Pforzheim – The Gold City. The Black Forest.

Bound to the Schwarzwald (Black Forest) and surrounded by Kraichgau und Stromberg lies Pforzheim, the Gold City – the centre of the German jewellery and watch making industries.

Visitors to the city can experience its jewellery and watch making heritage in many museums and institutions, for instance in the Schmuckmuseum Pforzheim (Jewellery Museum), situated in the Reuchlinhaus, which has a unique collection of original pieces from the last five thousand years. The SCHMUCKWELTEN Pforzheim (Worlds of Jewellery) is unique to Europe, an exhibition and shopping centre where the visitor finds himself on a journey, experiencing the world of jewellery and timepieces through a variety of media. The Mineralienmuseum (Museum of minerals) is housed within the same building. Visitors to the jewellery and watch making industries’ Technisches Museum (technical museum) can see demonstrations of the work of jewellers and watchmakers being carried out with historical, but still functioning, machines.  At the Edelsteinausstellung Schütt  (Schütt exhibition of precious stones) visitors will also be made welcome.

Those visitors to the Gold City with an interest in history should pay visits to the Stadtmuseum (city museum) which houses the original weighing machine for unfermented fruit juice and wine invented by Ferdinand Oechsle, as well as the Bertha Benz automobile. The Schloss- und Stiftskirche St. Michael (St. Michaels Abbey) contains the burial area for members of the Royal House of Baden. Among others, the Johannes Reuchlin museum and the Kappelhof archaeological exhibition featuring excavations of Roman remains and artefacts are also worth a visit.

The Arts and culture are catered for by for example the CongressCentrum Pforzheim, the Theater Pforzheim or the Kulturhaus Osterfeld.

Should you wish to ‘go back to nature’, visits to the Enzauenpark – the venue for the regional garden show in 1992 – or the Wildpark are recommended.

As the regional centre of the North Black Forest region, Pforzheim is also the ideal starting point for holidaymakers in the Black Forest. Hikers and wanderers have for over 100 years begun their journeys in the city to the Höhenwanderwege (the Western, central and eastern high walking ways), which lead through the Black Forest.

The short distances to the conurbations of Karlsruhe and Stuttgart, its easy access to the international rail network and the 30 minutes’ driving distance to Stuttgart Airport make the city, with its 4 Autobahn connections, an attractive destination.

Tourist-Information
Im Neuen Rathaus
Marktplatz 1
75175 Pforzheim

Tel: 07231-39 3700
Fax: 07231-39 3707
Email: tourist-info@ws-pforzheim.de