Herz-Jesu-Kirche

The first Catholic church to be built after the Reformation in Erlangen, this is a surprisingly austere affair. After much prodding by the growing Catholic community (the religious toleration extended to Huguenots was also granted to Catholics) they finally got a Bethaus in 1790 under rather strict limitations (no organ, no spire, a site on the outskirts of the old town) put in place on the urging of local Lutheran and Calvinist citizens. The congregation grew with emigrants from the French Revolution and upon the Bavarian takeover, Catholicism was now much more favored by the Catholic overlords in Munich so extensive redesigns and the wholesale replacement of the original building with a church in 1849/50 were done to keep pace with the growing congregation. Today only a 1830 baptismal font is one of few things that remains after extensive redesign and expansion.