The construction of this district began with the laying of the foundation stone for the Huguenot ChurchThis "temple," as the Huguenots called it, was the first urban church without a cross, candles, or altar. Today, the church dominates "Hugo," the Huguenot Square.
Huguenot city of Erlangen: the baroque planned city
New Town, planned town, or Huguenot town? In fact, all three terms are united in the same location. Also known as the Huguenot town, the New Town was founded in 1686 south of Erlangen's old town. To this day, it remains one of the best-preserved Baroque planned towns in Germany.
Last but not least, Louis XIV was the trigger for the upheaval in Erlangen, which at the end of the 17th century was barely larger than a village. In 1685, the Sun King abolished the Edict of Nantes This led to the Calvinist Huguenots (French Protestants) losing their civil rights, freedom of religion, worship, and conscience, as well as several special rights. The result: a wave of refugees. Of the 400.000 expelled French seeking a new homeland, approximately 40.000 emigrated to the Holy Roman Empire. 3.000 of them made their way to Franconia in this search. The first six came from Vitry-le-François in Champagne to Erlangen. They were followed by several other groups.
“Open by tradition” – the Huguenots come to Erlangen
They came to a region that had been severely affected by great poverty and terrible suffering during the Thirty Years' War (1618-1648). Christian Ernst, Margrave of Brandenburg-Bayreuth saw the acceptance of the Huguenots as a great opportunity to develop an active demographic and economic policy. He ensured that the Huguenots enjoyed certain privileges. In some cases, this went so far as to give them preferential treatment over his own countrymen. Historian Prof. Dr. Helmut Neuhaus commented: "This was by no means done solely out of Protestant-confessional solidarity and willingness to help, but was used utilitarianly in the exercise of sovereign power." The Margrave's forward-looking intention was to improve the common good in his region. The goal was to export a lot abroad and import little.
Margrave Christian Ernst had high hopes for the economic performance of the HuguenotsAfter all, they had numerous innovative trades and modern business models to offer. He was also one of Europe's baroque princes who realized their great dream with a planned city designed according to ideal principles. He had the French colony established as commercial city He positioned it directly on the trade route to Nuremberg and cleverly near two commercially viable rivers. He counteracted the lack of capital and the low financial power of the immigrants with subsidized loans and material aid. In the heart of the new town, the Margrave Castle with the connected Castle Garden and the Orangery.
The New Town as a baroque planned city
The symmetrical layout of the streets was also intended to reflect the order within the state. Chief architect Johann Moritz Richter, albeit with the assistance and influence of third parties, created the floor plan. It is one of the most ambitious planned city designs of the 17th century. The site on the northwestern edge of the "Ideal city layout", the "Richter's Corner", bears his name. Here, the ring road surrounding the inner core area and the accompanying outer buildings form a right angle. The "Guiding houses" served to connect the outer house plots all around. This gave stability to the inner area of the city, designed as an open grid system. For the east and south axes, the "Richtersche Eck" forms a focal point toward which the houses lead.
The two- to three-story building houses were mostly designed with a width of six window axes and a length of six to twelve. They protruded about half a meter from their block and were characterized by a slightly higher first floor than the terraced houses. Originally, they had a flat central projection with two windows, accentuated corners by pilaster strips, and so-called dormer windows in the attic. Four judge's houses on Hauptstraße have survived to this day. A granite slab embedded in the pavement at the "Richtersches Eck" (Richter's Corner) displays the city plan drawn up by the Margrave's chief architect.
New technologies and trades
The first trade to emerge was hosiery maker in motion. A technically advanced industry that was previously virtually unknown in Germany. They manufactured knitted clothing from various wools and yarns. It is likely that their use of "Stocking weavers' chairs“ were something like knitting machines, as they had already been invented by an English Protestant clergyman in 1589. Alongside this trade, the Hat manufacturing as the second most important Huguenot trade in the New Town. From 1686 onwards, glove maker to this and White tanner, which produced fine leather qualities for gloves, book covers and cases.
In addition to these four trades, a textile industry was established Silk manufactory, which, however, never managed to move beyond its beginnings. Another unusual profession that was practiced here was that of PassementiereHe manufactured cords, braids, fringes, and tassels. Unfortunately, this textile branch did not play an important role in the city's economic life. However, the situation was somewhat different with the Gobelin Manufactory Chazaux, which over two generations developed impressive tapestries and thus gained a reputation of national importance. One of its most interesting testimonies has been in the possession of the City MuseumThis fine piece is a genuine "Verdure," a landscape tapestry in shades of green, crafted by skilled artisans in 1730.
Old Town & New Town – Erlangen grows together
By 1708, the founding and construction phase of the new town was completed. By the end of 1687, 600 to 800 refugees lived in the new town, alongside Margrave officials and soldiers. In 1698, three-quarters of the 1.317 settlers in the new town were of French origin. In 1723, 3.182 of the 2.154 inhabitants were German, which indicates that the Huguenot character of the colony was diminishing. The economic boom continued until the end of the 18th century, with the number of German immigrants increasing.
The independent history of the new town ended in 1812 with the Union with the old town Erlangen. Today it is often referred to as Huguenot town referred to or counted as part of the historic city center.
The independent university city in Middle Franconia has a population of 117.466 (Sept. 2022). People from 140 countries live here. Erlangen maintains long-standing friendships with ten twin cities and other cooperation partners around the world. The city's motto continues to be: "Open by tradition"!
The information is based on the well-founded contributions of Dr. Andreas Jakob, Prof. Dr. Hermann Neuhaus and Thomas Engelhardt - Erlanger Stadtlexikon.