Pforzheim () is a city of over 135,000 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 ("Gold City"). With an area of , it is situated about halfway between the cities of Stuttgart and Karlsruhe at the confluence of three rivers (Enz, Nagold and Würm). It lies on the border of Baden and Württemberg, on the Baden side. 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 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 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 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.

Geography

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 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.

Neighbouring communities

The following towns and communities share borderlines with 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.

City wards

The city of Pforzheim consists of 16 city wards. The communities Büchenbronn, Eutingen an der Enz, Hohenwart, Huchenfeld and Würm, which by way of 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.

  • City center (Innenstadt)
  • Northern ward (Nordstadt)
  • Eastern ward (Oststadt)
  • Southeastern ward (Südoststadt)
  • Southwestern ward (Südweststadt)
  • Western ward (Weststadt)
  • Arlinger
  • Brötzingen
  • Buckenberg and Hagenschieß; including Altgefäll, Haidach and Wald-Siedlung
  • Büchenbronn including Sonnenberg
  • Sonnenhof
  • Dillweißenstein
  • Eutingen an der Enz including Mäuerach
  • Hohenwart
  • Huchenfeld
  • Würm

Climate

History

It 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 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 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 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 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.

1322: Holy Ghost Hospital was founded at Tränk Street (present-day Deimling Street).

15th century

Various fraternities, also known as guilds, among people working in 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 a sense, the fraternities were early forms of health and life insurance. She had started her drive in Mannheim, which is located about from Pforzheim. Two years earlier, Carl Benz test drove his Benz Patent-Motorwagen, considered the first practical gasoline-powered automobile, after he was granted a patent for this technology on 29 January 1886. For her trip back home from Pforzheim, Bertha Benz bought fuel in a pharmacy in Wiesloch. During the trip, she had to make repairs with a hairpin to open a blocked fuel line, and after returning home, suggested to her husband that another gear be provided in his automobile for climbing hills.

20th century

From 1900: Revival of the Pforzheim watchmaking industry.

1914–1918: Pforzheim was not a battlefield in World War I, but 1600 men from Pforzheim lost their lives as soldiers on the battlefields.

1920s: The Pforzheim watchmaking industry thrived due to the new popularity of wrist-watches. On 21 March 1933, the Potsdam Day celebration, which marked the reopening of the Reichstag with speeches from Paul von Hindenburg and Adolf Hitler, lead to a large rally and torchlit parade in Pforzheim, with around 30,000 people participating. On 1 April 1933, the Nazis initiated a national boycott of Jewish businesses, which was also carried out in Pforzheim. The liquidation sales of Jewish businesses were also boycotted. On 10 April 1933, the city council awarded Adolf Hitler and Paul von Hindenburg honorary citizenship of the city. It also renamed Panorama Avenue and Hachel Park (today's Hachelallee and Hachelanlage) as Adolf Hitler Avenue and Adolf Hitler Park (Adolf-Hitler-Allee and Adolf-Hitler-Anlagen). On 17 June 1933, Pforzheim also held a book burning on the market square attended by several thousand people, organized by the local chapter of the Hitler Youth and League of German Girls. By the end of 1933, 13% of Jewish residents had left the city. As part of this operation, 186 Pforzheim residents were deported under the authority of Robert Heinrich Wagner, the Gauleiter of Gau Baden. Some of these were later transported to concentration camps in the east. Of the Pforzheim Jews deported to Gurs, only 55 were confirmed to have survived the Holocaust. The mission order to bomb Pforzheim issued by RAF Bomber Command states as the intention of the raid on Pforzheim "to destroy built up area and associated industries and rail facilities". The bombardment was carried out as part of the British carpet bombing campaign. The town was put on the target list for bombardments in November 1944 because it was thought by the Allies to be producing precision instruments for use in the German war effort and as transport centre for the movement of German troops.