What to See in Karlsruhe - Top Sights and Attractions

Botanical garden in Karlsruhe, Germany. The Botanischer Garten Karlsruhe is a municipal botanical garden located in Karlsruhe, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. This garden should not be confused with the nearby Botanischer Garten der Universität Karlsruhe operated by the University of Karlsruhe.

The garden was established by Charles III William, Margrave of Baden-Durlach and designed by Karl Christian Gmelin. Between 1853 and 1857, three plant houses were created by architect Heinrich Hübsch. The buildings were severely damaged or destroyed in World War II, but reconstructed as follows: camellia and flower house, rebuilt 1952 for cactus and succulent exhibition; palm house, rebuilt 1955 to 1956; tropical house, restored in the 1950s. The plant houses are open daily except Monday; an admission fee is charged. The grounds contain several rare trees from the 19th century amid newer plantings.^[4]

19th-century museum of European art. The Staatliche Kunsthalle is an art museum in Karlsruhe, Germany.

The museum, created by architect Heinrich Hübsch, opened in 1846 after nine years of work in a neoclassical building next to the Karlsruhe Castle and the Karlsruhe Botanical Garden. This historical building with its subsequent extensions now houses the part of the collection covering the 14th to the 19th century while the 20th century is displayed in the nearby building of the Botanical Gardens's former orangery.

The museum notably displays paintings by the Master of the Karlsruhe Passion, Matthias Grünewald (most notably the Tauberbischofsheim Altarpiece), Albrecht Dürer, Hans Baldung, Lucas Cranach the Elder, Hans Burgkmair, Rembrandt, Pieter de Hooch, Peter Paul Rubens, David Teniers the Younger, Hyacinthe Rigaud, Claude Lorrain, Nicolas Poussin, Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin, Eugène Delacroix, Gustave Courbet, Édouard Manet, Camille Pissarro, Claude Monet, Edgar Degas, Auguste Renoir, Paul Cézanne, Paul Gauguin, Caspar David Friedrich, Hans Thoma, Lovis Corinth, August Macke, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Erich Heckel, Franz Marc, Jean-Marc Nattier, Max Pechstein, Max Ernst, Kurt Schwitters, Juan Gris, Yves Tanguy, Robert Delaunay, Otto Dix and Fritz von Uhde.^[6]

Art institute in Karlsruhe, Germany. The ZKM | Center for Art and Media Karlsruhe, a cultural institution, was founded in 1989. and since 1997 is located in a listed industrial building in Karlsruhe, Germany, a former munitions factory. The ZKM organizes special exhibitions and thematic events, conducts research and produces works on the effects of media, digitization, and globalization, and offers public as well as individualized communications and educational programs.

The ZKM houses under one roof exhibition spaces, the research platform Hertz Lab, a library and a media library, thus combining research and production, exhibitions and events, archive and collection. The ZKM operates at the interface of art and science, and addresses new knowledge in the area of new technologies to develop it further. Since the death of founding director Heinrich Klotz (1935–1999), the ZKM has been directed by Peter Weibel, later together with Christiane Riedel. Besides the ZKM, the former munitions factory also houses the associated Karlsruhe University of Arts and Design, and the Städtische Galerie Karlsruhe.^[9]

Historical landmark in Karlsruhe, Germany. The Karlsruhe Pyramid is a pyramid made of red sandstone, located in the centre of the market square of Karlsruhe, Germany. It was erected in the years 1823–1825 over the vault of the city's founder, Margrave Charles III William. The pyramid is regarded as Karlsruhe's second emblem, the city's absolutist layout in the shape of a folding fan being the first.

The pyramid's central location was originally occupied by the Lutheran Concord Church, a Baroque timber-framed building. When Karlsruhe grew at the beginning of the 19th century, the church became too small and obstructed the southward expansion of the city and its market square. It was demolished in 1807, and initially a wooden pyramid was erected over the city founder's vault as a temporary measure before moving it into the new main church.

Due to lack of resources this plan could not be realised, and 16 years later architect Friedrich Weinbrenner designed the neoclassical stone monument as a permanent replacement for the old church. It has a square footprint and an exterior height of 6.5 metres (21 ft). The interior can be entered through a small square opening, but is only accessible with consent of its former owners (until 1940), the House of Baden. It consists of a vertical sequence of three chambers, the lowest of which is the original burial vault. The city's foundation stone is also located inside the pyramid. The monument is an example of Egyptian Revival architecture, inspired by the burial function of Egyptian pyramids and by similar buildings of the Napoleonic era. The pyramid was not affected by the extensive bombings in the Second World War.^[12]

Museum in Karlsruhe, Germany. The State Museum of Natural History Karlsruhe, abbreviated SMNK, is one of the two state of Baden-Württemberg's natural history museums. Together with the State Museum of Natural History Stuttgart it is one of the most important repositories for state-owned natural history collections.

It is well known for its exhibitions on all aspects of natural history in the city of Karlsruhe and beyond. Every year, the SMNK is visited by about 150,000 people.

Research at the museum mainly deals with various fields of natural history i.e. geology, paleontology, taxonomy, biogeography, and ecology. The SMNK is part of the national networks German Natural History Research Collections (DNFS), the Humboldt-Ring (Association of Research Museums) and of the International Council of Museums (ICOM).

The SMNK looks back at a long history as it emerged from the cabinet of natural history of Landgravine Caroline Louise of Hesse-Darmstadt during the mid 18th century.^[14]

The Botanischer Garten der Universität Karlsruhe is a botanical garden maintained by the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology directorate of Peter Nick. It is located at Am Fasanengarten 2, Karlsruhe, Baden-Württemberg, Germany, and is open weekdays and Sundays; admission is free.

The garden contains a total of 5,700 plant species, including 1,930 endangered species per the IUCN Red List or CITES conventions. It has three major missions:

• Research, particularly in understanding the molecular basis of development, growth, and metabolism, with specific projects in Arabidopsis thaliana, Gnetum gnemon, Nicotiana tabacum, Oryza sativa, and Vitis vinifera. The garden currently cultivates over 50 species of wild grape vines for use in research against downy mildew, as well as a collection of wild rice species from all over the world.
• Teaching, for which the garden provides plant material for the courses and is used for field trips and the comparison of plant types.
• Conservation of rare species and varieties of plants, including Althaea hirsuta, Androsace septentivionalis, Apium graveolens, Campanula cervicaria, Cnidium dubium, Equisetum × trachyodon, Gentiana cruziata, Leonurus cardica, Ludwigia palustris, Marsilea quadrifolia, Polystichum braunii, Populus nigra, Salix repens, Scirpus carinatus, Scirpus triqueter, Stipa ioannis, Taraxacum acoriferum, Taraxacum balticiforme, Taraxacum germanicum, Taraxacum pollichii, Trapa natans, Vaccinium x intermedia, Viola uliginosa, and Vitis vinifera L. ssp. sylvestris. It also maintains good collections of succulents and orchids.

Historical landmark in Karlsruhe, Germany. Karlsburg Castle in the Durlach district of Karlsruhe characterizes the history of the Baden since 1563. Only the Prinzessinnenbau of the historical building still stands.

Pforzheim was the residence of Margrave Charles II, until he decided in 1563 to move to Durlach. What, if anything, the citizens of Durlach offered him during the negotiations is unknown. Charles decided to extende the medieval Karlsburg Castle into a palace and make it his residence. His successors further extended the castle, until the city was occupied by French troops in 1689. The French burned down the city and the castle. In 1698, Margrave Frederick Magnus returned from exile in Basel and started rebuilding the castle. Frederick had grandiose plans, but no money and the margraviate had been devastated by the war. A dispute erupted with the citizens of Durlach, who refused to support the rebuilding effort. By 1703 two wings had been completed and the margrave had moved in, when the project was suspended indefinitely.

Frederick's son and successor, Margrave Charles III William, decided in 1715 to end the discussion and relocate his residence to a new palace outside Durlach. He founded the city of Karlsruhe, centered on his new palace. Charles and his court moved into the new palace in 1718. His wife, however, chose to remain in Durlach until her death in 1743.

The Karlsburg was later used as an administrative office and even as a barracks. The Pfinzgau Museum has been housed in the castle since 1924. In 1964, a wing was demolished to make room for the Castle School at Durlach. The castle was extensively renovated from 1973 to 1988. Today, it houses the registry office, the Pfinzgau Museum, the Carpathian-German Museum, classrooms for adult education and the Margrave School, the historic banquet hall and the Durlach city library.^[17]