Erlangen, city in south central Germany at the junction of the Regnitz River and the Ludwigs Canal, near Nürnberg, in Bavaria. Manufactures include electrical and office equipment, textiles, and beer. The Friedrich-Alexander University, founded at Bayreuth in 1742, was moved to Erlangen in 1743; part of the institution is now also in Nürnberg. The main building of the institution is the former palace of the margraves of Bayreuth. In the 19th century Erlangen was the headquarters of the Erlangen Theologians, followers of the philosophers Friedrich von Schelling and Friedrich Schleiermacher.
Erlangen dates from about AD800, when it was a small church village. It became a city in 1398 and expanded after 1686, when the margrave of Brandenburg-Bayreuth assigned land to the Huguenots, French Protestants who had fled France after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685. The Huguenots founded the textile industry here. After World War II (1939-1945), the United States' largest tank brigade was stationed in Erlangen. These military forces were withdrawn in 1994, and the facilities returned to German control. Population (1997) 101,450.
