Pforzheim: Germany

Pforzheim: Germany
Pforzheim is a town of 115,000 inhabitants in the state of Baden-Württemberg, south-west Germany at the gate to the Black Forest. It has an area of 98 km2; and lies between the cities of Stuttgart and Karlsruhe at the confluence of three rivers (Enz, Nagold and Würm) and marks the frontier between Baden and Schwaben.
Pforzheim is the district (Kreis) capital of Enzkreis, despite being of no district itself, and is known for its jewelery and watchmaking industry.
During World War II, ten days after the Bombing of Dresden in World War II, Pforzheim was bombed by the RAF at 7.30 pm local time. After the air raid, 83% of the town’s buildings had been destroyed. Within 20 minutes of the start of the raid, a quarter of the town’s population, 17,000 people, had been killed. The Allies’ reasoning for the raid was the suspicion that the town contained armament factories.
After the war, the rubble from the destruction was heaped into a large pile on the outskirts of the town, as was done by other cities such as Stuttgart and Munich. A building called the “Wallberg� was erected as a concrete “cap� on the mountain of rubble, long since covered with earth and vegetation.
Culture and places of interest
Theater
Municipal Theater of Pforzheim (opera, operetta, musical, drama)
Orchestras
Southwest German Chamber Orchestra – This orchestra was founded by Friedrich Tilegant in 1950. It participated in the world premiere of a work of Boris Blacher and has a good reputation beyond the region.
Sinfonic Orchestra of the City of Pforzheim
Museums
Archeological Site Kappelhof – Roman and medieval excavation objects
Civic Museum Eutingen
Museum on the German Democratic Republic (former east Germany)
The Center of Fellow-Countrymen Associations (Landsmannschaften; especially those from eastern Europe)
The Pforzheim Minerals Museum
The Pforzheim Gallery (paintings)
Reuchlinhaus
The Pforzheim Jewellery Museum in the Reuchlinhaus
The Pforzheim City Museum Pforzheim (on city history)
The Technical Museum of the Jewellery and Watchmaking Industry of Pforzheim
Weissenstein Station – On Railway History in the area of Pforzheim
Roman Estate in the Kanzlerwald (the excavated remains of an estate built by Roman settlers)
The Product Exhibition of Pforzheim (jewellery) Companies (Industriehaus)
The Exhibition of Precious Stones by Widow Mrs. Schuett
Cultural institutions
The House of Culture Osterfeld (a sociocultural center: theater, music, dance, cabaret, musical, arts, exhibitions etc.)
Kupferdaechle (The Copper Roof Teenage Culture Center)
The Puppet Theater of Raphael Muerle / The Marionette Stage Mottenkaefig
The Communal Cinema of Pforzheim
CongressCenter Pforzheim (CCP)
City Library
Notable examples of architecture
The Old and New City Hall
The Archive Building (Archivbau)
The House of Industry (Industriehaus)
Reuchlinhaus
The look-out tower on Buechenbronn Hill
The Arch Bridge at Dillweissenstein
The ruins of Liebeneck Castle
Churches:
o The Palais and Monastery Church St. Michael (Schloss- und
Stiftskirche); it is the city’s landmark.
o The Old Town Church St. Martin (Altstadtkirche; protestant)
o Resurrection Church (Auferstehungskirche; protestant)
o The Bare Feet Church (Barfuesserkirche; catholic)
o Christ Church of Broetzingen (protestant)
o The Protestant City Church (Stadtkirche)
o Heart of Christ Church (Herz-Jesu-Kirche; catholic)
o Matthew Church (Matthaeuskirche; protestant).
This church was designed by architect Eiermann
and is a precursory structure of the famous New
Berlin Memorial Church (Gedaechtniskirche)
o St. Franziskus Church (catholic)
o The Islamic Mosque
Leitgastturm
Seehaus (formerly a hunting villa of the Margrave; now a popular destination for Sunday afternoon walks away from the city)
The Old Grapes Press of Broetzingen
Hachel Tower
The Copper Hammer (Kupferhammer; a traditional water-powered sledge hammer which was used for metal forming)
The Enz Flood-Plains Park (Enzauenpark)
Other sites of interest
The Pforzheim Alpine Garden (Alpengarten)
The Main Cemetery (Hauptfriedhof)
Wallberg. The debris from the destroyed town (February 23, 1945) was dumped onto this hill. The Wallberg-Monument on the top is meant to remind people of the city’s history; it was erected in 2005 on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the bombing raid.
The Game Animals Zoo (Wildpark Pforzheim)
Broetzingen Valley Stadium. This is the classical soccer stadium of the 1st FC Pforzheim soccer club of 1896, which was inaugurated in 1913. It accommodated a record number of “15.000 to 20.000� spectators on the occasion of the match between South Germany against Central Hungary in 1920. In the post-2nd-world-war era it accommodated 12.000 spectators at the cup matches 1st FC Pforzheim – 1st FC Nuremberg (score 2:1 after extension; 1961) and 1st FCP - Werder Bremen (score 1:1 after extension; 1988). The soccer club (simply called the “club�), which during its history supplied the first national team captain and a total of eleven first league players, had to file for bankruptcy in February 2004 and for the first time in history is playing in the 5th league, i.e. the Soccer Association’s Northern Baden League, during the 2004-05 season. In 1906, the club lost the final of the German Soccer Championship against VfB Leibzig 1:2 in Nuremberg.
Regularly scheduled events
February: Carnival Procession (Faschingsumzug) in Dillweissenstein
May: International Pentecost Tornament of the VfR Pforzheim
June: “Pforzemer Mess� (a fun fair)
July: Pforzheim Goldsmith’s Market (Goldschmiedemarkt)
July: “Gruschtelmarkt� (a flea market)
July: International Pforzheim Music & Theater Festival
July: “Marktplatzfest� (market place festival, every 2 years; this is one of the largest free-of-charge openair festivals in Soutwestern Germany)
August: “Oechsle-Fest� (a festival celebrating local wines)
September: “Broetzingen Saturday�
November: Pre-Christmas Handicraft Market (Weihnachtsbastelmarkt)
November/December: Christmas Market (Weihnachtsmarkt) in the inner city area