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57-409: Pforzheim ( German pronunciation: [ˈpfɔʁtshaɪm] ) is a city of over 125,000 inhabitants in the federal state of Baden-Württemberg , in the southwest of Germany . It is known for its jewelry and watch-making industry, and as such has gained the nickname "Goldstadt" ("Golden City"). With an area of 97.8 square kilometres (37.8 sq mi), it is situated about halfway between

114-417: A Stadt is an independent municipality (see Municipalities of Germany ) that has been given the right to use that title. In contrast, the generally smaller German municipalities that do not use this title, and are thus not included here, are usually just called Gemeinden . Historically, the title Stadt was associated with town privileges , but today it is a mere honorific title. The title can be bestowed to

171-540: A document by Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor . Visits to Pforzheim by Heinrich IV in 1067 and 1074 are documented. Before 1080: The "old town" of Pforzheim was awarded market rights ( Marktrecht ). At that time Pforzheim belonged to the estate of Hirsau Monastery , according to monastery documents. From 1150: Establishment of the "new town" west of the "old town" at the foot of the Schlossberg (palais hill) under Margrave Hermann V . 1200: The town charter of

228-599: A kind of monastery (Kollegialstift) at the site of Schlosskirche St. Michael, turning the church into a collegiate church . There were also plans to establish a university in Pforzheim, but this plan had to be abandoned because Margrave Charles I lost the Battle of Seckenheim . 1463: Margrave Charles I was forced to transfer the palace and the town of Pforzheim as a fiefdom to the Elector Palatine after losing

285-597: A large number of soldiers and had to pay a large amount of "contributions" to the French. When the army unit was about to depart early in the morning of 21 January 1689 (obviously because an army of the Holy Roman Empire had been approaching), they set many major buildings on fire, including the palais, the city hall, and vicarages. About 70 houses (i.e. one quarter of all houses) and part of the town's fortifications were reportedly destroyed. Between 2 and 4 August,

342-512: A municipality by its respective state government and is generally given to such municipalities that have either had historic town rights or have attained considerable size and importance more recently. Towns with over 100,000 inhabitants are called Großstadt , a statistical notion sometimes translated as "city", but having no effect on their administrative status. In this list, only the cities' and towns' names are given. For more restricted lists with more details, see: Numbers of cities and towns in

399-516: A sense, the fraternities were early forms of health and life insurance . 8–9 August 1418: Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor visits Margrave Bernard I (Bernhard I) in Pforzheim. On this occasion the mint of the Margraves of Baden in Pforzheim was mentioned. Mint master was Jakob Broeglin between 1414 and 1431. The emperor appointed the master of the Pforzheim mint, Jakob Bröglin, and Bois von der Winterbach for five years as Royal Mint Masters of

456-690: A village-like settlement. It soon vanished from historical records. The "new town" had survived. 1688–1697: The " War of the Palatinian Succession " (also called the Nine Years War ) caused tremendous destruction in Southwestern Germany. The French "sun king" Louis XIV 's efforts to expand the territory of France up to the Upper Rhine river and to put the Elector Palatine under pressure to severe its ties with

513-412: Is also provided for at this facility, but is limited to Hauptschule and Werkrealschule levels. Those Isprigen residents who wish to take the more academic oriented gymnasium stream have the option of five such schools in Pforzheim or one further down the valley at Königsbach. Ispringen is serviced by four churches. The town's established Lutheran church, dating from the late eighteenth century, lies on

570-585: Is close in physical proximity to its larger neighbour, it retains a distinct identity of its own and cannot be regarded at a suburb of that city. Beyond Pforzheim the Black Forest begins. Over the north side of the valley the countryside opens to a large plain of rolling hills and large commercial farms. At kindergarten Ispringen has four establishments, two of each run by the Lutheran and Catholic churches, both denominations having one on either side of

627-575: Is not known how many of Pforzheim's citizens died in that year, but there are reports of 500 deceased in the close by city of Calw and about 4000 in Stuttgart , which accounted for approximately one quarter to one half of the populations of those towns. Outbreaks of the disease were reported for many places in southwestern Germany, Bohemia , the Alsace region in nowadays France, Switzerland, and Italy. Common graves with massive numbers of human bones at

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684-639: The Hochstraße . On the south side of town the small Catholic and non-conformist Christian communities are served by the Maria Königen church on Höhenstraße and the Neueapostolik church respectively. Mass is not celebrated every Sunday at Maria Königen, but services are available in the predominantly Catholic village of Ersingen a few kilometres to the west. There is a secondary smaller Lutheran church. No non-Christian religion has established

741-708: The Latin School section of the monastery school run by the Dominican order of Pforzheim in the late 1460s. Later, partly due to Reuchlin's efforts, the Latin School of Pforzheim developed into one of the most prominent schools in southwestern Germany, named Reuchlin-Gymnasium . The school's teachers and pupils played an outstanding role in the dissemination of the ideas of humanism and the protestant reformation movement. The most famous pupils included Reuchlin himself, Reuchlin's nephew Philipp Melanchthon , and Simon Grynaeus . 1460: Margrave Charles I established

798-570: The League of Augsburg included the Brûlez le Palatinat! tactics of destroying major towns on both sides of the Rhine river. These tactics seem to have been mainly the idea of the French war minister, François Michel le Tellier, Marquis de Louvois . Pforzheim was occupied by French troops on 10 October 1688. Commanding officer is said to have been Joseph de Montclar . The town was forced to accommodate

855-597: The Neckar and Rhine to, among other markets, the Netherlands for use in shipbuilding. Their timbers were also used to construct the foundations for Amsterdam , which was built in a swamp. Since 90: A settlement was established by Roman citizens at the Enz River near the modern Altstädter Brücke (old town bridge). Archeological surveys have unearthed several artifacts of that period which are kept and displayed in

912-527: The Peace of Augsburg in 1555, Margrave Karl II introduced Lutheranism ( Protestantism ) as the state religion in the district Baden-Durlach , which included Pforzheim. The (Catholic) monasteries were gradually shut down. 1565: Margrave Karl II chose Durlach as the new residential town. Pforzheim stayed one of the administrative centers of Baden. 1618: At the beginning of the Thirty Years' War ,

969-649: The Upper Germanic Limes border line of the Roman Empire and conquered the Roman administered area west of the Rhine River. From then on, over an extended period of time, historical records about the settlement were not available. 6th/7th century: Graves from this period indicate that the settlement had been continued. 1067: The settlement was mentioned as "Phorzheim" for the first time, in

1026-605: The choral society Singergesellschaft , which is still active today as the Loebliche Singergesellschaft of 1501 . (They are probably one of the oldest clubs in Europe). 1520s: The ideas of the protestant religious movement advanced by Martin Luther spread rapidly in Pforzheim. Its most prominent promoters were Johannes Schwebel, a preacher at Holy Ghost church (Heiliggeistkirche), and Johannes Unger,

1083-468: The "new town" was mentioned for the first time in a document. The "old town" continued to exist as a legally independent entity. 1220: The Margraves of Baden selected Pforzheim as their residence. This resulted in the "new town" becoming prominent. 1240: A mayor of Pforzheim was mentioned in a document for the first time. 13th/14th century: Pforzheim enjoyed its first period of flourishing. A group of influential patricians emerged. They developed

1140-471: The 20 years following the end of the war, Pforzheim was gradually rebuilt. The town reflects the architecture of the postwar period and has some landmark buildings of the 1950s. Pforzheim is located at the northern rim of the eastern part of the Black Forest (Schwarzwald) and the rim of the hilly country of the Kraichgau , in an open valley at the confluences of the rivers Würm and Nagold , as well as

1197-620: The Au area to form larger timber rafts. Those rafts were then floated down the lower Enz, Neckar and Rhine rivers. The timber rafting stations of Weissenstein, Dillstein and Pforzheim were well known in the profession. 1501 was also the year for which an outbreak of the plague (probably the bubonic plague ) is recorded in the Swabian chronicle Annalium Suevicorum by Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen professor Martin Grusius, published 1596. It

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1254-586: The Auer Bridge Gate, the Upper Mill and the Nonnen Mill were burnt down). The French also stole all church bells, except for one minor one. On 20 September 1692, again crossed the Rhine river under the general command of Marshal Guy Aldonce de Durfort de Lorges , and advanced toward Durlach and Pforzheim. On 24 September, 2,000 cavalry soldiers and 1,200 infantry and artillery troops under

1311-481: The Battle of Seckenheim. He then began to build a new palace in modern Baden-Baden . Christoph I, Margrave of Baden-Baden finally moved the residence of the margraves to Baden-Baden. This gradually ended the first period of Pforzheim's flourishment. The rich merchants gradually left the town, which declined to the status of a country town of mostly small traders. 1486: The Weavers Ordinance ( Wollweberordnung ) for

1368-689: The City of Pforzheim. Below they are mentioned in clockwise order, beginning to the north of the city. Except for Unterreichenbach, which belongs to the district of Calw , all of them are part of the Enz district. Ispringen , Neulingen , Kieselbronn , Niefern-Öschelbronn , Wurmberg , Wimsheim , Friolzheim , Tiefenbronn , Neuhausen (Enz) , Unterreichenbach , Engelsbrand , Birkenfeld (Enz) , Keltern and Kämpfelbach . The city of Pforzheim consists of 16 city wards. The communities Büchenbronn, Eutingen an der Enz , Hohenwart, Huchenfeld and Würm, which by way of

1425-457: The French army under the general command of Marshal Jacques Henri de Durfort de Duras again crossed the Rhine river and began the destruction of major towns in Baden. On 10 August 1689, a French army unit under the command of General Ezéchiel du Mas, Comte de Mélac appeared in front of Pforzheims town gates, but this time the town refused to surrender. In response, the French army began shelling

1482-418: The French troops had crossed the Rhine river under the command of Marshal Guy Aldonce de Durfort de Lorges at Philippsburg on 3 August 1691, they assaulted the Margraves' residential town of Durlach and 1,200 cavalry men, 300 dragoons and 1,200 infantry men advanced toward Pforzheim where they arrived in the morning on 9 August and surrounded the town. When the approximately 200 imperial soldiers under

1539-513: The German states: Ispringen Ispringen was first mentioned in 1272. For most of its history it remained a relatively small village dominated by small livestock farms and orchards. In the fourteenth century the spiritual welfare (and by extension the temporal government) came under the patronage of the Dominican friary at Pforzheim. This remained the structure of local affairs until

1596-527: The Kappelhof Museum. The settlement was located where the Roman military road connecting the military camp Argentoratum (nowadays Strasbourg in France) and the military camp at Cannstatt (now a suburb of Stuttgart ) at the Upper Germanic Limes border line of the Roman Empire crossed the Enz river. This place was known as Portus (meaning "river crossing, harbor"), which is believed to be

1653-668: The Würm valley, where part of the Pforzheim town archives were hidden. The archive was burned. Another part of the town archive as well as documents of Baden administrative office had been brought to Calw, where they went up in flames, too. List of cities and towns in Germany This is a complete list of the 2,056 cities and towns in Germany (as of 1 January 2024). There is no distinction between town and city in Germany;

1710-544: The administrative offices of the Enz district that surrounds the city. During World War II , Pforzheim was bombed by the Allies a number of times. The largest raid, and one of the most devastating area bombardments of World War II, was carried out by the Royal Air Force (RAF) on the evening of 23 February 1945. Nearly one third of the town's population, 17,600 people, were killed in the air raid, and about 83% of

1767-422: The cemetery of St. Michael Church and the cemetery on the estate of the Dominican order near nowadays Waisenhausplatz found during the last century may indicate that hundreds of citizens became the victims of the plague. There are indications that a fraternity for taking care of the sick and removing the bodies of the deceased from houses was formed in 1501, whose members later on stayed together and became known as

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1824-455: The cities of Stuttgart and Karlsruhe at the confluence of three rivers ( Enz , Nagold and Würm ). It marks the frontier between Baden and Württemberg , being located on Baden territory. From 1535 to 1565, it was the home to the Margraves of Baden-Durlach . The City of Pforzheim is a Stadtkreis , meaning it is both a municipality and a district at the same time. Also, it hosts

1881-411: The command of Marshal Noël Bouton de Chamilly , moved to Pforzheim, where the town and 600 soldiers of the imperial German army in town surrendered without any military engagements. The rest of the French army arrived on 27 September under the command of Marshal de Lorges. On the same day, the French army moved on to Oetisheim near Mühlacker and attacked an imperial army unit of 4,000 cavalry men under

1938-637: The command of Captain Zickwolf and other men in the town refused to surrender, the siege began. After shelling the town during the day and the following night, the resistance of the town broke down and on 10 August in the morning the French forced the town gates open, occupied and looted it (although with little success, as there was not much left to be taken away). On 12 August, the French moved on, this time refraining from setting houses on fire. The fortification had again been damaged, though (the White Tower,

1995-433: The command of Duke Frederick Charles of Württemberg-Winnental in their camp. As they were taken by surprise, they withdrew hastily and lost several hundred men, either killed or captured by the French. (The Duke himself was among the French prisoners.) On 28 September, the French army returned to Pforzheim and established a camp. It was reported that the entire Enz valley between the village of Eutingen east of Pforzheim and

2052-688: The economic situation of the town was miserable. In addition to this, the reconstruction of the town and the repairs of the fortifications under the supervision of Johann Matthaeus Faulhaber, the chief construction officer of the Margraviate Baden, required a lot of efforts. The accommodation of an imperial garrison under the command of (then) colonel Count Palffy also was a heavy burden. In 1691, Louvois instructed his marshals to destroy those towns which were to serve as winter quarters for imperial troops, explicitly including Pforzheim, and then continue to Wuerttemberg for further destructions. After

2109-527: The end of the Second World War Ispringen experienced something of a boom. Pforzheim had been reduced to rubble in an Allied bombing raid late in the war, and Ispringen had been largely unaffected. Some light industrial businesses started building along the south side of town. This was followed by young families in the fifties and sixties looking for both employment and space outside but still close to their old place of habitation. As

2166-491: The financial markets of those days. The town drew its income from the wood trade, timber rafting , the tannery trade, textile manufacturing, and other crafts. Documents mention mayor, judge, council and citizens . The town walls surrounding the new town were completed about 1290. During this era, three Roman Catholic orders established their convents in town (the Franciscan order established their domicile within

2223-499: The first printer's shop by Thomas Anshelm . During the first half of the 16th century Pforzheim's printers contributed significantly to the establishment of this (in those days) new medium. 1501: Christoph I, Margrave of Baden-Baden enacted the " Ordinance on the timber rafting profession in Pforzheim". The single timber logs that were floated from the deeper Black Forest areas down the Enz, Nagold and Wuerm rivers were bound together in

2280-425: The latest regional administrative reform during the 1970s were incorporated into Pforzheim's administration , are represented by independent community councils and community administrations. In important matters concerning any of these communities the opinions of the respective community councils must be taken into consideration. However, final decisions on the matter will be made by the Pforzheim city council . It

2337-537: The mints of Frankfurt and Nördlingen . The Margrave was appointed as their patron. 1447: The wedding of Margrave Charles I (Karl I) of Baden with Katharina of Austria, the sister of Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor (Friedrich III), was celebrated in Pforzheim with great pomp (including tournaments and dances ). 1455: Johannes Reuchlin , the great German humanist , was born in Pforzheim on 29 January (he died in Stuttgart on 30 June 1522). He attended

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2394-463: The number of inhabitants of Pforzheim is estimated to have been between 2500 and 3000. This was the largest town among all towns in Baden, even though at that time it had already declined somewhat. 1645: Toward the end of the Thirty Years' War the "old town" was burned down by Bavarian (i.e. Catholic) troops. It was rebuilt, but without the former fortifications , which gave it the status of

2451-455: The origin of the first part of the city's name "Pforzheim". A Roman milestone (the so-called 'Leugenstein') from the year 245 was excavated in modern times at present-day Friolzheim ; it is marked with the exact distance to 'Portus' and is the first documented evidence of the settlement. 259/260: The Roman settlement 'Portus' was destroyed completely, as the Frank and Alemanni tribes overran

2508-531: The principal of the Dominican Latin school . 1535–1565: Due to the heritage division of the clan of the Margraves of Baden, Margrave Ernst of Baden made Pforzheim the residential town of his family line. He decided to use the Schlosskirche St. Michael as the entombment site for his family line. 1549: A large fire caused severe damage to the town. 1556: After the conclusion of

2565-846: The rivers Nagold and Enz . Due to its location, this city is also called the "three-valleys town" ( Drei-Täler Stadt ) or the "Gateway to the Black Forest" ( Pforte zum Schwarzwald / Porta Hercynia ). Pforzheim and its surrounding area belongs to the "Densely Populated Area Karlsruhe/Pforzheim". Pforzheim has the functions of a regional center (Mittelzentrum) for the towns and municipalities Birkenfeld (Enz) , Eisingen , Engelsbrand , Friolzheim , Heimsheim , Ispringen , Kämpfelbach , Keltern , Kieselbronn , Königsbach-Stein , Mönsheim , Neuenbürg , Neuhausen , Neulingen , Niefern-Öschelbronn , Ölbronn-Dürrn , Remchingen , Straubenhardt , Tiefenbronn , Wiernsheim , Wimsheim and Wurmberg . The following towns and communities share borderlines with

2622-433: The same trade were established: The fraternity of tailors in 1410, the fraternity of bakers on 14 May 1422, the fraternity of the weavers in 1469, the fraternity of the wine-growers in 1491, the fraternity of the skippers and timber raftsmen in 1501, and the fraternity of the carters in 1512. Members of the same fraternity assisted each other in various ways, for example with funerals and in cases of sickness. In

2679-640: The source of the Kämpfelbach, Ispringen sits at the head of a shallow river valley. At the extreme eastern end of the town what flat land is available is monopolised by the Karlsruhe to Pforzheim rail link and the L570 road link. For most of the length of the town the valley floor is no wider than a hundred metres across, until the western boundary is reached and the valley opens out into fields more typical of Ispringen's downstream neighbours. As such most of

2736-486: The town is built on the relatively shallow but steep sides of the upper valley, and any short walk away from the centre of town will quickly allow a view of a majority of the locality. To the south of the town is a thin isthmus of forest and the A8 Munich to Karlsruhe autobahn that separates the town from Pforzheim's shopping district. These barriers are impassable by car. The result of which being that while Ispringen

2793-458: The town wall at present-day Barfuesserkirche (the choir of which remains), the Dominican sisters order established their domicile outside the walls of the old town near Auer Bridge, and the Prediger cloister was located east of the Schlossberg, probably inside the town walls). Outside the town wall and across the Enz river, the suburb Flösser Quarters (the home of the timber-floating trade)

2850-496: The town with cannons from the Rod hill located southwest of the town, and the several hundred soldiers of the German imperial command, who were defending the town, were forced to surrender. After a short period of looting, the French troops set the inner town area on fire on 15 August, which made that area uninhabitable for several weeks. Then the French moved on. During the following two years, French troops stayed away from Pforzheim, but

2907-463: The town's buildings were destroyed. The Allies believed that precision instruments were being produced here for use in the German war effort and that the town was a transport centre for the movement of German troops. From 1945 to 1948, Pforzheim (after the initial French occupation) was administered by the United States military and was part of the short-lived state of Württemberg-Baden . In

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2964-469: The towns Pforzheim und Ettlingen was approved by Christoph I, Margrave of Baden-Baden . This was a contract concerning the town privileges of Pforzheim. This regulation of the weaving trade did not allow the formation of a regular guild (Zunft). 1491: A contract between Christoph I, Margrave of Baden-Baden and the citizens of Pforzheim was concluded, granting the town of Pforzheim several privileges concerning taxes and business. 1496: Foundation of

3021-593: The upheaval of the Reformation . Following this the village came under the rule of the Duke of Baden, and would remain there until absorbed into the unified Germany . Under the Duke of Baden the inhabitants changed to Lutheranism. During the Napoleonic wars Ispringen suffered quartering by French, Prussian, Cossack and German troops. This was the town's first large scale exposure to outside influences. Following

3078-491: The valley. Primary school level education was formerly provided at the old school house located on the corner of Schulstraße and Gartenstraße , now occupied by the local branch of the Sparkasse . Due to demographic pressure it was necessary to build a larger school and this now located on the southside of town on a wooded promontory between to industrial zone and the larger Ersingen town forest. Secondary school education

3135-458: The village of Birkenfeld west of Pforzheim was occupied by the 30,000 French soldiers' camps. From their base in Pforzheim, French army units obviously under the leadership of Marshal de Chamilly advanced along the river valleys of Nagold and Würm and looted and destroyed the villages and towns of Huchenfeld, Calw , Hirsau , Liebenzell and Zavelstein . They also destroyed Liebeneck castle about 10 kilometres from Pforzheim towering above

3192-491: Was established. Next to the western town wall, the suburb of Brötzingen gradually developed. The Margraves of Baden considered Pforzheim as their most important power base up to the first half of the 14th century. Under Margrave Bernard I (Bernhard I), Pforzheim became one of the administrative centers of the margraviate. 1322: Holy Ghost Hospital was founded at Tränk Street (present-day Deimling Street). Various fraternities , also known as guilds, among people working in

3249-468: Was settled by the Romans earlier than the current centers of Stuttgart and Karlsruhe were. These colonists constructed a ford through the river, shortly past the confluence of the three rivers, for their military highway. Due to this strategic location, Pforzheim later became a center for the timber-rafting trade, which transported timber from the Black Forest via the rivers Wuerm, Nagold, Enz and down

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