The altitude above sea level of the city's area is between 100 m and 322.7 m. Its geographical coordinates are: 49° 0' North 8° 4' East
Karlsruhe was the capital of the Grand Duchy of Baden.
It is nicknamed the fan city because of its plan, with straight streets leading to the castle.
It was the birthplace of Karl Benz (1844 - 1929), inventor of the automobile and founder of Benz & Co., now part of DaimlerChrysler, as well as Karl Drais who invented the precursor of the bicycle and other transportation devices.
Karlsruhe is the seat of the German Federal Constitutional Court (Bundesverfassungsgericht) and the highest Court of Appeals in civil and criminal cases, the Bundesgerichtshof.
The town is twinned with Nancy (France), Nottingham (Great Britain), Krasnodar (Russia), Timisoara (also known as Temeswar) (Romania), Halle (Germany).