Karlsruhe (population 285,812 in 2006) is a city in the south west of Germany, in the Bundesland Baden-Württemberg, located near the French-German border. The city’s altitude is between 100 m (on the western shore of the river Rhine) and 322 m (near to the TV Tower). Its geographical coordinates are 49°00′N, 8°24′E; the 49th parallel runs through the city center. Its course is marked by a stone and painted line in the Stadtgarten (city park).
Germany’s largest oil refinery is located in Karlsruhe, at the western edge of the city, directly on the river Rhine. 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. In mid-2007 it will be attached to the TGV network, reducing travel time to Paris to only three hours.
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. The founding of the city is closely linked to the construction of the palace. Karlsruhe became the capital of Baden-Durlach until 1771, thereafter the capital of Baden until 1945. Built in 1822, the “Ständehaus” was the first parliament building in a German State. In the aftermath of the democratic revolution, a republican government was elected here. 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 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. That is why Karlsruhe is one of only three large German cities we can still find building ensembles in Neoclassicism style. Much of the downtown area, including the Schloss, was reduced to rubble by Allied bombing during World War II but was quickly rebuilt after the war.
(Adapted from: Karlsruhe, Germany. From Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia.)
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