Karlsruhe Off The Beaten Path

Not many people know about it, only the people who live alongside the Rhine or in the Karlsruhe area know the lakes.
The lakes were built because the cities needed small stones to build up houses, so they took out the stone of the former river bed. The way and the route of the Rhine changed a lot in the last 1000 years, so there are many small water washed stones in the ground whcih are used for building houses.
The lakes most times lay in quite areas, sometimes in the forrest. There are so many that it would be too difficult to describe where they all are. In Linkenheim we have three, Leopoldshafen has 2, Neureut 2, Liedolsheim 2...

On the website below you will find all lakes in Baden-Württemberg, check it out!!!

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Durlach is a suburb of Karlsruhe with the old time village charm. It was probably founded in the 12th century and was annexed to Karlsruhe in 1938.

I enjoyed a lot walking through its narrow lanes and admiring old houses.

In Durlach you can go to the top of a mountain named Turmberg. There you can go up to an ancient tower. From this you can enjoy a landscape over Karlsruhe and other places.

Durlach is located east of Karlsruhe. It 's around 5-6 km far from the city center. I went there by tram n. 1 and got out at Schlossplatz.

Baden-Baden, the famous and fashionable spa, rests in a wooded valley and is atop the extensive underground hot springs that gave the city its name (Baden=Bathe). Roman legions of the emperor Caracalla discovered the springs. The leisure classes of the 19th century rediscovered the bubbling waters, establishing Baden-Baden as the unofficial summer residence of many European royal families. Their palatial homes and stately villas still grace its tree-lined avenues.

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The little palace, hardly more than a manor, is located on the southern boundary of the city. It once belonged to the Margraves of Baden-Baden. Margravine Sibylla Augusta - see my rastatt page for more about her - had it built as a hunting lodge and summer resort for occasional visits by her Italian court architect Domenico Egidio Rossi from 1698 to 1702. The palace grounds are surrounded by a circular moat.

Nowadays, you will notice striking contrasts between the main building and the surroundings. The palace is occupied by ateliers of the High School of Art. So it is semi-public, you can enter from the bridge in the south and see it, no one cares. The lawns are probably maintained twice a year and the premises have that lovable air of neglect one associates with artists.
The surroundings, however, have been turned into a golf course. The golf club, which has a rather upscale air, uses the side buildings in the north. Both spheres are strictly separated and seem to ignore each other...

Scheibenhardt is far away from any public transport. It can either be reached by car from the freeway towards Autobahn entry Karlsruhe-Süd, or by bicycle. This is no place one would cross oceans for but it makes a nice stop on a bike tour in the floodland forests south of Bulach and Weiherfeld.

If you're a fan of independent movies and strive for watching new films every week or two, then Schauburg is the place for you. With 5 to 8 movies running at the same time, you'll have a wide range to choose from. Movies from all over the world, festival winners, unknown masterpieces and classics. Featuring a nice bar and comfortable halls, you're garanteed to have a good time there. Films run mostly in the original language with subtitles. Another plus.

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This is a dead end short street with some beautiful Art Deco (Jugendstil) houses. These were built between 1901 and 1903.

You can find this street entering a big arch you find into a big building. The nearest tram stop to this street is Muehlburger Tor. It isn't far from Europa Platz.

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In 1802/03 a little palace was built in town, the Amalienschlösschen. It was meant for the Prince Karl Ludwig, the son of the reigning Margrave, who died quite young. The palace was then used by his widow, princess Amalie, as a summer retreat.

World War II bombs destroyed the palace in 1944. After the war the area was turned into a park, the Nymphengarten. All that is left of the palace are the basement and a few stairs.

Location: : Ritterstraße, behind the Museum of Natural Science.

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Squeezed between river, port, railway and highway, the protected landscape reserve of the Burgau, South of the suburb of Knielingen, contains all the landscape types of the Rhine plain. The dike along the Rhine bank protects the area from floodings, in summer this dike puts on a beautiful coat of wild flowers.

Behind the dike you'll come across some wheat and corn fields and a farm, the Hofgut Maxau.

A narrow belt of wetland forest separates the fields from the Knielinger lake, which is home to water birds and amphibians.

Furhter inland, reed areas mix with orchard meadows.