Karlsruhe turns 300 this year!
In 1715 Margrave Charles William didn't just a have a palace built, but an entire city, where the streets radiate out like the ribs of a folding fan. Join us on a tour of this Baroque masterpiece of urban planning.
Karlsruhe Palace - the new city's first building
Margrave Charles William lived in Durlach, but his palace there was damaged by fire. Though he had parts of it reconstructed he still found it restricting. So he had a new Baroque palace built some 6 kilometers away in a forest the middle of nowhere. He called it "Carols Ruh" or "Charles' repose." In 1718 he moved into the palace along with his mistresses - while his wife remained in Durlach.
The market place - heart of the city without a heart
The market place in the center of the town is home to three sights: the town hall, the Karlsruhe Protestant Church, designed to look like a Greek temple and a stone pyramid marking the grave of the city's founder. This landmark of Karlsruhe was erected above Charles William's vault, where mysteriously his body was laid to rest without his heart. To this day, nobody knows why.
Kaiserstrasse – the road to see and be seen
The Kaiserstrasse is the main road in Karlsruhe and also the shopping hub. Here shops, cafés and restaurants are door to door. Karlsruhe is the second most populous city in Baden-Württemberg, home to over 300,000 people. Young people shape the city in this part of town because the technical university, known as KIT, is not far from here.
Inbox (1) - You have mail!
In 1984 the Karlsruhe Institute for Technology hit the headlines by being the first place in Germany to receive an email! But that isn't the university's only claim to fame: nearly 100 years prior German physicist Heinrich Hertz, then a professor at KIT, conclusively proved the existence of electromagnetic waves. Today the KIT Institute counts over 40,000 students from around the world.
ZKM – three letters that point to the future
The ZKM Center for Art and Media in Karlsruhe focuses completely on new media as well as cross-border experiments between fine arts and performing arts. It is a museum, an experimental space and a think tank all in one. Since 1997 it has been located in a historical building that used to house a munitions factory, which provides huge space in its halls for spectacular large-scale installations.
The city is the star
On its 300th birthday Karlsruhe is yet again a bit of a building site, as tramlines are relocated underground. The ZKM has used this opportunity to turn the building site on the market place into an art installation: an up-rooted house is suspended by a crane. This is part of the 300-day ZKM special exhibit the "Globale" - focused on making the city the star of the show.
From the middle ages to modern art
The state art museum Kunsthalle is one of the oldest in Germany. It was built in 1836 in order to house the Margraves of Baden's art collection. To mark the city's 300th anniversary there will be a special exhibition on Landgravine Caroline Louise, a consort of Baden. Her art collection of over 200 paintings, including a self portrait by Rembrandt, were the foundation for the Kunsthalle museum.
Turmberg hill offers views beyond Germany
The Turmberg is a hill in a suburb of Karlsruhe. It marks the foothills of the Black Forest. It can be reached with the Turmbergbahn funicular railway. But once on the hill, visitors have to climb the steps to reach the viewing platform on the tower. The effort is worth it: from here you have a fantastic view of Karlsruhe and can even look beyond across the border into France.
The palace gardens – a place for repose
With some 15 parks and gardens Karlsruhe is a green city. The oldest and most attractive are the Palace Gardens which include the botanical gardens. City founder Charles William also had the gardens created. He really wasn't one for half-measures: his palace, his palace gardens, his city! Well then, all the best on your 300th birthday, Karlsruhe.