Karlsruhe, once the capital of Baden, lies on the northern border of the Federal State of Baden-Wurttemberg in south-western Germany. Literally at the heart of Europe, France lies just over the River Rhine, Switzerland can be reached in a couple of hours, the Black Forest stands just a few kilometres to the south and the river offers fantastic communications and transport links!! With its lavish palace, a historic and lively Marktplatz with its town hall and small stone pyramid, which is the city’s landmark, Karlsruhe offers a unique atmosphere and a diverse mixture of culture.
The city is located just to the east of the mighty River Rhine and was founded in 1715 as a planned city around the Karlsruhe Palace. It is from the tower of the Palace that the city streets radiate as the spokes of a wheel, with almost all of them still surviving today. It is from this layout that the city is nicknamed the ‘fan city’. Home to approximately 290,000 residents, Karlsruhe is considered to be the home of justice in Germany as it is the seat of two of the highest courts in the country, the Federal Constitutional Court and the Federal Court of Justice. It is also considered the ‘gateway’ to the Black Forest which lies approximately 6 kilometres to the south of the city. Durlach is the oldest, and one of the more attractive parts of Karlsruhe and can be found at the bottom of Turmberg Hill. It is home to a charming old quarter with many narrow lanes, the Renaissance-style Gottesaue Palace and Schloss Karlsburg. From the summit of Turmberg Hill, which can be reached via Germany’s oldest cable-train, it is possible to enjoy panoramic views of the city and the Rhineland Plains.
Karlsruhe is also a Green City having more than 800 hectares of public parks and green spaces which provide a wide range of gardens including the palace gardens, botanical gardens, and the city park and zoo. The city is a major cultural centre and has several places worth visiting with none as important, or as grand, as the Baroque Karlsruhe Palace which today is home to the Baden State Museum. Within the city there are a number of excellant museums worth a visit including the Museum of Natural History, Transport Museum, History of Law Museum, the Michelin Museum and the ZKM Media Museum which is Karlsruhe’s unique centre of interactive art and media technology!! If you are looking for historic buildings, pay a visit to the Kleine Kirche (Little Church) which is the oldest in Karlsruhe having been built in 1776, not long after the palace!! For shoppers, a must is a stroll down the Kaiserstrasse, Baden’s longest shopping street and home to a wide selection of shops from department stores to classy boutiques and trendy, innovative specialist outlets. Fortunately for some, the shops are interspersed with outdoor cafes offering a little light relief from those therauputic days of shopping!!
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