Medieval Durlach

Durlach is older than Karlsruhe, the city that absorbed it in 1938. First recorded in 1196 and a town by the 13th century, it became the seat of the margraves of Baden-Durlach in 1565, when Margrave Karl II moved his court here from Pforzheim, and stayed the residence until Margrave Karl Wilhelm founded Karlsruhe in 1715 and moved there in 1718. The Karlsburg, the Renaissance palace the margraves built on the old castle site, was burned by French troops in 1689 along with most of the town; the surviving wing now houses the Pfinzgaumuseum of local history, and the Schlossplatz in front of it is where the medieval Christmas market stands.

The old town was rebuilt in baroque inside the line of its medieval walls, with the Basler Tor as the last standing town gate and the market square under the Rathaus. Above the town rises the Turmberg, with the keep of a medieval hill castle and the best viewpoint over Karlsruhe and the Rhine plain, reached by the Turmbergbahn funicular, opened in 1888. Tram line 1 links the Durlach Schlossplatz stop with Karlsruhe’s centre in about 20 minutes, and Durlach station on the Karlsruhe–Pforzheim line is a short walk from the old town.