Pforzheim

Pforzheim is known as the "Gateway to Black Forest" or "Goldstadt" (Gold town) for its jewellery and watch-making industries. It is one of the main cities in Baden-Württemberg and lies on the north edge of the Black Forest between Karlsruhe and Stuttgart. Pforzheim is a town of 126,000 inhabitants (2021). It is a beautiful city, but it does not have many places to visit. It is a good place to go exploring if you have a sense of adventure. Pforzheim was largely destroyed during World War II, especially by an air strike by the Royal Air Force on 23 February 1945. Therefore, only few historic buildings exist. Besides its functional charm of a quickly rebuilt city, being located at the confluence of three rivers (Nagold, Würm and Enz) provides Pforzheim with green areas breaking the concrete architecture.

Understand

• 1 Tourist information, Schloßberg 15 - 17, ☏ +49 7231-39 3700. 

Get in

By train

• 1 Hauptbahnhof. The main station is served by  S5   S6  as well as regional trains an IC along the line Nuremberg Karlsruhe every two hours and even one daily ICE per direction  

By plane

The closest major airport is Stuttgart (STR ^IATA). Also the tourist airport Baden-Baden/Karlsruhe (Baden Airpark) (FKB ^IATA) is close by.

By car

The town is easily accessible from the A8 between Karlsruhe and Stuttgart and is on the B294 from Bretten, the B463 from Calw and the B10 from Vaihingen an der Enz.

By bus

The Verkehrsverbund Pforzheim-Enzkreis provides services around the region. Pforzheim public transport belongs to the larger Karlsruhe area (KVV).

Get around

Public transport

The Verkehrsverbund Pforzheim-Enzkreis provides services around the region.

Taxi

• Taxi-Funk-Zentrale Pforzheim e.V., Güterbahnhof 11, ☏ +49 7231 13 99 99. day & night on the road. 
• Minicar, ☏ +49 7231 44 44 44. 

E-scooter

The scooter provider Lime provides services in Pforzheim as well. You need the app of the provider to locate the scooters.

See

Museums

• 1 Jewellery museum (Schmuckmuseum Reuchlinhaus), Jahnstraße 42, ☏ +49 7231 39-2126, schmuckmuseum@pforzheim.de. Tu-Su 10:00-17:00. The museum celebrates the jewellery heritage of Pforzheim as "golden town" in the famous Reuchlinghaus designed by Manfred Lehmbruck the son of artist Wilhelm Lehmbruck, who is one of the most influential architects for the functional post-war architecture in Pforzheim. There is also a cafe, where you can sit outside close to the Stadtgarten park if weather allows. (updated May 2022)
• 2 Rail museum (Museum im Bahnhof Weißenstein), Belremstraße 74. 
• 3 Gasometer, Hohwiesenweg 6. A large 360-degree photo exhibition with changing content. (updated May 2022)
• 4 Cemetery Museum (Friedhofmuseum), Ispringer Straße 42 (Nordstadt). Pforzheim has a cemetery museum with ancient tombstones and also the large cemetery of Pforzheim direct next to the museum, is worth a visit with many historic family graves. You'll find many inscriptions from 23 February 1945 free to public. (updated May 2022)

Parks

• 5 Wildpark (Wildpark Pforzheim), Tiefenbronnerstraße 100. Outdoor animal park which offers habitat for over 400 partly rare mammals, fish, frogs, amphibians and birds from various regions of the world. (updated May 2022)
• 6 Enzauenpark (near Gasometer). Created for the federal flower festival 1992 along the river Enz provides a beer garden and the historic water supply station Wasserwerk Friedrichsberg. It starts at the Gasometer and offers a nice walk in summer. (updated May 2022)
• 7 Stadtpark Pforzheim, Jahnstraße 42. Small park near the Reuchlingmuseum with a nice fountain and you can ride the black forest wave there (updated May 2022)

Buildings and sights

• 8 Alfons Kern Tower (Alfons Kern Turm). Place for social discourse and interdisciplinary laboratory of the future. The stairwell tower of the former Alfons-Kern-Schule in Pforzheim offers space on several floors. Regular exhibitions are held on two floors. On the top floor, students of the Master’s program Design & Future Making of explore the future in the MADLAB of the University of Pforzheim. On the ground and first floor is the Café Roland at home. (updated May 2022)
• 9 Kollmar & Jourdan House. The Kollmar & Jourdan house was built in Art Nouveau style at the beginning of the 20th century and impresses then as now with its unusual design and colour scheme. The street side is clad with coloured glazed exposed brick. The unique colour scheme features light green wall surfaces interspersed with pale white and brownish tones. Five figural relief busts in allegorical form depict the five continents: Africa, Australia with kangaroo, Europe, Asia, America. Each continent is characterised by folk ornaments. (updated May 2022)

Do

• 1 Visit to Maulbronn Monastry (Kloster Maulbronn) (North of Pforzheim). Maulbronn Monastery (Kloster Maulbronn) is one of Europe’s most complete and best preserved Medieval monastery complexes. It combines a multitude of architectural styles, from Romanesque to late Gothic, in one place – creating a unique atmosphere. (updated May 2022)
• 2 Wildpark (Wildpark Pforzheim), Tiefenbronnerstraße 100, wildpark@pforzheim.de. An outdoor animal park which offers habitat for over 400 partly rare mammals, fish, frogs, amphibians and birds from various regions of the world. M-F €3, Sa Su €5. (updated May 2022)

Buy

Pforzheim is the gold town with many jewelry and watch shops.

Eat

Pforzheim has a variety of restaurants. There are restaurants with oriental food and restaurants with food from the Pforzheim area. One of the traditional meals is Spaezle. It is a type of egg noodle, made by hand. Normally it is eaten with some type of cheese sauce.

• 1 Landgasthof Seehaus Pforzheim, Tiefenbronner Straße 201, ☏ +49 7231 651185. This restaurant is in the forest, by a babbling brook and is frequented by local residents, university students and professionals from the area. The menu varies by seasonal offerings while other dishes are quite palatable. During the warmer months, the outdoor veranda is filled with clients enjoying their meals and strolling by the brook. Not to be missed when traveling through the Schwarzwald (Black Forest) area. 
• 2 Dinkelacker Pilsstuben, Östliche Karl-Friedrich-Str. 65, ☏ +49 7231 32990. 
• 3 Goldener Bock, Ebersteinstr. 1, ☏ +49 7231 105123. 

Sleep

• 1 Jugendherberge Pforzheim-Dillweißenstein, Kräheneckstr. 4, ☏ +49 7231 972660. 
• 2 Parkhotel Pforzheim, Deimlingstraße 32-36, ☏ +49 7231 161-0. 
• 3 Best Western Queens Hotel Pforzheim-Niefern, Pforzheimer Straße 52, ☏ +49 7233-70990. 

Go next

Maulbronn Monastery

• Bertha Benz Memorial Route - Follow the tracks of the world's first automobile journey back in 1888 (Mannheim - Pforzheim - Mannheim)
• Bretten
• Kloster Maulbronn, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, 19 km north (22 minutes by local train)
• Black Forest