When can the exhibition be visited?

The exhibition is accessible on Wednesday, October 28, 2026, from 8 to 12 o'clock and on the specified event date from 12 o'clock in the reading room of the City Archive.

What is the cost of admission?

Admission to both exhibitions is free.

How long will the exhibitions be on display?

The two exhibitions will be on display until January 28, 2027.

Where is the exhibition location?

The City Archive Erlangen is located at Luitpoldstraße 47. The entrance to the reading room is at Bernhard-Plettner-Ring.

Are there guided tours or group offers?

Group visits are possible by appointment. No confirmed information is available for additional guided tours or workshops for this date.

Is the exhibition suitable for cultural education?

Yes. The presentations connect historical sources, student works, and municipal history, making them particularly suitable for a deeper engagement with post-war and democracy history.

Erlangen 1945/46: How a City Re-invented Democracy and Everyday Life

Name: „Yesterday Must Give Way to Today“ and „Erlangen Between End and Beginning“
Start: 2026-10-28T12:00:00+01:00
End: 2026-10-28T16:00:00+01:00
Location: Stadtarchiv Erlangen – Lesesaal

Erlangen 1945/46: Between the End of War and Democratic New Beginning

In the reading room of the City Archive Erlangen, a double exhibition introduces the immediate post-war period of the city. Two historical presentations illuminate the transition from the end of World War II to a new political, social, and public life.

A City Before the New Beginning

On April 16, 1945, the war in Erlangen ended with the peaceful surrender of the city. Buildings and infrastructure remained largely intact, but everyday life faced profound changes. The exhibitions show how the dismantling of National Socialist structures, the American occupation, and the reorganization of administration and supply shaped life in Erlangen.

„Yesterday Must Give Way to Today“: History from a Youthful Perspective

The presentation developed by students of the Albert Schweitzer Gymnasium in collaboration with the City Archive focuses on concrete experiences from the years 1945 and 1946. The resumption of school operations, living conditions, the first Bergkirchweih, and cooperation with the American military government vividly illustrate the historical transformation.

The exhibition combines source work with cultural education and conveys history as a living experiential space. Posters and historical materials open up views on the questions, hopes, and challenges of a city society in transition.

„Erlangen Between End and Beginning“: The First Free Municipal Election

At the center of the second exhibition is the municipal election of May 26, 1946. This was the first democratic local election after 13 years of dictatorship and took place under challenging conditions. Movements in and out, accommodations, and denazification measures made the political and social conditions unclear.

The archival display shows how contingent democratic participation at the local level is. Electoral documents and historical records make visible that democratic new beginnings do not manifest abstractly, but take shape in concrete municipal decisions, life stories, and institutional upheavals.

The City Archive as a Place for the Examination of Historical Sources

The exhibition atmosphere of the reading room directs attention to the original and its materiality. Paper, typography, poster design, and archival transmission create a concentrated artistic experience of a special kind: The examination here is not focused on painting or sculpture, but on historical documents as testimonies of political and social experience.

The double exhibition opens an aesthetic experience of remembrance and makes the post-war period as an era of transition understandable. It combines historical research, curation, and museum pedagogy into a compelling contribution about democracy, everyday life, and new beginnings.

Conclusion: Experience History on Site

The exhibition makes Erlangen's path from the end of the war to the first free municipal election understandable and concrete. Visitors can expect a source-supported, education-oriented presentation about political reordering, social change, and the beginnings of democratic self-determination. A visit to the City Archive enriches cultural education and invites the examination of history directly through its traces.