Karlsruhe: Model city and seat of justice

Karlsruhe is home to Germany's two highest courts in Germany: the Court of Appeals for civil and criminal cases, and the Federal Constitutional Court, hence its nickname "seat of justice".

The visitor can still sense how Karlsruhe was designed on the drawing board as a model city with 32 streets fanning out from the palace. One of the city's characteristic features is the fact that streets are identified by letters and numbers instead of by names. Sadly, the cityscape suffered badly from the destruction of the Second World War and particularly from the construction boom of more recent times. But it has still retained plenty of flair. The palace in the centre and the Marktplatz give the city its focal point, representing one of Europe's foremost classicist architectural ensembles.

Karlsruhe can easily be reached from the Frankfurt and Stuttgart airports and is well linked to Germany's rail and motorway networks.

Karlsruhe has a number of colleges, including, besides the university, the Academy of Fine Arts, the College of Design, and the College of Music, as well as important research institutes. Besides all this there are theatres, museums and concert venues.