karlsruhe quick view.
I have lived in Karlsruhe over a year, but I have not really told y’all about my home in Germany. On a bike ride through the city yesterday at dusk, I actually had my SLR with me for once and decided to snap a few photos of the city to share with y’all.
Karlsruhe Quick Facts
- home to ~290,000 residents
- the center of science and technology studies in Germany – the first ever email was received here
- seat of the highest courts of justice in Germany
- nicknamed the Fächerstadt (“Fan City”) due to its unique layout with a center and streets fanning out in a circular manner. It is also said to have inspired the city layout for Washington D.C.
- regional foods to try: gebrantene Maultaschen, Pflammkuchen, Käsespätzle
- ZKM, the Zentrum für Kunst und Medientechnologie, houses the largest collection of ‘interactive media artworks’ in the world (source)
- a relative young city by German standards, founded in 1715
- the schloss (palace) was for Karl Wilhelm, Duke of Baden and thus marked the start of the city
- Karlsruhe translates to Karl’s Rest
- the pyramid in the city center is a tomb, housing the body of the city’s founder
The Fan City, you see?
Southeast view of the Karlsruhe Schloss
City – the numbers represent how many parking places are left in the garages. Pretty nifty.
Schloss Karlsruhe
Karlsruhe Schloss with Karl Friedrich von Baden Statue
Marktplatz
Staatliches Museum für Naturkunde with Christmas Market set up
Christmas Market set up with the mall, Ettlinger Tor, in the background
Südwest Stadt with ZKM in the distance
the lovely little street I call home
Hope you guys enjoyed your little trip to Karlsruhe! Come visit?
it’s been a while since i’ve been to Karlsruhe. i have a friend who used to go to uni there and i visited her back than.
Oh very nice! What’d you think?
I love this!! Great photos
it looks fabulously cold and snuggly and Christmasy there!
I wish I could describe it as ‘fabulously cold’ but it’s more like I just lost my gloves and don’t want to pay 40 Euro for another pair cold. Boo.
Apparantly that Glühweinpyramide is the largest in southern Germany.
We were at the Naturkundemuseum on Saturday and saw the Christmas market stuff all set up. Not long now til Glühwein time
No way! I would have never thought. In reality, they all look the same to me haha but I do love it!
I wouldn’t have known either if my boyfriend hadn’t read it somewhere recently!
Beautiful, simply beautiful!
Pleased to know you are living in such safe, accommodating, pleasant, comfortable & peaceful looking hamlet.
Love you, miss you, proud of, and for, you.
Daddio
Only you would use a word like ‘hamlet’, Dad
It´s a cool city! I did not know the fact about the first email. How cool!
I also heard the bike was ‘invented’ here. Or at least the first one was used here: “The first verifiable claim for a practically used bicycle belongs to German Baron Karl von Drais, a civil servant to the Grand Duke of Baden in Germany.” (source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_bicycle)
It’s so charming!
Thanks for the tour
It’s no Le Petit Village but it definitely has a little charm of it’s own
Uhh, I loved your tour around Karlsruhe! Did not know most of the facts about the place! It really looks lovely!
Love your blog! I’ll be back for more soon
Love,
Svenja
It’s definitely got a bit of nerdy charm going on – I sure enjoy it!
You know, I don’t think I’ve ever been to Karlsruhe! I guess that’s just ANOTHER reason to go back to Germany.
Karlsruhe would REALLY enjoy your presence.
this is amazing!!!!! i want to go!
Helene in Between
I’m always up for visitors!
Neat look at Karlsruhe. We are planning on coming up to see KA Christmas market in mid December. I’ve been a few times during the summer, but never in the winter. Looking forward to it. Wish it wasn’t quite so far away as the ZKM movie theater has a lot of neat stuff in English.
Yes and the Schauberg has even more, it’s a much smaller theater but has a special, dated feel. They began putting up all the little Christmas market huts today. It’s been very distracting watching from my window at work.
I haven’t been up to Karlsruhe yet but as my husband Andy mentioned above, we’re thinking of going up for the Christmas markets. Looks like a cool city!
I love Karlsruhe I lived there for 3 years before moving to Zurich area. It was really great time there and I like reading your blog to see how is life going on in Karlsruhe:) My fav cafe there was always Ivy Coffe bar http://www.ivy-cafebar.de/ I think you would like it too
Your new layout is fantastic!
How cool you lived here! What are you doing here? I will have to check out Ivy, I had never heard of it! We were sitting at Starbuck’s today talking about how we need to find a different coffee shop but we just love their free Wifi. Will definitely try and check it out this week! How do you like Zurich?
I was working there for 2 it companies. In my free time i loved to enjoy jazz concerts at http://www.jazzclub.de, have a picnic in Schlosspark
Karlsruhe is a german silicon valley 
I also loved to swim in Baggersee 
Zurich is glamorous and diffrent. I still need time to settle in here.
Oh how terribly I’ve been missing schlosspark weather lately!
Enjoy Christmas market! There is a medieval Christmas market in Durlach, which is a bit more cozy, you should also go there.
I hope you like living in Karlsruhe as an expat. It is my home city and I loved it.
I went to the one in Durlach last year and I’ll definitely be going back, such a fun atmosphere! We liked the mouse races
I have LOVED being in Karlsruhe as an expat. A lot of the people here laugh when I say that, but really the size, the location, the people, all have been perfect for me so far! I’m happy you ran across my blog
I’m so glad that you like Karlsruhe. It’s my hometown, and you kind of want people to love it just as much =) Good research, you are doing a great job representing it! By the way, Karlsruhe has the two highest courts in Germany (the Bundesgerichtshof which you have circled on the map, and the Bundesverfassungsgericht which is right next to the Schloss) – yeah, I have to brag
Totally agree about wanting people to love where you’re from – all my visitors have really enjoyed it so far and seem shocked that I don’t live in a village. So American to discount places just because you’ve never heard of them. I <3 KA!
I will visit it. I was in germany in 2010 with x girlfreind from poland. She used to hate germany …Your article is too good.. I will visit this soon. If you ever come to bombay give me call we w ill have beer together.
Karlsruhe looks awesome! ::adds it to the to-see list::