Historical Walking Tour of Erlangen

On Friday after school, I went on a walking tour of Erlangen with my friend Christina from work. The relocation company that we have been working with arranged for a tour guide to do the tour in English for people who have recently moved. It was pretty chilly out, but it was interested to learn about some of the places/things we have seen around town.

Our first stop was the big church in the town center (which I didn't get a photo of!). We got a little history lesson on how the Huguenots came from France to Germany when the French rulers wanted everyone to be Catholic. Huguenots are Protestants who follow John Calvin rather than Martin Luther. Because they were economically successful members of society, Christina Ernst welcomed them to settle in Erlangen because they would benefit the community he was trying to build.

One of the trades that the Huguenots were skilled in was glove making which became a big industry in Erlangen. Because most people worked as farmers, the color of one's skin was telling of their status. Wealthier nobles wanted to keep their skill pale to establish their position in society, so they took to covering up with hats and gloves. The "golden glove of Erlangen" hangs from a building in the town center representing the history of the glove making market.

You can also see the gloves on the entry way of this building.

We also visited the palace which is located in the city center as well. This palace was built as a place where the widows of nobles could live once their husbands passed away. It is now the Friedrich-Alexander Universität. The statue is of Friedrich Markgraf, the university founder.

On top of the building, there are statues of some Greek gods/goddesses including Hercules, Mars, and Minerva who represent strength, war, and intelligence.

This is the fountain in the palace garden.

Good thing I am not a tour guide, because obviously I am not too great at remembering/explaining historical facts! If you want to know more, you'll just have to come visit and take the tour yourself!

Friday night after the tour, I met up with John and a few of his friends at the Steinbach Brau for some dinner and beers. We had some great pork and potatoes for dinner and everything was melt in your mouth delicious.

Last night we went to our friend Terre's place for dinner. Terre lived in Portland for a bit when we first moved there and has been in Germany for over two years now. He is engaged to Stef, who is German, and we had the pleasure of meeting her and eating her fantastic fare at their place. She made a yummy little pastry with caramelized onions and goat cheese, a salad, and some really fresh pepper crusted salmon. Oh, and how could I forget the potatoes au gratin? Heaven! For dessert we had vanilla ice cream (eis) over Bailey's soaked ladyfingers topped with chocolate shavings. YUM!

After dinner we enjoyed some Rock Band World Tour and Scene It before returning home after 1 am. Last night was day light savings, so we gained an hour of sleep and have been enjoying a very relaxing Sunday. I made some ad hoc Pad Thai for lunch with rice instead of noodles and we will have to do some digging for dinner since we didn't grocery shop yesterday. We'll probably end up ordering pizza or something.

I have this coming week off of school for fall break and we are still waiting to find out what is happening with the car to see if we can take a trip next weekend.