Durlach
Encyclopedia
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
city of Karlsruhe
Karlsruhe
The City of Karlsruhe is a city in the southwest of Germany, in the state of Baden-Württemberg, located near the French-German border.Karlsruhe was founded in 1715 as Karlsruhe Palace, when Germany was a series of principalities and city states...
with a population of roughly 30,000.
History
Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor
Frederick II , was one of the most powerful Holy Roman Emperors of the Middle Ages and head of the House of Hohenstaufen. His political and cultural ambitions, based in Sicily and stretching through Italy to Germany, and even to Jerusalem, were enormous...
on the margrave Hermann V of Zähringen as an allodial possession, but afterwards came into the hands of Rudolph of Habsburg.
It was chosen by the margrave
Margrave
A margrave or margravine was a medieval hereditary nobleman with military responsibilities in a border province of a kingdom. Border provinces usually had more exposure to military incursions from the outside, compared to interior provinces, and thus a margrave usually had larger and more active...
Charles II in 1565 as residence of the rulers of Baden-Durlach, and retained this distinction though it was almost totally destroyed by the French in 1689.
Margrave Charles III William decided that he needed more space which led to the foundation of Karlsruhe
Karlsruhe
The City of Karlsruhe is a city in the southwest of Germany, in the state of Baden-Württemberg, located near the French-German border.Karlsruhe was founded in 1715 as Karlsruhe Palace, when Germany was a series of principalities and city states...
, which in 1715 became the new capital until the state was merged into the grand-duchy of Baden.
In 1846 it was the seat of a congress of the Liberal party of the Baden parliament. In 1849 it was the scene of an encounter between the Prussians and the insurgents.
In 1938 Durlach was incorporated into Karlsruhe, which had grown bigger, with which it is connected by a canal and an avenue of poplars, on the left bank of the Pfinz, at the foot of the Turmberg
Turmberg
The Turmberg is a hill located in Durlach, a suburb of Karlsruhe in Germany. It is home to a castle ruin....
.
329 people were killed in Durlach during the Second World War.
Georg Friedrich von Reichenbach
Georg Friedrich von Reichenbach
Georg Friedrich von Reichenbach , German scientific instrument maker, was born at Durlach in Baden on August 24 1772.-Early life:...
and Ernst Ludwig Posselt (1763-1804, historian) were natives of the town.
Life and heritage
Karlsburg Castle
Karlsburg Castle in the Durlach district of Karlsruhe characterizes the history of the Baden since 1563. Only the of the historical building still stands....
in the centre, erected in 1565 and later used as barracks, now with some museums an ancient town hall, a church with an excellent organ, and in the market-place a statue of the margrave Charles II.
The Turmberg
Turmberg
The Turmberg is a hill located in Durlach, a suburb of Karlsruhe in Germany. It is home to a castle ruin....
('tower hill') is a vineyard-covered hill of the northern most part of the Black Forest
Black Forest
The Black Forest is a wooded mountain range in Baden-Württemberg, southwestern Germany. It is bordered by the Rhine valley to the west and south. The highest peak is the Feldberg with an elevation of 1,493 metres ....
. A castle ruin with watch-tower are located on top of the Turmberg. The watch-tower in particular offers fine views of Karlsruhe
Karlsruhe
The City of Karlsruhe is a city in the southwest of Germany, in the state of Baden-Württemberg, located near the French-German border.Karlsruhe was founded in 1715 as Karlsruhe Palace, when Germany was a series of principalities and city states...
towards the west and the Rhine River valley. On very clear days even farther west the Vosges
Vosges
Vosges is a French department, named after the local mountain range. It contains the hometown of Joan of Arc, Domrémy.-History:The Vosges department is one of the original 83 departments of France, created on February 9, 1790 during the French Revolution. It was made of territories that had been...
in France can be seen. The Rhine River is the border between Germany and Alsace
Alsace
Alsace is the fifth-smallest of the 27 regions of France in land area , and the smallest in metropolitan France. It is also the seventh-most densely populated region in France and third most densely populated region in metropolitan France, with ca. 220 inhabitants per km²...
area of France. The South and East offer nice views of the Black Forest, and since the Turmberg is the northern most tip of the Black Forest you have hills more than actual mountains. A staircase leads all the way up from the bottom of the hill to the top, however you can also ride up using the Turmbergbahn
Turmbergbahn
The Turmbergbahn is a funicular railway in Karlsruhe in Germany. From Karlsruhe's former center Durlach, the line climbs the Turmberg, which on a clear day provides a lookout point with views of the River Rhine valley, the Palatinate forest and the adjacent parts of Alsace.The line first opened in...
, a historic funicular railway
Funicular
A funicular, also known as an inclined plane or cliff railway, is a cable railway in which a cable attached to a pair of tram-like vehicles on rails moves them up and down a steep slope; the ascending and descending vehicles counterbalance each other.-Operation:The basic principle of funicular...
. In recent years the railway was changed from water gravity to electric.
Economy
Durlach hosted several factories, producing sewing-machines (PfaffPfaff
--------Pfaff is a manufacturer of sewing machines and is now owned by the VSM Group AB.- History :Pfaff was founded in Kaiserslautern Germany in 1862 by guitar player Matthew Pfaff . Pfaff's first machine was hand-made, and designed to sew leather in the manufacture of shoes.- External links :*...
), brushes, chemicals, tobacco, beer, vinegar, chicory
Chicory
Common chicory, Cichorium intybus, is a somewhat woody, perennial herbaceous plant usually with bright blue flowers, rarely white or pink. Various varieties are cultivated for salad leaves, chicons , or for roots , which are baked, ground, and used as a coffee substitute and additive. It is also...
and pipe organ
Pipe organ
The pipe organ is a musical instrument that produces sound by driving pressurized air through pipes selected via a keyboard. Because each organ pipe produces a single pitch, the pipes are provided in sets called ranks, each of which has a common timbre and volume throughout the keyboard compass...
s. Now most production has disappeared, except of a producer of homeopathy
Homeopathy
Homeopathy is a form of alternative medicine in which practitioners claim to treat patients using highly diluted preparations that are believed to cause healthy people to exhibit symptoms that are similar to those exhibited by the patient...
and dietary supplement
Dietary supplement
A dietary supplement, also known as food supplement or nutritional supplement, is a preparation intended to supplement the diet and provide nutrients, such as vitamins, minerals, fiber, fatty acids, or amino acids, that may be missing or may not be consumed in sufficient quantities in a person's diet...
s. IT companies have taken their place, the biggest Fiducia IT AG
Fiducia IT AG
The Fiducia IT AG is the largest IT services provider in the cooperative financial system in Germany. The core business of the Fiducia Group is the provision of IT services for credit unions and enterprises in the financial grouping as well as for private banks...
, which provides banking services for most German credit union
Credit union
A credit union is a cooperative financial institution that is owned and controlled by its members and operated for the purpose of promoting thrift, providing credit at competitive rates, and providing other financial services to its members...
s.
Sources
(incomplete)- Fecht, Geschichte der Stadt Durlach (Heidelberg, 1869).