Companion program
Accompanying persons are welcome at the Symposium and the following Programme of Daytime Tours have been arranged.
Terms and conditions for companion program: A minimum of 10 persons is required for the full-day tours to proceed. If these modest numbers are not met then the tours will unfortunately have to be cancelled. (fully refundable)
Date: Monday 22nd September
Tour: Karlsruhe and Karlsruhe City guided tour, half-day
Cost: €12 (walking tour including guide)
Date: Tuesday 23rd September
Tour: Karlsruhe Majolika Manufacture guided tour, half-day
Cost: €12 (including guide)
Date: Wednesday 24th September
Tour: Historic Heidelberg and Maulbrom Abbey tour, all-day
Cost: €75 (including lunch guide, entrance fees and transfer)
Date: Thursday 25th September
Tour: Historic Strasbour (Alsace, France) tour, all-day
Cost: €65 (including lunch guide, entrance fees and transfer)
Date: Monday 22nd September
Tour: Karlsruhe and Karlsruhe City guided tour, half-day
Cost: €12 (walking tour including guide)
Karlsruhe
The town centre of the city of Karlsruhe (Germany) photographed
from an aeroplane. It is easy to recognize the historic layout of the
town: The streets head away from the palace like the rays of the
sun.
Karlsruhe population 285,812 in 2006) is a city in the south west of Germany, in the Bundesland Baden-Württemberg, located near the French-German border. Founded in 1715 as Karlsruhe Palace, the surrounding town became the seat of two of the highest courts in Germany, the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany whose decisions have the force of a
law, and the Federal Court of Justice of Germany, the highest court of appeals in matters of civil law and criminal law. It therefore considers itself the home of justice in Germany, a role taken over from Leipzig after 1933.
Local attractions (some of which will be passed by during the guided tour)
Good visibility assumed, the Durlacher Turmberg to the east can be seen miles before reaching the city. It sports a look-out tower (hence its name), a former keep dating back to the 13th century, with nearby restaurant and can be reached with the historical Turmbergbahn funicular railway.
The Stadtgarten is a recreational area near the Hauptbahnhof (main railway station) and was rebuilt during the Bundesgartenschau (Federal Garden Show) in 1967. It is also the site of the Karlsruhe Zoo.
The Marktplatz with the stone pyramid marking the grave of the city's founding father. The pyramid, built in 1825, is the symbol of Karlsruhe. The city is nicknamed Die Fächerstadt (the fan city) because of its deliberate layout, with straight streets running out fan-like from the palace. The Karlsruhe Schloss (palace) is an interesting piece of architecture; the adjacent Schlossgarten, including the Botanical Garden with its palm, cactus and orchid house, invites a walk in the woods stretching out to the north of it.
The so called Kleine Kirche (Little Church), built between 1773 and 1776, is the oldest church of Karlsruhe's city centre.
Another sight is the Rondellplatz with its Constitution Building Columns (1826). It is dedicated to Baden's first constitution in 1818, which was one of the most liberal of this time. The Münze (mint), erected in 1826/27, was built by Weinbrenner too.
The St. Stephan parish church is one of the masterpieces of neoclassical church architecture in Southern Germany. Weinbrenner, who built this church between 1808 and 1814, orientated to thePantheon in Rome.
The neo-gothic Grand Ducal burial chapel, built between 1889 and 1896, is located in the middle ofthe forest.
The main cemetery of Karlsruhe is the oldest park-like cemetery in Germany.
Karlsruhe has a lively arts scene that includes the Museum of Natural History, an opera house (theBaden State Theatre), as well as a number of independent theatres and art galleries. The State Art Gallery, built in 1846 by Heinrich Hübsch, displays paintings and sculptures from six centuries,
particularly from France, Germany and Holland. Karlsruhe's newly renovated art museum is one of the most important art museums in Baden-Württemberg. Further cultural attractions are scattered throughout Karlsruhe's various incorporated suburbs. The Scheffel Association or Literary Society for example is a literary organisation and was established in 1924. It is the largest literary organisation in Germany. Today the Prinz-Max-Palais, built between 1881 and 1884 in historism style, houses the organisation including the museum.
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History
The city takes its name from Margrave Karl Wilhelm of Baden-Durlach, who founded the city in 1715 after a dispute with the citizens of his previous capital, Durlach. The founding of the city is closely linked to the construction of the palace. Karlsruhe became the capital of Baden-Durlach until 1771, thereafter the capital of Baden until 1945. Built in 1822, the "Ständehaus" was the first parliament building in a German State. In the aftermath of the democratic revolution, a republican government was elected here.
The city was planned with the tower of the palace (Schloss) at the center and 32 streets radiating out from it like spokes on a wheel, or ribs on a folding fan, so that a nickname for Karlsruhe in German is the "fan city" (Fächerstadt). Almost all of these streets survive today.
The city center was the oldest part of town and lies south of the palace in the quadrant defined by nine of the streets. The central part of the palace runs east-west, and there are two wings of the palace, each at a 45° angle to the center, so that they are pointing southeast and southwest (i.e. parallel with streets at the ends of the quadrant defining the city center).
The market place is on the street running south from the palace to Ettlingen. The market place has the town hall (Rathaus) to the west, the main protestant church (Evangelische Stadtkirche) to the east, and the tomb of Margrave Karl Wilhelm in a pyramid in the center. The architect Friedrich Weinbrenner designed many of the most important buildings. That is why Karlsruhe is one of only three large German cities we can still find building ensembles in Neoclassicism style. Much of the downtown area, including the Schloss, was reduced to rubble by Allied bombing during World War II but was quickly rebuilt after the war.
The area north of the palace was and still is a park and forest. East of the palace there originally were gardens and more forest, some of which remain, but the University, Wildparkstadion, and residential areas have since been built there. West of the palace is now mostly residential.
The library of the University of Karlsruhe developed the Karlsruher Virtueller Katalog, the first internet site that allowed researchers worldwide (for free) to search multiple library catalogues worldwide.
Transport
Karlsruhe's rail system, the Stadtbahn Karlsruhe, is well known in transport circles around the world for pioneering the concept of operating trams on train tracks (tram-trains), to achieve a more effective and attractive public transport system. This concept makes it possible to reach other towns in the region, like Ettlingen, Wörth am Rhein, Pforzheim, Bad Wildbad, Bretten, Bruchsal, Heilbronn, Baden-Baden and even Freudenstadt in the Black Forest right from the city centre.
Karlsruhe is well-connected via road and rail, with Autobahn and InterCityExpress connections going to Frankfurt, Stuttgart/Munich and Freiburg/Basel. Since June 2007 it is attached to the TGV network, reducing travel time to Paris to only three hours (compared to 5 hours previously).
The nearest airport is part of the Baden Airpark (officially Flughafen Karlsruhe/Baden-Baden) about 45 km (28 miles) southwest of Karlsruhe, with regular connections to airports in Germany and Europe in general. Frankfurt International Airport can be reach in about an hour and a half by car(one hour by train) whereas Stuttgart Airport can be reached in about one hour (about an hour and a half by train and S-Bahn).
Institutions
Karlsruhe is the seat of the German Federal Constitutional Court (Bundesverfassungsgericht) and the highest Court of Appeals in civil and criminal cases, the Bundesgerichtshof. The court came to Karlsruhe when the provinces of Baden and Württemberg were merged. Stuttgart, capital of Württemberg, became the capital of the new province, and Karlsruhe was given the high court in a compromise.
Karlsruhe is a renowned research and study centre, with one of Germany's finest and worldwide renowned institutions of higher education, namely, the University of Karlsruhe (Universität Karlsruhe-TH) - the oldest technical university in Germany. Karlsruhe is also the home of the Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe (Research Center Karlsruhe), at which engineering and scientific research is performed in the areas of health, earth and environmental sciences, and Karlsruhe University of Applied Sciences (Hochschule Karlsruhe-HS), the largest university of technology in the State of Baden-Württemberg, offering both professional and academic education in engineering sciences and business. The Hochschule für Musik Karsruhe is a music conservatory which offers degrees in composition, music performance, education and radio journalism. Since 1989 it is located in the Gottesaue Palace.
In 1999 the ZKM (Zentrum für Kunst und Medientechnologie, Centre for Art and Media) was
opened. Within a short time it built up a worldwide reputation as a cultural institution. Linking new media theory and practice, the ZKM is located in a former weapons factory. Among the institutes related to the ZKM are the Staatliche Hochschule für Gestaltung (State University of Design), whose president is philosopher Peter Sloterdijk and the Museum for Contemporary Art.
Furher reading: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karlsruhe
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Date: Tuesday 23rd September
Tour: Karlsruhe Majolika Manufacture guided tour, half-day
Cost: €12 (including guide)
For 100 years, the "Karlsruher Majolika" stands for a successful combination of craftwork tradition and innovative appreciation of art. Especially for the Majolika manufactory with an individual note created art ceramics by famous artists, is a treasure collectible of highest quality and stable value not only for connoisseurs. Little ceramic art sculptures, unique items of artists, flagstones, vases, bowls or plates - the ceramic art objects of the "Majolika Manufaktur Karlsruhe" convince by their creative expressiveness.
Famous artists like Hans Thoma, Wilhelm Süs, Max Laeuger, Martha Katzer, Carl Hubbuch or Erwin Spuler once founded the reputation of the "Majolika Manufaktur Karlsruhe" as prominent centre of ceramic art. The in 1912 created "Nijinski-sculpture" of Fritz Behn, is still today a favoured Majolika object.
Further reading: http://www.majolika-karlsruhe.de/index_englisch.html
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Date: Wednesday 24th September
Tour: Historic Heidelberg and Maulbrom Abbey tour, all-day
Cost: €75 (including lunch guide, entrance fees and transfer)
The city of Heidelberg is located 55 kms from Karlsruhe – travel time 50 mins.
History
Approximately 600,000 years ago, the "Heidelberg Man", whose jaw-bone was discovered in 1907, the earliest evidence of human life in Europe, died at nearby Mauer.
In the 5th century BC there was a Celtic fortress of refuge and place of worship on the Heiligenberg, or "Mountain of Saints". Both places can still be identified.
In 40 a fort was built and occupied by the 24th Roman cohort and the 2nd Cyrenaican cohort (CCG XXIIII and CCH II CYR). The Romans built and maintained castra (permanent camps) and a signalling tower on the bank of the Neckar, and built a wooden bridge across the Neckar. The first civilian settlements would develop under the protection of the camp. The Romans remained until 260, when the camp was conquered by German tribes.
Modern Heidelberg can trace its beginnings to the 5th century when the village Bergheim
("Mountain Home") is first mentioned in documents dated to 769. Bergheim now lies in the middle of modern Heidelberg.
In 1386, the University of Heidelberg was founded by Rupert I, Elector Palatine. The University played a leading part in the era of humanism and reformation and the conflict between Lutheranism and Calvinism in the 15th and 16th centuries. Heidelberg's library, founded in 1421, is the oldest public library in Germany still intact. A few months after the proclamation of the 95 theses, in April 1518, Martin Luther was received in Heidelberg, to defend them.
Historical sites:
The old town
The old town, in German Altstadt, located at the southern side of the Neckar, is long and narrow and is dominated by the ruins of the Heidelberg Castle which perches 80 metres above the Neckar on the steep, wooded side of the Königstuhl ("King's chair" or throne) hill. The Karls´gate (Karlstor) is a triumphal arch in honour of the Prince Elector Karl Theodor, located at Heidelberg's very east. It was erected from 1775 until 1781 and designed by Nicolas de Pigage The house "Zum Ritter Sankt Georg" (Knight St. George) is one of the few buildings, which survived the war of succession. The building opposite of the Church of the Holy Spirit was build in the style of the late Renaissance period. The house is named after the sculpture at the top.
The "Marstall" was an arsenal of the Heidelberg Castle in which several different goods were stored. The 19th century building we see today was created in a neo-classical style. Since 1971, the "Marstall" houses lecture halls of the university.
The old bridge is a stone bridge which was erected from 1786 to 1788. There is a medieval bridge gate on the side of the old town, originally part of its town wall. Baroque tower helmets were added as part of the erection of the stone bridge in 1788.
Heidelberg Castle
The castle is surrounded by a park where the famous poet Johann von Goethe once walked. The Heidelberger Bergbahn funicular railway runs from Heidelberg's Kornmakt to the summit of the Königstuhl via the castle.
Further reading: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heidelberg
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Maulbronn Abbey
From Heidelberg to Maulbronn Abbey 65 kms; travel time 1 hr.
Founded in 1147, the Cistercian Maulbronn Monastery (World Cultural Heritage since 1993) is considered the most complete and best-preserved medieval monastic complex north of the Alps.
Surrounded by fortified walls, the main buildings were constructed between the 12th and 16th
centuries. The monastery's church, mainly in Transitional Gothic style, had a major influence in the spread of Gothic architecture over much of northern and central Europe. The water-management system at Maulbronn, with its elaborate network of drains, irrigation canals and reservoirs, is of exceptional interest.
Further reading:
http://www.welterbestaetten.de/en/maulbronn.htm
http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/546
http://home.bawue.de/~wmwerner/english/maulbron.html
http://www.maulbronn.de/relaunch/e_800/html/maulbronn.php
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maulbronn_Abbey
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Date: Thursday 25th September
Tour: Historic Strasbour (Alsace, France) tour, all-day
Cost: €65 (including lunch guide, entrance fees and transfer)
Location ca 85 km from Karlsruhe, travel time approx 1 hr.
Strasbourg
Strasbourg is the capitaland principal city of the Alsace region in northeastern France, with 702,412 inhabitants in the metropolitan area in 2007. Located close to the border with Germany, it is the préfecture (capital) of the Bas-Rhin département.
Strasbourg is the seat of several European institutions such as the Council of Europe with its
European Court of Human Rights, its European Directorate for the Quality of Medicines and its European Audiovisual Observatory, the Eurocorps as well as the European Parliament and the European Ombudsman of the European Union. Strasbourg is an important center of manufacturing and engineering, as well as of road, rail, and river communications. The port of Strasbourg is the second largest on the Rhine after Duisburg, Germany [3] . The city is the seat of the Central Commission for Navigation on the Rhine.
Strasbourg's historic center, the Grande Île ("Grand Island"), was classified a World Heritage site by UNESCO in 1988, the first time such an honor was placed on an entire city center. Strasbourg is beautifully fused into the Franco-German culture (Alemannic), and is regarded as the bridge of unity between modern France and Germany. Strasbourg is also a bridge for Germanic and Latin culture.
Strasbourg Cathedral which began undergoing construction in the 12th century, was completed in 1439 .
The city is chiefly known for its sandstone Gothic Cathedral with its famous astronomical clock, and for its medieval cityscape of Rhineland black and white timber-framed buildings, particularly in the Petite-France district alongside the Ill and in the streets and squares surrounding the cathedral, where the renowned Maison Kammerzell stands out.
Notable distinctly medieval streets: Rue Mercière, Rue des Dentelles, Rue du Bain aux Plantes, Rue des Juifs, Rue des Frères, Rue des Tonneliers, Rue du Maroquin, Rue des.
Further reading: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strasbourg
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