Karlsruhe
Template:Infobox Town DE Karlsruhe (population 283,959 in 2005) is a city in the south west of Germany, in the Bundesland Baden-Württemberg, located near the French-German border.
Geography
The city's altitude is between 100 m (on the western shore of the Rhine river) and 322 m (near to the TV Tower). Its geographical coordinates are 49°00′N 8°24′E / 49.000°N 8.400°E; the 49th parallel runs through the city center. Its course is marked by a stone and painted line in the Stadtgarten (city park).
Economy
Germany's largest oil refinery is located in Karlsruhe, at the western edge of the city, directly on the river Rhine.
Karlsruhe is known as the internet capital of Germany because two well-known internet service providers are located in the city.
The Technologieregion Karlsruhe is a loose confederation of the region's cities in order to promote high tech industries; today, about 20% of the region's jobs are in Research and Development which gives a good basis for high tech.
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 other towns in the region, like Ettlingen, Pforzheim, Bad Wildbad, Bretten, Bruchsal, Heilbronn, Baden-Baden and even Freudenstadt in the Black Forest right from the city centre.
Karlsruhe is also the home of the most advanced Intelligent Transit Systems in Europe and plays home to INIT GMBH, one of the most prominent ITS companies in the world.
Karlsruhe is well-connected via road and rail, with Autobahn and InterCityExpress connections going to Frankfurt, Stuttgart/Munich and Freiburg/Basel.
Two ports on the Rhine provide transport capacity on cargo ships, especially for petroleum products.
The nearest airport is part of the Baden Airpark (officially Flughafen Karlsruhe/Baden-Baden) about 45 km (28 miles) southwest of Karlsruhe, with regular connections to Berlin, Dublin, 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.
The city was planned with the tower of the castle (Schloss) at the center and 32 streets radiating out from it like spokes on a wheel or ribs on a folding fan, so that a nickname for Karlsruhe in Germany is the "fan city" (Fächerstadt). Almost all of these streets survive today.
The city center was the oldest part of town and lies south of the castle in the quadrant defined by nine of the streets. The central part of the castle runs east-west, and there are two wings of the castle, each at a 45° angle to the center, so that they are pointing southeast and southwest (i.e. parallel with streets at the ends of the quadrant defining the city center).
The market place is on the street running south from the castle to Ettlingen. The market place has the town hall (Rathaus) to the west, the main protestant church (Evangelische Stadtkirche) to the east, and the tomb of Margrave Karl Wilhelm in a pyramid in the center. The architect Friedrich Weinbrenner designed many of the most important buildings.
The area north of the castle was and still is a park and forest. East of the castle there originally were gardens and more forest, some of which remain, but the University, Wildparkstadion, and residential areas have since been built there. West of the castle is now mostly residential.
Jewish Community
Jews settled in Karlsruhe since its foundation. A 1752 Jewry ordinance stated Jews were forbidden to leave the city on Sundays and Christian holidays, or to go out of their houses during church services, but they were exempted from service by court summonses on Sabbaths. They could sell wine only in inns owned by Jews and graze their cattle, not on the commons, but on the wayside only. Karlsruhe was the seat of the central council of Baden Jewry. The first chief rabbi of the country Rabbi Asher Lowe was from (Durlach) Karlsruhe. Complete emancipation was given in 1862, Jews were elected to city council and Baden parliament, and from 1890 were appointed judges. Jews were persecuted in riots occurring in 1819 and anti-Jewish demonstrations were held in 1843, 1848, and the 1880s. The well-known German-Israeli artist Leo Kahn studied in Karlsruhe before leaving for France and Israel in the 1920s and '30s.
Karlsruhe and the Holocaust
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In 1925 about 3,300 Jewish people lived in Karlsruhe. The community owned buildings and property, such as several synagogues, two elderly citizens' homes, a Jewish school, a hospital, welfare institutions, several Jewish cemeteries, and so forth. During the first years of the Nazi regime, the community continued to function and particularly to prepare Jews for emigration. On Oct. 22, 1938, all male Polish Jews living in Karlsruhe were deported to Poland. Synagogues were destroyed on Kristallnacht, November 1938. Most of the men were arrested and sent to Dachau concentration camp, but were released after they had furnished proof that they intended to emigrate. In October 1940, 895 Jews were expelled during Operation Wagner-Bürckel and interned by the French Vichy authorities in Gurs in southern France. Most of these were then deported from there to Auschwitz in November 1942. Most of the 429 remaining Jews and other so-called "non-Aryans" were deported to the east between 1941 and 1944. In 1945 there were only 18 Jews in Karlsruhe. The Baden Central Jewish Council was reorganized in 1948. A new synagogue was built in 1969.
Today, there are about 900 members in the Jewish community, and a Chabad rabbi.
Historical population
| Year | Inhabitants |
| 1790 | 4,500 |
| 1820 | 16,200 |
| 1850 | 25,400 |
| 1880 | 49,300 |
| 1900 | 97,400 |
| 1925 | 145,700 |
| 2003 | 282,595 |
(source unknown, figures unconfirmed)
Military
Karlsruhe has always hosted armed forces.
After World War II until 1995, Karlsruhe was a United States Army base. It also had a French garrison (135eme Régiment du Train until 1991).
Famous people
It is the birthplace of Karl 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.
In the late 1880's, professor Heinrich Rudolf Hertz discovered electromagnetic waves at the University of Karlsruhe; today, a lecture room named after Hertz lies close by the very spot where the discovery was made.
Oliver Kahn, goalkeeper of Bayern Munich and former goalkeeper of the German national football team was also born in this city, in 1969.
Further famous people from Karlsruhe include the philosopher and current president of the State Academy of Design Peter Sloterdijk and the composer Wolfgang Rihm.
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 in a compromise.
Karlsruhe is a renowned research and study centre, with two of Germany's finest and worldwide renowned institutions of higher education, namely, the University of Karlsruhe (Universität Karlsruhe-TH) - the oldest technical university in Germany and the Karlsruhe University of Applied Sciences (Hochschule Karlsruhe-HS) - a modern and the largest university of technology in the State of Baden-Württemberg offering both professional and academic education in engineering sciences and business.
Karlsruhe is also the home of the Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe (Research Center Karlsruhe), at which engineering and scientific research is performed in the areas of health, earth and environmental sciences.
In 1999 the ZKM (Zentrum für Kunst und Medientechnologie, Centre for Art and Media) was opened. Within a short time it built up a worldwide reputation as a cultural institution. Linking new media theory and practice, the ZKM is located in a former weapons factory. Among the institues related to the ZKM are the Staatliche Hochschule für Gestaltung (State University of Design), whose president is philosopher Peter Sloterdijk and the Museum for Contemporary Art.
Twinning
The town is twinned with:
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 with 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) in 1967. It is also the site of the Karlsruhe Zoo.
The Marktplatz with the stone pyramid marking the grave of the city's founding father. 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 (palace) is an interesting piece of architecture; the adjacent Schlossgarten invites a walk in the woods stretching out to the north of it.
Another popular attraction is the ZKM (Zentrum für Kunst und Medientechnologie) - Centre for Art and Media. Its collections are quite unique, since they combine art and modern technologies. The Centre is located in a converted ammunition manufactory.
Events
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)).
Apart from holding local juggling and acrobatics festivals every year Karlsruhe has been the hosting city of the 26th european juggling convention EJC in 2000. Because of the good organization and the huge success the jugglers of Europe voted to return to Karlsruhe for the 31st europaen juggling convention in 2008 which will take place from August 2nd until August 10th.
African culture comes to Karlsruhe every year in July when the African Summer Festival takes off in the city's Nordstadt. Markets, drumming workshops, exhibitions, a varied children's programme and musical performances take place during the three days, the aim being enjoyment for the whole family. [1]
Karlsruhe is the host of the yearly Linux Audio Conference [2]. In the past Karlsruhe has also been the host of LinuxTag (the biggest Linux event in Europe).
It attracted an immense crowd of visitors from all directions eager to watch the total solar eclipse at noon on August 11, 1999 (this place being located within the eclipse path and one of the few within Germany not plagued by bad weather).
The city is also one of the first in the world to have organized an annual clothing-optional bike ride, locally known as Nackt Radtour.
Sport
Football Karlsruher SC (KSC), 2. Bundesliga (second division)
Basketball BG Karlsruhe, Basketball-Bundesliga (first division)
Internet
Two major internet service providers, WEB.DE and schlund+partner/1&1, now both owned by United Internet AG, are located at Karlsruhe.
The City Wiki of Karlsruhe (Stadtwiki Karlsruhe) is the biggest City Wiki in the world.
External links
- Map of Karlsruhe
- List of English websites
- Official website (in German)
- History
- city-wiki of Karlsruhe
- University of Karlsruhe
- Karlsruhe University of Applied Sciences
- Research Center Karlsruhe, Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe
- FZI - Research Center for Information Technologies
- Town square webcam
- Turmberg webcam
- War memorials in Karlsruhe at the Sites of Memory webpage
- Turmbergbahn (in German)
- Private diary detailing the solar eclipse (1999) (in German)
- ZKM - Centre for Art and Media
