Map of Germany showing Karlsruhe

Coat of Arms of Karlsruhe

Karlsruhe (population 282,595 in December 2003) is a city of Germany, in the Baden-Württemberg Bundesland, located near the French-German border.

Geography

The altitude above sea level of the city's area is between 100 m (on the westerly edge, toward the Rhine river) and 277.5 m (Turmberg in the east). Its geographical coordinates are: , which means that the 49th parallel (meridian) runs through the city center, its course being marked by a line of flag-stones in the Stadtgarten (city park).

Transport

Karlsruhe is well known in transport circles around the world for pioneering the concept of operating trams on train tracks (tram-trains), to achieve a more effective and attractive public transport system. This concept makes it possible to reach the towns of Ettlingen , Pforzheim, Bad Wildbad , Bretten , Bruchsal, Heilbronn, Baden-Baden and even Freudenstadt in the Black Forest right from the city centre.

Karlsruhe is well-connected by road and rail, with Autobahn and InterCity Express connections going to Frankfurt, Stuttgart/Munich and Freiburg/Basel.

The nearest airport is the Baden Airpark or officially Flughafen Karlsruhe/Baden-Baden about 30 km (20 miles) south of Karlsruhe with regular connections to Berlin, London, Rome and Barcelona. Frankfurt International Airport and Stuttgart Airport can also be reached in about an hour by car or rail.

History

The city takes its name from Margrave Karl Wilhelm of Baden-Durlach , who founded the city in 1715 after a dispute with the citizens of his previous capital, Durlach. Karlsruhe became the capital of Baden-Durlach until 1771, thereafter the capital of Baden until 1945.

Historical population

(source unknown, figures unconfirmed)

Famous people

It is the birthplace of Carl Benz (1844 - 1929), inventor of the automobile and founder of Benz & Co., now part of DaimlerChrysler (formerly Daimler-Benz), as well as Karl Drais who invented the precursor of the bicycle and other transportation devices. Oliver Kahn, goalkeeper of the German national football team was also born in this city, in 1969.

Institutions

Karlsruhe is the seat of the German Federal Constitutional Court (Bundesverfassungsgericht) and the highest Court of Appeals in civil and criminal cases, the Bundesgerichtshof. The court came to Karlsruhe when the provinces of Baden and Württemberg were merged. Stuttgart, capital of Württemberg, became the capital of the new province, and Karlsruhe was given the high court as compensation.

The Universität Karlsruhe (University of Karlsruhe) is a well known research and study centre.

The Technologieregion Karlsruhe is a loose confederation of the region's cities in oder to promote hi-tec industries; today, about 20% of the region's jobs are in Research and Development which gives a good basis for hi-tec.

In 1999 the ZKM (Zentrum für Kunst und Medientechnologie, Centre for Art and Media) was opened, which in a short period of time reached a high reputation as a cultural institution throughout the world. Intergrated in the huge building, a former weapon factory, which comprises of ten atriums, is the State Academy for Design (with its president, philosopher Peter Sloterdijk), the Museum for Contemporary Art and many institutes of the ZKM, linking new media theory and practice.

Twinning

The town is twinned with Nancy (France), Nottingham (Britain), Krasnodar (Russia), Timisoara (also known as Temeswar) (Romania), Halle (Germany).

Local attractions

Good visibility assumed, the Durlacher Turmberg to the east can be seen miles before reaching the city. It sports a look-out tower (hence its name) with nearby restaurant and can be reached by the historical Turmbergbahn (former rack railway, see link below).

The Stadtgarten is a recreational area near the Hauptbahnhof (main railway station) and was rebuilt during the Bundesgartenschau (Federal Garden Show).

The Marktplatz with the stone pyramid marking the grave of the city's founding father. (For a short period during the Nazi reign it was called Adolf-Hitler-Platz.)

The city is nicknamed Die Fächerstadt (the fan city) because of its deliberate layout, with straight streets running out fan-like from the castle. The Karlsruhe Schloß (castle buildings) is an interesting piece of architecture; the adjacent Schloßgarten invites to a walk in the woods.

Events

It attracted an immense crowd of visitors from all directions eager to watch the total solar eclipse during noon time on August 10, 1999 (this place being located within the eclipse path and one of the few within Germany not plagued by bad weather).

Every year in July there is a huge free open air festival lasting three days called Das Fest ("The Festival") (http://www.dasfest-karlsruhe.de/ (in German))

Karlsruhe is the host of the yearly Free Software expo LinuxTag.

External links

• Official website (in German)
• History
• An official map is found at stadtplan.karlsruhe.de.
• Karlsruhe University (official website)
• Town square webcam
• Turmberg webcam
• Turmbergbahn (in German)
• Private diary detailing the solar eclipse (1999) (in German)