Architecture

Karlsruhe is one of the most important neoclassical city extensions in Germany. After the Peace of Lunéville and the reorganization of Europe from 1801, Friedrich Weinbrenner designed a city expansion plan for the residence of the Grand Dukes of Baden, which more than doubled the city area.

His redesign can still be seen today, particularly on Karlsruhe's market square. Weinbrenner had studied ancient buildings on his trips to Italy and incorporated these impressions into the design of the public buildings on the square. His design culminates in the "Via Triumphalis" as the southern connecting axis from the palace to the Ettlinger Tor.

The enactment of the most liberal constitution of the time (1818) and thus the basis for the city's economic upswing also manifested itself architecturally in the Baden Ständehaus, built by Friedrich Johann Arnold, a student of Weinbrenner.

As an important industrial city in the southwest, there was also a lot of building activity in Karlsruhe at the turn of the century. With architects such as Hermann Billing and Curjel & Moser, Karlsruhe was a noted center of Art Nouveau during this period.

Karlsruhe architects often use locally available materials such as sandstone - the Hofapotheke is a particular example of this. There are also residential buildings in Karlsruhe with a colorful mix of styles between Art Nouveau, neo-Gothic and neo-Baroque elements, which characterize Sophienstraße in particular.

Due to the destruction of the Second World War and reconstruction with often simpler means, only parts of Art Nouveau ensembles such as Baischstrasse have been preserved today.

Karlsruhe Art Nouveau is characterized by its reduced formal language and thus clearly differs from well-known Art Nouveau decorations from Vienna, Brussels or Nancy.

Traces of the avant-garde in Karlsruhe

To mark the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Bauhaus in Weimar, the concept and work of the artistic and craft avant-garde also came into focus in the cultural metropolis of Baden in 2019. The showpiece of the city of Karlsruhe is undoubtedly the Dammerstock estate built in the 1920s, which was realized by Bauhaus founder Walter Gropius as the leading architect. 

But even outside the Dammerstock estate, Karlsruhe is home to diverse and remarkable examples of modernist architecture. These buildings are dedicated to modern design and high functionality. The built avant-garde can be found here in residential projects, such as the so-called Alker-Block, in public buildings - such as the Federal Constitutional Court, the Schwarzwaldhalle and the district administration office - but also in university/school buildings, churches and private houses.

"After the almost forty percent destruction of the war, it was necessary to find a synthesis between the traditional (partially destroyed) and the modern. I believe [...] we have succeeded." Günther Klotz (1968)

Karlsruhe became the "City of Law" for the young Federal Republic of Germany: in 1950, Karlsruhe became the seat of the Federal Court of Justice and in 1951, the federal judges of the Federal Constitutional Court took up their work in the PrinzMaxPalais. In 1969, the Federal Constitutional Court was able to move into the new building erected by Berlin architect Paul Baumgarten on the western Schlossplatz. Baumgarten created a building whose transparency symbolizes the values of democracy.

Also outstanding for the post-war period in Germany is the architecture of the Schwarzwaldhalle, built in 1952 as the first hall building with a self-supporting saddle-shaped prestressed concrete suspended roof in Europe.

Reconstruction in Karlsruhe was largely completed by the time of the city's 250th birthday in 1965. The Federal Garden Show with the newly designed city garden in 1967 provided further impetus. In the 1980s, criticism of the overemphasis on a purely functional and rational design emerged. Postmodern architecture was intended to make living close to the city more attractive again. In Karlsruhe, the architect Heinz Mohl is particularly worthy of mention here. Mohl designed the Heinrich Hübsch School on Mendelsohnplatz and was significantly involved in the urban development concept of the Deutscher Werkbund as part of the redevelopment of the 'Dörfle'.

"Despite all the prophecies of doom, architecture has experienced an enormous upswing in the last ten to twenty years. It can be diverse and creative, inspiring and full of ideas, fresh and experimental."
Kaltenbrunner, Jakubowski: The city of the future.

Since the 1980s, Karlsruhe has transformed itself from a production location to a research and innovation location. In addition to its important function as the "residence of law", Karlsruhe, together with the surrounding municipalities, has become the center of the "Karlsruhe TechnologyRegion", in which technological developments are not only bundled, but also linked with the research institutions located there.

In addition to private research institutions as well as universities and colleges, Karlsruhe founded the Center for Art and Media Technology (ZKM) and the University of Arts and Design (HfG), which are unique research and exhibition institutions for new media arts and design in Germany. With the move into Hall A on the former IWKA site, the first new city district began to develop on the other side of Brauerstrasse in 1990 with the Federal Prosecutor's Office, the Filmpalast, the Employment Office and the State Central Bank.

Major projects such as the "Neue Messe Karlsruhe" followed. The construction of the Friedrich List School in Kriegsstraße and the PSD Bank on Mendelssohnplatz was followed by the development of the "Karlsruhe City Park" on the site of the former railroad repair works, creating another new district in the south-east of the city. The "Alter Schlachthof" (old abattoir) was converted into a creative park by adding new buildings to the historic ones. In the recent past, other major individual projects, such as the new dm headquarters and the IKEA store currently being completed, have continued to develop the city in the east.