Karlsruhe (German pronunciation: [ˈkaɐ̯lsʁuːə]; population 290,736 in 2008) is a city in the south west of Germany A region named Germania, inhabited by several Germanic peoples, has been known and documented before AD 100. Beginning in the 10th century, German territories formed a central part of the Holy Roman Empire, which lasted until 1806. During the 16th century, northern Germany became the centre of the Protestant Reformation. As a modern nation-state,, in the Bundesland Germany is made up of sixteen Länder , generally referred to in English as states. In official English translations, the term "land" is commonly used. A Land (colloquially but rarely in a legal context also called Bundesland, for "federal state") is one of the partly sovereign constituent states of the Federal Republic of Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg is one of the 16 states of Germany. Baden-Württemberg is in the southwestern part of the country to the east of the Upper Rhine, bordering Alsace (France) to the west, Switzerland to the south, Bavaria to the east and northeast, Hessen to the north, and Rhineland Palatinate to the northwest, located near the French France (pronounced /ˈfrænts/ frantss or /ˈfrɑːnts/ frahnts; French pronunciation (help·info): [fʁɑ̃s]), officially the French Republic (French: République française, pronounced: [ʁepyblik fʁɑ̃sɛz]), is a state in Western Europe with several of its overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian,-German border.

Karlsruhe was founded in 1715 as Karlsruhe Palace, when Germany was a series of city states. The town surrounding the Palace became the seat of two of the highest courts in Germany, the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany The Federal Constitutional Court is a special court established by the Grundgesetz, the German basic law. Since its inception, the constitutional court has been located in the city of Karlsruhe, intentionally dislocated from the other federal institutions like the seat of the government (earlier in Bonn, now in Berlin), the head office of the (Bundesverfassungsgericht) whose decisions have the force of a law, and the Federal Court of Justice of Germany The Federal Court of Justice of Germany is the highest court in the system of ordinary jurisdiction (ordentliche Gerichtsbarkeit) in Germany. It is the supreme court (court of last resort) in all matters of criminal and private law. A decision handed down by the BGH can only be reversed by the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany in rare cases (Bundesgerichtshof), the highest court of appeals The specific procedures for appealing, including even whether there is a right of appeal from a particular type of decision, can vary greatly from country to country. Even within a jurisdiction, the nature of an appeal can vary greatly depending on the type of case in matters of civil law Civil law, as opposed to criminal law, is the branch of law dealing with disputes between individuals and/or organizations, in which compensation may be awarded to the victim. For instance, if a car crash victim claims damages against the driver for loss or injury sustained in an accident, this will be a civil law case and criminal law Criminal law, or penal law, is the bodies of rules with the potential for severe impositions as punishment for failure to comply. Criminal punishment, depending on the offense and jurisdiction, may include execution, loss of liberty, government supervision , or fines. There are some archetypal crimes, like murder, but the acts that are forbidden. It therefore considers itself the home of justice in Germany, a role taken over from Leipzig Leipzig (German pronunciation: [ˈlaɪptsɪç] , also called Leipsic in English; Upper Sorbian: Lipsk) is, with a population of 515,459, the largest city in the federal state of Saxony, Germany and in the new states of Germany. In the 17th century, Leipzig was one of the major European city-centres of learning and culture in fields such as music, after 1933.[citation needed]

It has been speculated that Karlsruhe was a model city for the cityscape of Washington D.C. Washington, D.C. , formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, the District, or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States, founded on July 16, 1790. Article One of the United States Constitution provides for a federal district, distinct from the states, to serve as the permanent national capital. The City of, due to similarities to the US capital city A capital city is the area of a country, province, region, or state, regarded as enjoying primary status; although there are exceptions, a capital is almost always a city which physically encompasses the offices and meeting places of the seat of government and is fixed by law. An alternate term is political capital, but this phrase has a second.[2] Both cities have a center —in Karlsruhe the palace and in D.C. the Capitol Building— from which the streets lead away like sunrays. L'Enfant, Washington's city planner, had been given the plans of Karlsruhe (besides those of numerous other European cities) as an inspiration.[3]

Contents

Geography

The 49th parallel north The 49th parallel north is a circle of latitude that is 49 degrees north of the Earth's equatorial plane. It crosses Europe, Asia, the Pacific Ocean, North America, and the Atlantic Ocean in the Karlsruhe Stadtgarten

The city lies at an altitude between 100 m (on the western shore of the river Rhine The Rhine is one of the longest and most important rivers in Europe, at about 1,232 km (766 mi), with an average discharge of more than 2,000 m3/s (71,000 cu ft/s)) and 322 m (near the TV Tower). Its geographical coordinates are 49°00′N 8°24′E / 49°N 8.4°E; the 49th parallel A circle of latitude, on the Earth, is an imaginary east-west circle connecting all locations that share a given latitude. A location's position along a circle of latitude is given by its longitude runs through the city center. Its course is marked by a stone and painted line in the Stadtgarten (city park).

MiRO oil refinery

The city was planned with the palace tower (Schloss) at the center and 32 streets radiating out from it like the spokes A spoke is one of some number of rods radiating from the center of a wheel , connecting the hub with the round traction surface of a wheel A wheel is a circular device that is capable of rotating on an axle through its centre, facilitating movement or transportation while supporting a load , or performing labour in machines. Common examples are found in transport applications. A wheel, together with an axle overcomes friction by facilitating motion by rolling. In order for wheels to, or the ribs of a folding fan A hand-held fan is an implement used to induce an airflow for the purpose of cooling or refreshing oneself. Any broad, flat surface waved back-and-forth will create a small airflow and therefore can be considered a rudimentary fan. But generally, purpose-made hand-held fans are shaped like a circle segment made of a thin material mounted to slats, so that one nickname A nickname is a descriptive name given in place of or in addition to the official name of a person, place or thing. It can also be the familiar or truncated form of the proper name, which may sometimes be used simply for convenience (e.g. "Bobby", "Bob", "Rob", "Hob", or "Bert" for the name Robert) for Karlsruhe in German is the "fan city" (Fächerstadt). Almost all of these streets survive today. Because of this city layout, in metric geometry, Karlsruhe metric refers to a measure of distance that assumes travel is only possible along radial streets and along circular avenues around the center.[4]

The city center is the oldest part of town and lies south of the palace in the quadrant defined by nine of the radial streets. The central part of the palace runs east-west, with two wings, each at a 45° angle, directed southeast and southwest respectively (i.e. parallel with the streets marking the boundaries of the quadrant defining the city center).

The marketplace A marketplace is the space, actual, virtual or metaphorical, in which a market operates. The term is also used in a trademark law context to denote the actual consumer environment, ie. the 'real world' in which products and services are provided and consumed lies on the street running south from the palace to Ettlingen Ettlingen is a city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is about 8 km south of the city of Karlsruhe. After Bruchsal, Ettlingen is the second largest city in the Karlsruhe-County. The marketplace has the town hall In local government, a city hall, town hall or a municipal building is the chief administrative building of a city town or other municipality. It usually houses the city or town council, its associated departments, and their employees. It also usually functions as the base of the mayor of a city, town, borough, or county (das Rathaus) to the west, the main Protestant Protestantism is one of the four major divisions within Christianity together with the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Oriental Orthodox Churches, and the Roman Catholic Church. The term is most closely tied to those groups that separated from the Roman Catholic Church in the sixteenth-century Protestant Reformation church A church building is a building or structure whose primary purpose is to facilitate the meeting of a church. Originally, Jewish Christians met in synagogues, such as the Cenacle, and in one another's homes. As Christianity grew and became more accepted by governments, rooms and, eventually, entire buildings were set aside for the explicit purpose (Evangelische Stadtkirche) to the east, and the tomb A tomb is a repository for the remains of the dead. It is generally any structurally enclosed interment space or burial chamber, of varying sizes. The word is used in a broad sense to encompass a number of such types of places of interment or, occasionally, burial, including: of Margrave Karl Wilhelm in a pyramid in the center. The architect Friedrich Weinbrenner designed many of the city's most important buildings, resulting in Karlsruhe being one of only three large cities in Germany where building ensembles exist in the Neoclassical Neoclassicism is the name given to quite distinct movements in the decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that draw upon Western classical art and culture . These movements were dominant during the mid 18th to the end of the 19th century[citation needed] style.

The area north of the palace is a park A park is a protected area, in its natural or semi-natural state, or planted, and set aside for human recreation and enjoyment, or for the protection of wildlife or natural habitats. It may consist of rocks, soil, water, flora and fauna and grass areas and forest A forest is an area with a high density of trees. There are many definitions of a forest, based on the various criteria. These plant communities cover approximately 9.4% of the Earth's surface (or 30% of total land area), though they once covered much more (about 50% of total land area), in many different regions and function as habitats for. Originally the area to the east of the palace consisted of gardens A garden is a planned space, usually outdoors, set aside for the display, cultivation, and enjoyment of plants and other forms of nature. The garden can incorporate both natural and man-made materials. The most common form today is known as a residential garden, but the term garden has traditionally been a more general one. Zoos, which display and forests, some of which remain, but the Institute of Technology (founded in 1825), Wildparkstadion, and residential areas have been built there. The area west of the palace is now mostly residential.

Panorama of Karlsruhe, looking south from the palace tower . The Institute of Technology is on the left, the Marketplace in the center, the Federal Constitutional Court on the right. Note wings of the palace aligning with streets, all radiating out from the center of town (i.e. the palace tower).

Climate

Karlsruhe experiences an oceanic climate An oceanic climate is the climate typically found along the west coasts at the middle latitudes of some of the world's continents, and in southeastern Australia. Climates near the ocean have moderately cool summers and comparatively warm winters, they are generally characterized by a narrower annual range of temperatures than are encountered in (Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen himself notably in 1918 and 1936. Later, German climatologist Rudolf Geiger collaborated with Köppen on changes to the classification Cfb) similar to much of Germany.

Climate data for Karlsruhe
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Average high °C (°F) 3.78 (38.8) 6.11 (43.0) 10.89 (51.6) 15.39 (59.7) 19.89 (67.8) 23 (73.4) 25.5 (77.9) 25.11 (77.2) 21.5 (70.7) 15.28 (59.5) 8.5 (47.3) 4.78 (40.6) 15 (59.0)
Average low °C (°F) -1.39 (29.5) -0.72 (30.7) 1.89 (35.4) 4.89 (40.8) 8.89 (48.0) 12.22 (54.0) 14 (57.2) 13.78 (56.8) 10.61 (51.1) 6.72 (44.1) 2.39 (36.3) -0.39 (31.3) 6.11 (43.0)
Precipitation In meteorology, precipitation is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that is pulled down by gravity and deposited on the Earth's surface. The main forms of precipitation include rain, snow, ice pellets, and graupel. It occurs when the atmosphere, a large gaseous solution, becomes saturated with water vapour and the water mm (inches) 56 (2.2) 53 (2.1) 53 (2.1) 61 (2.4) 79 (3.1) 86 (3.4) 71 (2.8) 66 (2.6) 53 (2.1) 58 (2.3) 66 (2.6) 66 (2.6) 770 (30.3)
Source: Intellicast[5]

History

According to legend, the name Karlsruhe, which translates as Charles’ repose, was given to the new city after a hunting trip when Margrave Charles III William, Margrave of Baden-Durlach, woke from a dream in which he dreamt of founding his new city.

Charles William founded the city on June 17, 1715 after a dispute with the citizens of his previous capital, Durlach. The founding of the city is closely linked to the construction of the palace. Karlsruhe became the capital of Baden-Durlach Baden is a historical state on the east bank of the Rhine River in the southwest of Germany, now the western part of the Baden-Württemberg of Germany and in 1771 of the united Baden Baden is a historical state on the east bank of the Rhine River in the southwest of Germany, now the western part of the Baden-Württemberg of Germany until 1945. Built in 1822, the "Ständehaus" was the first parliament building in a German State. In the aftermath of the democratic revolution of 1848, a republican government was elected here.

Much of the central area, including the palace, was reduced to rubble by Allied bombing during World War II but was rebuilt after the war.

Main sights

The Durlacher Turmberg has a look-out tower (hence its name). It is a former keep A keep is a strong central tower which is used as a dungeon or a fortress. Often, the keep is the most defended area of a castle, and as such may form the main habitation area, or contain important stores such as the armoury, food, and the main water well, which would ensure survival during a siege dating back to the 13th century.

The Stadtgarten is a recreational area near the main railway station (Hauptbahnhof) and was rebuilt in 1967 during the 'Federal Garden Show' (Bundesgartenschau). It is also the site of the Karlsruhe Zoo.

The city has two botanical gardens: the municipal Botanischer Garten Karlsruhe which forms part of the Palace complex, and the Botanischer Garten der Universität Karlsruhe which is maintained by the university.

The Marktplatz has a the stone pyramid marking the grave of the city's founder. Built in 1825, it is the emblem of Karlsruhe. The city is nicknamed the fan city (Die Fächerstadt) because of its design layout, with straight streets radiating fan-like from the Palace.

The Karlsruhe Palace (Schloss) is an interesting piece of architecture; the adjacent Schlossgarten includes the Botanical Garden with a palm, cactus and orchid house, and walking paths through the woods to the north.

The so-called Kleine Kirche (Little Church), built between 1773 and 1776, is the oldest church of Karlsruhe's city centre.

Another sight is the Rondellplatz with its 'Constitution Building Columns' (1826). It is dedicated to Baden's first constitution in 1818, which was one of the most liberal of its time. The Münze (mint), erected in 1826/27, was also built by Weinbrenner.

St. Stephan

The St. Stephan parish church is one of the masterpieces of neoclassical church architecture in Southern Germany. Weinbrenner, who built this church between 1808 and 1814, orientated it to the Pantheon, Rome The Pantheon (pronounced /pænˈθiː.ən/ or /ˈpænθi.ən/ , or /ˈpænθiːɑːn/ (USA), Latin: Pantheon,[nb 1] from Greek: Πάνθεον, meaning "Every god") is a building in Rome, commissioned by Marcus Agrippa as a temple to all the gods of Ancient Rome, and rebuilt by Emperor Hadrian in about 126 AD. A near-contemporary writer,.

Burial chapel

The neo-gothic Grand Ducal burial chapel, built between 1889 and 1896, is a mausoleum A mausoleum is an external free-standing building constructed as a monument enclosing the interment space or burial chamber of a deceased person or persons. A monument without the interment is a cenotaph. A mausoleum may be considered a type of tomb or the tomb may be considered to be within the mausoleum. A Christian mausoleum sometimes includes rather than a church, and is located in the middle of the forest.

The main cemetery of Karlsruhe is the oldest park-like cemetery in Germany. The crematorium Cremation is the process of reducing dead bodies to basic chemical compounds in the form of gases and bone fragments. This is accomplished through high temperatures and vaporization. Contrary to popular belief, the cremated remains are not ashes in the usual sense, but rather dried bone fragments that have been pulverized, typically in a device was the first to be built in the style of a church.

Kalruhe is also home to a Museum of Natural History, an opera house (the 'Baden State Theatre'), as well as a number of independent theatres and art galleries. The State Art Gallery, built in 1846 by Heinrich Hübsch, displays paintings and sculptures from six centuries, particularly from France, Germany and Holland. Karlsruhe's newly renovated art museum is one of the most important art museums in Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg is one of the 16 states of Germany. Baden-Württemberg is in the southwestern part of the country to the east of the Upper Rhine, bordering Alsace (France) to the west, Switzerland to the south, Bavaria to the east and northeast, Hessen to the north, and Rhineland Palatinate to the northwest. Further cultural attractions are scattered throughout Karlsruhe's various incorporated suburbs. The Scheffel Association or literary society (established in 1924), is the largest literary organisation in Germany.[citation needed] Today the Prinz-Max-Palais, built between 1881 and 1884 in neoclassical style, houses the organisation and includes its museum.

Breweries and buildings in art nouveau style were predominant in the western city

Due to population growth in the later 19th Century, Karlsruhe developed several suburban areas (Vorstadt) in the Gründerzeit Gründerzeit refers to the economic phase in 19th century Germany and Austria before the great stock market crash of 1873. It deals with the ascent of the second Kondratiev wave. At this time in Central Europe the age of industrialisation was taking place, whose beginnings were found in the 1840s. No precise time for this phase can be given, but and especially Art nouveau Art Nouveau is an international movement and style of art, architecture and applied art—especially the decorative arts—that peaked in popularity at the turn of the 20th century (1890–1905). The name "Art Nouveau" is French for "new art". It is also known as Jugendstil, German for "youth style", named after the styles of architecture, with many preserved examples.

Karlsruhe is also home to the Majolika-Manufaktur,[6] the only art-ceramics pottery studio in Germany.[citation needed] Founded in 1901, it is located in the Schlossgarten. A 'blue streak' (Blauer Strahl) consisting of 1645 ceramic tiles, connects the studio with the Palace. It is the world's largest ceramic artwork.[citation needed]

Another tourist attraction is the Centre for Art and Media (Zentrum für Kunst und Medientechnologie, or ZKM), which is located in a converted ammunition factory.

Government

Justice

The Federal Constitutional Court of Germany The Federal Constitutional Court is a special court established by the Grundgesetz, the German basic law. Since its inception, the constitutional court has been located in the city of Karlsruhe, intentionally dislocated from the other federal institutions like the seat of the government (earlier in Bonn, now in Berlin), the head office of the

Karlsruhe is the seat of the German Federal Constitutional Court The Federal Constitutional Court is a special court established by the Grundgesetz, the German basic law. Since its inception, the constitutional court has been located in the city of Karlsruhe, intentionally dislocated from the other federal institutions like the seat of the government (earlier in Bonn, now in Berlin), the head office of the (Bundesverfassungsgericht) and the highest Court of Appeals An appellate court is any court of law that is empowered to hear an appeal of a trial court or other lower tribunal. In most jurisdictions, the court system is divided into at least three levels: the trial court, which initially hears cases and reviews evidence and testimony to determine the facts of the case; at least one intermediate appellate in civil and criminal cases, the Bundesgerichtshof The Federal Court of Justice of Germany is the highest court in the system of ordinary jurisdiction (ordentliche Gerichtsbarkeit) in Germany. It is the supreme court (court of last resort) in all matters of criminal and private law. A decision handed down by the BGH can only be reversed by the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany in rare cases. The court came to Karlsruhe when the provinces of Baden and Württemberg Württemberg , formerly known as Wirtemberg, is an area and a former state in southwestern Germany, including parts of the regions Swabia and Franconia were merged. Stuttgart Stuttgart is the capital of the state of Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. The sixth-largest city in Germany, Stuttgart has a population of 600,038 (December 2008) while the metropolitan area has a population of 5.3 million (2008), capital of Württemberg, became the capital of the new province, and Karlsruhe was given the high court in a compromise.

Public health

There are four hospitals: The municipal Klinikum Karlsruhe provides the maximum level of medical services, the St. Vinzenzius-Kliniken and the Diakonissen Deaconess comes from a Greek word diakonos (διακονος). This Greek word means a servant or helper and occurs frequently in the Christian New Testament of the Bible and is sometimes applied to Christ himself. Deaconesses trace their roots from the time of Jesus Christ through the 13th century. Evidence for the presence of ordained femalekrankenhaus, connected to the Catholic and Protestant churches, respectively, offer central services, and the private Paracelsus-Klinik basic medical care, according to state hospital demand planning.

Economy

Germany's largest oil refinery An oil refinery or petroleum refinery is an industrial process plant where crude oil is processed and refined into more useful petroleum products, such as gasoline, diesel fuel, asphalt base, heating oil, kerosene, and liquefied petroleum gas. Oil refineries are typically large sprawling industrial complexes with extensive piping running is located in Karlsruhe, at the western edge of the city, directly on the river Rhine The Rhine is one of the longest and most important rivers in Europe, at about 1,232 km (766 mi), with an average discharge of more than 2,000 m3/s (71,000 cu ft/s).

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.

Internet activities

Due to the University of Karlsruhe providing services until the late 1990, Karlsruhe became known as the internet capital of Germany. The DENIC, Germany's Network Information Centre, has since moved to Frankfurt, though, where DE-CIX is located.

Two major internet service providers, WEB.DE and schlund+partner/1&1, now both owned by United Internet AG, are located at Karlsruhe.

The Stadtwiki Karlsruhe is the biggest city wiki in the world.

The library of the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology developed the Karlsruher Virtueller Katalog, the first internet site that allowed researchers worldwide (for free) to search multiple library catalogues worldwide.

Rail yard, bypass road Südtangente

Transport

Karlsruhe's rail system, the Stadtbahn 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, Wörth am Rhein, 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 Karlsruhe model tram-train system.

Karlsruhe is well-connected via road and rail, with Autobahn and InterCityExpress connections going to Frankfurt, Stuttgart/Munich and Freiburg/Basel. Since June 2007 it has been connected to the TGV network, reducing travel time to Paris to only three hours (compared to 5 hours previously).

Oil port

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 airports in Germany and Europe in general. Frankfurt International Airport can be reached in about an hour and a half by car (one hour by InterCityExpress); Stuttgart Airport can be reached in about one hour (about an hour and a half by train and S-Bahn).

Two interesting facts in transportation history are that both Karl Drais, the inventor of the bicycle, as well as Carl Benz, the inventor of the car were born in Karlsruhe and that Benz also studied at the citie's university and his wife Bertha took the world's first long distance-drive with a car from Mannheim to Karlsruhe-Grötzingen and Pforzheim (see Bertha Benz Memorial Route. Their professional life led both men to the neighboring city of Mannheim where they first applied their most famous inventions.

Jewish community

Jewish cemetery of Grötzingen

Jews settled in Karlsruhe since its foundation. They were attracted by the numerous privileges granted by its founder to settlers, without discrimination as to creed. Official documents attest the presence of several Jewish families at Karlsruhe in 1717. A year later the city council addressed to the margrave a report in which a question was raised as to the proportion of municipal charges to be borne by the newly arrived Jews, who in that year formed an organized congregation, with Rabbi Nathan Uri Kohen of Metz at its head. A document dated 1726 gives the names of twenty-four Jews who had taken part in an election of municipal officers. As the city grew permission to settle there became less easily obtained by Jews, and the community developed more slowly. 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, Nethaneel Weil was a rabbi in Karlsruhe from 1750 until his death.

First synagogue, built by Friedrich Weinbrenner in 1806, existed until 1871

In 1783, by a decree issued by Margrave Charles Frederick of Baden, the Jews ceased to be serfs, and consequently could settle wherever they pleased. The same decree freed them from the "Todfall" tax, paid to the clergy for each Jewish burial. In commemoration of these changes special prayers were prepared by the acting rabbi Jedidiah Tiah Weill, who, succeeding his father in 1770, held the office until 1805. In 1808 the government issued regulations concerning the administration of the spiritual affairs of the Jewish community, by which the chief rabbi of Karlsruhe became the spiritual head of the Jews of the country. 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.

Public hanukkah on the Schlossplatz

Today, there are about 900 members in the Jewish community, many of whom are recent immigrants from Russia, and a Chabad rabbi.[7]

Karlsruhe has memorialized its Jewish community and notable pre-war synagogues with a memorial park.[8]

This article incorporates text from the 1901–1906 Jewish Encyclopedia, a publication now in the public domain.

Karlsruhe and the Holocaust

The new synagogue

In 1933, 3,358 Jewish Germans lived in Karlsruhe. The community owned buildings and property, such as two synagogues, one on Karl-Friedrich-Straße and one on Kronenstraße, two elderly citizens' homes, a Jewish school, a hospital, welfare institutions and several Jewish cemeteries. During the first years of the Nazi regime, the community continued to function, particularly to prepare Jews for emigration. On October 28, 1938, all male Polish Jews living in Karlsruhe were deported to Poland. Synagogues were destroyed on Kristallnacht, 9–10 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 (via the Drancy deportation camp, on the outskirts of Paris) between August and 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. More than 1,000 of them had been killed between 1933 and 1945 [9]. The Baden Central Jewish Council was reorganized in 1948. A new synagogue was built in 1969.

Historical population

Year Inhabitants
1719 2,000
1750 2,500
1815 >15,000
1901 >100,000
1933 155,000
2003 282,595
2007 288,917

Source: Karlsruhe City Archive (German).[10]

Memorial for Baden Life Grenadiers in several wars, 1803–1918

Famous people

Education

Karlsruhe is a renowned research and study centre, with one of Germany's finest institutions of higher education, namely, the University of Karlsruhe (Universität Karlsruhe-TH)—the oldest technical university in Germany. 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, and Karlsruhe University of Applied Sciences (Hochschule Karlsruhe-HS), the largest university of technology in the State of Baden-Württemberg, offering both professional and academic education in engineering sciences and business. On 1 October 2009 the University of Karlsruhe was joined with the Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe to form a new institution, the Karlsruher Institut für Technologie. The Hochschule für Musik Karlsruhe is a music conservatory which offers degrees in composition, music performance, education and radio journalism. Since 1989 it is located in the Gottesaue Palace (see picture). The Merkur Internationale Fachhochschule Karlsruhe, University of Applied Science was founded in 2004. It is a private owned state approved business school focussing on international and intercultural management as well as service- and culture-related industries.

Knowledge and Innovation Community EIT

Karlsruhe is one of co-location centres of Knowledge and Innovation Community (Sustainable Energy) of The European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) [11]

Co-location centres—KIC Inno Energy:

CC Germany: Karlsruhe, CC Alps Valleys: Grenoble, CC Benelux: Eindhoven / Leuven, CC Iberia: Barcelona, CC PolandPlus: Krakow, CC Sweden: Stockholm

InnoEnergy is a strongly integrated alliance of reputable players from the education, research and industry sectors. It was created based on long standing links of cooperation as well as the principles of excellence and transformation. The partners have jointly developed a strategy to tackle the weaknesses of the European innovation landscape and aim to be the leading motor for innovation in the field of sustainable energy.The KIC will create economical and societal value by developing ideas from mind to market.[12]

Culture

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 institutes 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.

Nancy fountain

Twin towns — sister cities

See also: List of twin towns and sister cities in Germany

Karlsruhe is twinned with:

Gottesau Palace (now music college).

Events

Every year in July there is a huge free open air festival lasting three days called Das Fest ("The Festival").[13].

The Baden State Theatre has sponsored the Händel festival since 1978.

The city hosted the 23rd and 31st European Juggling Conventions (EJC) in 2000 and 2008.

In July the African Summer Festival is held in the city's Nordstadt. Markets. Drumming workshops, exhibitions, a varied children's programme and musical performances take place during the three days festival.[14]

In the past Karlsruhe has been the host of LinuxTag (the biggest Linux event in Europe) and until 2006 hosted the annual Linux Audio Conference.[15]

Visitors and locals watched the total solar eclipse at noon on August 11, 1999. The city was not only located within the eclipse path but was one of the few within Germany not plagued by bad weather.

Sport

Football (Soccer) Karlsruher SC (KSC), Bundesliga (second division)

Basketball BG Karlsruhe, Basketball-Pro-Liga A (second division)

Tennis TC Rueppurr (TCR), [Tennis-Bundesliga] (women's first division)

Baseball and Softball Karlsruhe Cougars, Regional League South-East (men's baseball), 1st Bundesliga South (women's softball I) and State League South (women's softball II)

American Football Badener Greifs, currently competing in the Regional League Central but formerly a member of the GFL's 1st Bundesliga, lost to the Berlin Adler in the 1987 German Bowl (see also: German Football League)

References

  1. ^ "Bevölkerung und Erwerbstätigkeit" (in German). Statistisches Landesamt Baden-Württemberg. 31 December 2008. http://www.statistik.baden-wuerttemberg.de/Veroeffentl/Statistische_Berichte/3126_08001.pdf.
  2. ^ V. C. Ihle, Karlsruhe und die USA (and the United States), p. 15.
  3. ^ "Thomas Jefferson to George Washington (April 10, 1791)". The Papers of George Washington: Presidential Series, 8. The Constitutional Sources Project. http://www.consource.org/index.asp?bid=582&fid=600&documentid=59106. Retrieved 2010-07-16.
  4. ^ Karlsruhe-Metric Voronoi Diagram
  5. ^ "Karlsruhe historic weather averages". Intellicast. http://www.intellicast.com/Local/History.aspx?location=GMXX0063. Retrieved 22 September 2009.
  6. ^ Majolika-Manufaktur
  7. ^ Chabad Karlsruhe
  8. ^ http://www.alemannia-judaica.de/images/Images%2021/ka%20syn.jpg
  9. ^ Karlsruhe condolence book
  10. ^ Karlsruhe City Archive, German language reference.
  11. ^ http://eit.europa.eu/home.html
  12. ^ http://eit.europa.eu/fileadmin/Content/Downloads/PDF/news_items/Summary_InnoEnergy.pdf
  13. ^ German language reference
  14. ^ [1]
  15. ^ [2]

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Karlsruhe
Urban and rural districts in the state of Baden-Württemberg in Germany
Urban districts Baden-Baden · Freiburg · Heidelberg · Heilbronn · Karlsruhe · Mannheim · Pforzheim · Stuttgart · Ulm
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Categories: Cities in Baden-Württemberg | 1715 establishments | Karlsruhe | Karlsruhe region | Populated places established in 1715 | Populated places on the Rhine | Planned cities

 

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