KARLSRUHE

Regierungsbezirk (administrative district), northwestern Baden-Wrttemberg Land (state), southwestern Germany. Karlsruhe is bordered by France and Rhineland-Palatinate Land to the west, the Lnder of Hesse and Bavaria to the north, and the Regierungsbezirke of Stuttgart and Tbingen to the east and Freiburg to the south. The district is coextensive with the northern portion of the larger historic region of Baden (q.v.). First created as a district of the new Land of Baden-Wrttemberg in 1952, Karlsruhe was known as Nordbaden until an administrative reform in 1973. The Regierungsbezirk takes its contemporary name from that of the second largest city and administrative seat of the district. The Rhine River forms Karlsruhe's western border with France and Rhineland-Palatinate. The river flows from south to north across the Upper Rhine Plain, a depression 20 to 25 miles (32 to 40 km) wide overlain in fertile alluvial and loess soils and favoured by a mild climate. The plain is both a rich agricultural region supporting vegetable and fruit crops, most notably asparagus, and a leading industrial area. In southern Karlsruhe the northern Black Forest rises in a steep scarp from the Upper Rhine Plain to more than 3,770 feet (1,150 m) in elevation. More than two-thirds of this highland's broad sandstone ridges are covered with dense fir forests. The scenic Black Forest Ridgeway begins in Baden-Baden, an international health resort in the western foothills, and tours the famous mineral and health resorts of the northern Black Forest, ending in Freudenstadt. The Kraich Region, a western lowland plain of the Gau plateaus, lies north of the Black Forest between the Rhine and Neckar rivers. This undulating plain is covered with very fertile loess-loam soils, and more than three-quarters of it is under cultivation, planted mainly in grains, sugar beets, and vegetables. North of the Kraich Region the Oden Forest uplands form a natural frontier with the Lnder of Hesse and Bavaria. Much of this area is overlain by thin soils of reddish brown sandstones that are unsuitable for farming and pasture but are well suited to support thick beech forests. The northern Upper Rhine Plain is the most populated region of the Regierungsbezirk. Mannheim, located at the confluence of the canalized Neckar River and the Rhine, is the district's largest city and one of Europe's largest inland ports. Mannheim's manufactures include electrical products, motor vehicles, machinery, and chemicals. Karlsruhe produces electrical equipment, steel products, and machinery and has large oil refineries linked to the Marseille-Ingolstadt pipeline. Germany's oldest university, Ruprecht Karl University (founded in 1386), is located in the popular tourist city of Heidelberg. Pforzheim, situated on the northern fringe of the Black Forest, is the centre of Germany's jewelry and watchmaking industries. The native population of the northern Black Forest are descendants of the Alemanni and speak the Low Alemannic dialect. The Franconians of northern Karlsruhe are descendants of the Franks and speak South Franconian. Protestants and Roman Catholics are about equally represented in the district. The rural settlement pattern of the Black Forest and Oden Forest uplands is one of dispersed farmsteads and small linear villages, while in the agricultural areas of the Kraich Region and the Upper Rhine Plain, irregular compact villages dominate. Area 2,671 square miles (6,919 square km). Pop. (1991 est.) 2,532,487. city, Baden-Wrttemberg Land (state), southwestern Germany, at the northern edge of the Black Forest, a few miles from the Rhine. Once the capital of the former Baden state, it is now the seat of justice of the federal republic. It originated in 1715 when Karl Wilhelm, Margrave of Baden-Durlach, built a castle near his hunting lodge, Karlsruhe (Karl's retreat). The castle tower became the focal point of a fan-shaped town layout. Frederick Weinbrenner gave it its essential character by erecting many buildings in Neoclassical style, including the town hall and the Evangelical and Catholic churches. The city sustained severe damage in World War II, but many noteworthy buildings have been restored. The Federal Constitutional Court meets in the city. Educational establishments include a college of music, an academy of fine arts, and the Fridericiana, a technical university, which was the first of its kind in Germany (founded 1825). Former teachers at the Fridericiana include Fritz Haber, the Nobel Prize-winner in chemistry, and Heinrich Hertz, noted for his study of electromagnetic waves. Places of interest include the many museums (such as the city's art museum), the Wildpark Stadium, the Schneck Sports School, the mint, and the Pyramid in the marketplace (the town symbol). Karlsruhe has an industrial harbour (established 1901). Its post-World War II economic rehabilitation was stimulated by the building of a nuclear reactor and research centre (1956) and pipelines to Marseille and Strasbourg, in France, and to Ingolstadt, on the Danube. Oil refineries were established nearby on the Rhine with special harbour facilities. In collaboration with the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom), the building of the Transuranium Elements Institute was begun in 1961. Electrical products, machinery and steel products, building equipment, bicycles and motorcycles, perfumes, pharmaceuticals, and jewelry are manufactured and exported. Pop. (1990 est.) 270,659.