemporary graphics and photographs.

In the summer of even-numbered years, special exhibitions are usually held on the premises of the Kunstpalais as part of the Comic Salon Erlangen.

The Erlangen Museum of Art is a regional exhibition house, archive and museum for contemporary art in Erlangen. It is located in the Loewenichsche Palais. Since July 2016, the sponsor is the city of Erlangen.

Since 1998, the art museum has exhibited works of art created after 1945 by artists with special ties to the Nuremberg or Erlangen region. The exhibition rooms, which cover around 300 square meters, are located on the second floor of the Loewenich Palace and the southern extension built in 2002. Five to nine individual, group or theme exhibitions are shown each year, both by established and young artists, as well as commemorative exhibitions of important post-war artists of the region. Paintings, graphic art, sculpture and photographs are exhibited. There are also exhibitions of works owned by local collectors. In addition to exhibition activities, an archive, library and art collection of regional art are being developed. The building also housed the Oskar Koller Foundation from 2006 to 2009.

The building, which had previously been used by the Deutsche Bundespost, was acquired in 1998 by the Förderverein Kunstmuseum Erlangen e. V. (from May 2001 Kunstmuseum Erlangen e. V.). This had been founded in 1989 out of the Erlangen Art Association. In 2016, the association handed over the sponsorship of the art museum to the city of Erlangen.

Public university in Erlangen, Germany. Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg is a public research university in the cities of Erlangen and Nuremberg in Bavaria, Germany. The name Friedrich–Alexander comes from the university's first founder Friedrich, Margrave of Brandenburg-Bayreuth, and its benefactor Alexander, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach.

FAU is the second largest state university in the state of Bavaria. It has 5 faculties, 24 departments/schools, 25 clinical departments, 21 autonomous departments, 579 professors, 3,457 members of research staff and roughly 14,300 employees.

In winter semester 2018/19 around 38,771 students (including 5,096 foreign students) enrolled in the university in 265 fields of study, with about 2/3 studying at the Erlangen campus and the remaining 1/3 at the Nuremberg campus. These statistics put FAU in the list of top 10 largest universities in Germany. In 2018, 7,390 students graduated from the university and 840 doctorates and 55 post-doctoral theses were registered. Moreover, FAU received 201 million Euro (2018) external funding in the same year, making it one of the strongest third-party funded universities in Germany.

FAU is also a member of DFG (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft) and the Top Industrial Managers for Europe network.^[9]

YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organization based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It was founded on 6 June 1844 by Sir George Williams in London, originally as the Young Men's Christian Association, and aims to put Christian principles into practice by developing a healthy "body, mind, and spirit."

From its inception, it grew rapidly and ultimately became a worldwide movement founded on the principles of muscular Christianity. Local YMCAs deliver projects and services focused on youth development through a wide variety of youth activities, including providing athletic facilities, holding classes for a wide variety of skills, promoting Christianity, and humanitarian work.

YMCA is a non-governmental federation, with each independent local YMCA affiliated with its national organization. The national organizations, in turn, are part of both an Area Alliance (Europe, Asia Pacific, the Middle East, Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, the United States, and Canada) and the World Alliance of YMCAs (World YMCA). Consequently, all YMCAs are unique, while following certain shared aims, such as the Paris Basis.

Imitator organizations include the Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA), the Young Men's Hebrew Association (YMHA), and the Young Men's Buddhist Association (YMBA). YMCA is also the subject of Village People's 1978 song "Y.M.C.A."^[10]