Karlsruhe is the second-largest city of the German federal state of Baden-Württemberg with 300 000 inhabitants. The city lies on the right bank of the Rhine River near the French-German border.
From the residence of the Grand Dukes of Baden to the centre of the technology region - Karlsruhe has many faces and looks back on a very young city history encompassing more than 300 years. The quality of life in this city of over 300,000 inhabitants is high, and the region is booming. Karlsruhe is a city that can be referred to as a "knowledge factory with savoir vivre".
The city is the seat of the Federal Constitutional Court (ger. Bundesverfassungsgericht) as well as of the Federal Court of Justice (ger. Bundesgerichtshof) and the Public Prosecutor General of the Federal Court of Justice (ger. Generalbundesanwalt beim Bundesgerichtshof). Siemens opened one of its main branch offices in Karlsruhe being, at the same time, the largest private employer in the city. There are also unique places in Karlsruhe: the Centre of Culture and Media technology – a territory uniting art and technology, and the biggest exhibition complex of the region “Messe Karlsruhe” with the area of 52 000 square meters. Karlsruhe is famous in Europe as a leader in the sphere of scientific researches and technological development.
In 2019 the UNESCO announced that Karlsruhe will join its network of "Creative Cities" as "City of Media Arts".
Map of Karlsruhe
https://geoportal.karlsruhe.de/stadtplan/
History
According to legend, the name “Karlsruhe”, which means "Charles’ repose" or "Charles’ peace", was given to the new city by Margrave Charles III William of Baden-Durlach. In 1715 he fell asleep in the Hardtwald forest after a hunting trip and saw his own new city in a dream. That year the city of Karlsruhe was founded near the Hardtwald forest.
Architecture
The city was planned with the tower of the palace (Schloss) at the centre 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 German is the "fan city" (Fächerstadt). The architect Friedrich Weinbrenner designed many of the city's most important sights.
Main sights
Karlsruhe Palace
The Karlsruhe Palace (German: Karlsruher Schloss) was erected in 1715. The city has just since grown around it. It is now home to the main museum of the Badisches Landesmuseum Karlsruhe.
Palace garden
The city boasts more than 900 hectares of parks and countless green spaces. These include central treasures such as the historic palace gardens, the botanical garden with its impressive greenhouses and collection of exotic plants, the orangery and a winter garden, the large zoo. The Karlsruhe Palace Park (ger. Schlossgarten) is a landscape park situated north of the Karlsruhe Palace in the city centre. It represents an extension of the palace grounds to the north, serves as a local holiday spot and event venue.
Botanical garden
The Botanical garden Karlsruhe is a municipal botanical garden located near the Karlsruhe Palace. There are three plant houses: orchid, palm and cactus house, they are open daily for visitors, free of charged. The grounds contain several rare trees from the 19th century amid newer plantings.
The Pyramid
The Karlsruhe Pyramid, made of red sandstone, located in the centre of the market square of Karlsruhe (ger. Marktplatz), was erected in the years 1823–1825 over the vault of the city's founder, Margrave Charles III William (1679–1738). The pyramid is regarded as Karlsruhe's second emblem, the city's absolutist layout in the shape of a folding fan being the first.
Zoo
Karlsruhe Zoo is one of the oldest and biggest zoos in Europe. It has about 4.400 animals and 250 species. It occupies the territory of 22 hectares.
Art
Various museums and galleries in Karlsruhe provide an opportunity to see their impressive exhibitions in fields as diverse as fine art, natural history, social history and contemporary art. From ancient times to the present day, from the old masters to avant-garde painters and sculptors, art lovers will find high quality exhibitions with exciting information in the Staatliche Kunsthalle (State Art Gallery), the Badisches Landesmuseum (Baden State Museum) and the Städtische Galerie (City Gallery).
The theatre scene is vibrant and varied. With a program that covers musical theatre, ballet, drama and state youth productions, the Baden State Theatre Karlsruhe is one of Germany’s leading establishments. Open-air stages such as the Sandkorn Theatre and Kammer Theatre present a stimulating program, ranging from classics to popular plays and cabaret, and there are various amateur stages.
Karlsruhe is also home to the Majolika-Manufaktur, the only art-ceramics pottery studio in Germany. It is located in the Schlossgarten. A 'blue streak' (Blauer Strahl) consisting of 1,645 ceramic tiles, connects the studio with the Palace. It is the world's largest ceramic artwork.
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. The ZKM | The Centre for Art and Media is a unique institution where art and technology intersect, attracting audiences from across Germany and abroad. It is a museum, a convention centre, a production site and a research facility all in one. With acclaimed exhibitions, festivals, symposiums and congresses, the ZKM is heavily involved with new media and all its possibilities.
The successful coexistence of myriad cultures can be seen at the various celebrations and festivals in Karlsruhe. Das Fest is one of Germany’s biggest open-air festivals, attracting more than 200,000 visitors to the city every year with concerts by the most fashionable bands.
Education and science
With more than 40,000 students and a total of nine universities, Karlsruhe is an innovative location for higher education and scientific institutions. It is also the only city in Baden-Württemberg that offers every kind of university. The universities in Karlsruhe have been at the top of national league tables for years. The extensive range of educational opportunities in Karlsruhe is thus a major advantage of the location. Local and regional companies are well connected with universities and are able to find an almost unlimited supply of highly qualified recruits. At the same time, the talent of tomorrow stands to benefit from the best teaching staff, and foreign workers can enjoy an attractive range of training opportunities. Of course, there are also various international exchanges and university networking programs.
Universities of Karlsruhe:
- The Karlsruhe Institute of Technology
- The Karlsruhe University of Applied Sciences
- The Karlsruhe University of Education
- The Art Academy of Karlsruhe
- The Karlshochschule International University
- The State Academy of Fine Arts Karlsruhe
- The University of Music Karlsruhe
- The Karlsruhe University of Arts and Design
The Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) is the oldest technical university in Germany.
The sphere of education in Karlsruhe is closely connected with scientific researches and institutions.
Science and industry cooperate side by side. Intensive collaborations with research and development teams as well as the bright ideas of creative minds help young companies and international companies alike to come up with innovative products and new technologies in their own research centres. This is an important prerequisite for competitiveness on the international market and a strong argument in favour of the region for business leaders. Moreover, new companies can find a suitable space in Karlsruhe thanks to a number of centres for entrepreneurs, also known as ‘incubators’. These are located in Technologiefabrik, one of the two city-centre start-up centres, Handwerkerhof, Perfekt Futur and CyberLab.
Economic potential and technology
As an integral part of Karlsruhe Technology Region, Karlsruhe is at the centre of one of Europe’s most successful areas for business, science and research. The particular strengths of this city include a well-developed SME sector and a large number of skilled service providers and suppliers in the immediate vicinity. The various small and medium enterprises in the industry, services, trade and craft sectors also generate the largest proportion of revenue and employment in Karlsruhe. These include global high-tech companies, especially in the fields of information technology and production engineering.
Many large companies and strong brands have also settled in the area. They benefit from the excellent structure of SME businesses and the local boom in future industries. Karlsruhe is one of the most important locations for IT in Germany, while the city’s centre for e-mobility (Mobilitätszentrum Karlsruhe) has established a focus on the automotive, energy and mobility sectors, representing an important attraction for the cultural and creative industries.
IT sector
The first email sent from the US was received at Karlsruhe University. This development set the stage for the Internet.
At the beginning of the digital revolution, Karlsruhe received the European Award of Excellence for Innovative Regions in recognition of its status as the Internet capital of Germany. Since then, the success of the IT region has continued steadily. With over 36,000 workers in the IT sector and more than 3,600 companies, Karlsruhe Technology-Region is one of Europe’s leading locations for information technology, and it forms an integral part of the national cluster of excellence in IT.
An energy sector with a bright future
The considerable strength of Karlsruhe in the energy and environmental sector is due to approximately 24,800 workers who pay social insurance, 745 companies and 43 scientific institutions. Science and industry work together to create an energy supply for the future. Both the research community and local businesses are characterized by a high level of expertise in energy. Key players in this sense are the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), which includes the KIT Energy Centre, and the European Institute for Energy Research, one of the largest energy research centres on the continent.
Innovations for the automotive and e-mobility sectors
Karlsruhe is an important centre for mobility with more than 33,800 workers who pay social insurance, 741 companies and 28 academic institutions in the sector. Innovative automotive technology and e-mobility go hand in hand. Research and industry work together to develop new drive concepts and technological solutions as well as fuel-efficient engines and vehicles that can meet the requirements of future mobility.
Transport
Karlsruhe has one of the best local transport and communications networks in Europe.
Karlsruhe is on track for a strong future with the construction of a light railway tunnel and modern underground stations in the city centre. Once the ‘Kombilösung’ (‘combined solution’) project has been completed, the city and tram network will be even faster, more efficient and more comfortable. The pedestrian area on Kaiserstrasse is being transformed into a modern promenade, while a new tram section along Kriegsstrasse will enhance connections in the city centre.
The tram system has become known as the ‘Karls-ruhe model’; its most distinguishing fea-ture is that is also uses sections of track operated by the national railway. Fast and frequent city trains connect the town centre to the wider regions.
Karlsruhe is well-connected via road and rail, with Autobahn and Intercity Express connections going to Frankfurt, Stuttgart/Munich and Freiburg/Basel from Karlsruhe Hauptbahnhof. Since June 2007 it has been connected to the TGV network, reducing travel time to Paris to only three hours (previously it had taken five hours).
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 mi) 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 Intercity Express); Stuttgart Airport can be reached in about one hour (about an hour and a half by train and S‑Bahn).
Infrastructure for e-mobility
With an innovative infrastructure for two- and four-wheeled electric vehicles across the entire city, Karlsruhe has the necessary framework in place for the climate-friendly mobility of the future.
The Verkehrsbetriebe Karlsruhe (VBK) operates the city's urban public transport network, comprising seven tram routes and a network of bus routes. This network is well developed and all city areas can be reached round the clock by tram and a night bus system. The Turmbergbahn funicular railway, to the east of the city centre, is also operated by the VBK.
Medicine
City hospital Karlsruhe (germ. Städtisches Klinikum Karlsruhe) founded in 1907 is the biggest medical institution of the region. The hospital consists of 22 departments and has the capacity of more than 1500 beds. It also includes blood transfusion bank, emergency room, and pediatric emergency room. Moreover, City hospital Karlsruhe is an academic hospital of Freiburg University. To date additional three corps of the hospital are being built which will correspond to the highest modern standards. Among other medical institutions in the city there are also such specialized hospitals as cardiac surgery clinic, rehabilitation clinic Langensteinbach and clinic of St.Vincent.
Sport
Stadium Wildpark with the capacity of 33 000 seats is one of the most famous sport facilities of Karlsruhe. It is located northeast of the Karlsruhe Palace (Schloss) and is part of the former deer park (Wildpark) of the Grand Dukes of Baden in the Hardtwald, hence the name. There have been football pitches at the location since 1922, and the stadium was built in 1955, with several major renovations since. It is the home of the football club Karlsruher SC.
Karlsruher SC is a German association football club, based in Karlsruhe. KSC rose out of the consolidation of a number of predecessor clubs. They have played in the Bundesliga, but then were relegated to the 2. Bundesliga. The stadium is being currently reconstructed. The decision to rebuild the stadium was taken in 2006. The City of Karlsruhe and Karlsruher SC became engulfed in disputes about finances and finally abandoned the project in 2014. Two years later, the city again decided to renew the stadium, using the existing site and financed mostly by the city. In November 2018, demolition of parts of the old stadium and the concurrent construction of a new 34000 seat arena began. Works are being carried out in stages so that matches can be played on the existing pitch in front of at least 15000 spectators. The new Wildparkstadium is expected to be completed in the first half of 2022 at a projected cost of € 123 Million.