KARLSRUHE
Country: Germany
Coordinates: 49° 00' 49'' N
8° 24' 15'' E
Altitude: 115 m n. m.
Area: 173,46 km2
Population: 286 327
Density of Population: 1 651/km2
Website: www.karlsruhe.de
Mayor: Heinz Fenrich
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 palace (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 German 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 palace in the quadrant defined by nine of the streets. The central part of the palace runs east-west, and there are two wings of the palace, each at a 45° angle to the center, so that they are pointing southeast and southwest (i.e. parallel with streets at the ends of the quadrant defining the city center).
The market place is on the street running south from the palace 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.
The area north of the palace was and still is a park and forest. East of the palace there originally were gardens and more forest, some of which remain, but the University, Wildparkstadion, and residential areas have since been built there. West of the palace is now mostly residential.
