Karlsruhe

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there is also Karlsruhe, North Dakota.

Template:Infobox Town DE Karlsruhe (population 275,049 in December 2005) is a city in the south west of Germany, in the Bundesland Baden-Württemberg, located near the French-German border.

1 Geography
2 Economy
3 Transport
4 History
5 Famous people
6 Institutions
7 Twinning
8 Local attractions
9 Events
10 Sport
11 External links

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Geography

The city's altitude is between 100 m (on the western shore of the Rhine river) and 277.5 m (at the Turmberg in the east). Its geographical coordinates are: Template:Coor dm, the 49th parallel runs through the city center. Its course is marked by a line of flagstones in the Stadtgarten (city park).

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Economy

Germany's biggest 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.

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

Image:Karlsruhe OElhafen.jpg

Two ports on the Rhine provide transport capacity on cargo ships, especially for petroleum products.

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.

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History

Image:Karlsruhe Germany CastleByNight.jpg 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 Gemrmany 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 Karlsruhe, and residential areas have since been built there. West of the castle is now mostly residential.

Image:Karlsruhe 180 panorama.JPG

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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.

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Karlsruhe and the Holocaust

In 1925 about 3300 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 expelled and interned by the French Vichy authorities in Gurs in southern France, most of whom were deported from there to Auschwitz in November 1942. The 429 remaining Jews and non-Aryans 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.

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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)

Image:Karlsruhe Knights.jpg

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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.

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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.

Andi Deris, singer of the german heavy metal band Helloween was born in Karlsruhe, in 1964

Oliver Kahn, goalkeeper of the German national football team and Bayern Munich was also born in this city, in 1969.

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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.

The Universität Karlsruhe (TH) (University of Karlsruhe) is the oldest technical university in Germany and a well known research and study centre.

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 integrated under ZKM are the State Academy for Design (whose president is philosopher Peter Sloterdijk), the Museum for Contemporary Art.

Image:Karlsruhe Nancybrunnen.jpg

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Twinning

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

Image:Karlsruhe schloss gottesau.jpg

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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 to 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.

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Events

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).

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, and the Linux Audio Concerence (http://lac.zkm.de/).

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.

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