Pforzheim: Searching for Gold in a Post-War Desert

Pforzheim is a famous centre of goldsmith craft and jewellery making. Schmuckmuseum (Jewellery Museum) and the more commercial Schmuckwelten will let you indulge in gold and precious stones. Apart from that, though, the place happily qualifies as one of the ugliest cities in Baden-Württemberg. The traumatic date in its history was February 23, 1945 when almost the entire city was bombed to ashes and rubble. However, even before the war it cannot have been too picturesque. After the war, the main purpose was rebuilding the city and creating housing as quickly as possible. There was neither time nor money for great plans- The new Pforzheim is post-war and not much to write home about.

Or is it?

Instead of visiting the jewellery exhibitions, I went treasure hunting for traces of Pforzheim's history.

I searched and walked a lot, and not in vain.

Arriving at the railway station, the first historical landmark the visitor cannot fail to notice is the art nouveau tower with its colourful paintings and the big clock faces. It belongs to an office building that was built in 1901-1903 for the district administration. Nowadays it is occupied by police headquarters. A few steps down the slope there is the site of the castle, of which little is left apart from the church.

Pforzheim used to be the residence of the Margraves of Baden in the 15th and 16th century. When the house of Baden divided the territory in 1515, one line named themselves Baden-Pforzheim for a few decades, later they moved to Durlach and became Baden-Durlach. Their castle resp. palace was located on a hilltop above the old town, which is now very close to the train station. The castle has never been very impressive. Most of it was torn down already in the 19th century, and the rest disappeared in World War II. Not much is left: one small building, the so- called Archivbau (archive building), one arched gate and a few low walls that indicate the extension of the castle, and a piece of the town wall. The only preserved tower of the medieval fortifications is Leitgastturm on the slope just below the castle grounds. A model of the castle's former appearance is on distplay in Stadtmuseum.

The adjacent church, still known as Schlosskirche, makes a more impressive appearance. The late Romanesque church (13th century) suffered heavy damage in World War II but was rebuilt afterwards. It is a landmark in cityscape. Opening hours for tourist visits are unfortunately limited to a few hours on Thursday afternoon. A monument in front of the church recalls Pforzheim’s reformator Johannes Reuchlin.

Pforzheim’s city centre is not so promising. The town hall is probably from the 1970s, functionalism in its finest. In other words, a huge box. Two details are worth noticing: the clockface and the carillon that chimes a little melody every hour, and the person standing on the edge of the roof. At first the unsuspecting spectator may gasp and suspect a drama going on unnoticed by anyone else, but it’s a sculpture, not a real person, who is standing up there as if he was about to fall backwards off the rooftop.

The square behind the town hall is named „Square of the 23rd February 1945“. A suspension bridge for pedestrians crosses the main street behind. This bridge has been named Gernika-Brücke after the Spanish city of Gernika (Guernica), which is twinned with Pforzheim – yes, the one that Pablo Picasso depicted in his famous painting. Both cities have in common that they were smashed to bits by air raids and many civilians killed in a brutal war – Gernika by German bombers in the Spanish Civil War in 1937, Pforzheim by British air force in World War II in 1945. Another twin city of Pforzheim is, by the way, Osijek in Croatia, another city with a particular war history.

The fateful date in Pforzheim’s history, to which the city owes its lack of historical architecture and flair, is February 23, 1945. On this day the worst allied air raid hit the city. The centre was almost entirely destroyed. There is hardly a city or town in Germany that suffered, in relation to its size, more damage. A model in the Stadtmuseum shows what the old town looked like after the air raid – it is scary. After the occupation the allied commander, seeing the ruins, predicted there would never be a city again in this place. He was wrong, as reality proves.

The 23rd of February is a day of commemoration in Pforzheim every year, with church bells ringing and solemn memorial celebrations. A certain small neonazi group „celebrates“ the date with a pathetic nightwatch on Wartberg, which is always met with little sympathy among the majority of the population and much more numerous protest demonstrations.

Crossing Gernika bridge you reach the modern theatre and the wide, pedestrianized square around it that leads directly to the gardens and promenade walk along the river bank. The rivers Nagold and Enz meet right here. In the triangle between the two rivers we spot a large modern church, the new Stadtkirche that replaced the destroyed old one in the 1960s. Its tall steeple is an eyecatcher.

The riversides invite to go for a longer walk or cycle along, away from car traffic. Further out of the city centre, foot and bike trails accompany the river banks. On a warm spring day like this, the walk along the river was especially pleasant. You can even hire pedal boats for a little cruise on the Enz at Bootspitz behind the theatre.

The water and the accompanying green along the Enz attract many birds. They are used to people and traffic and are easy to spot, although they keep a certain safety distance.

My best spotting was a withe-throated dipper or water ouzel (Cinclus cinclus). Normally rather shy birds who live in rocky river beds, they have entered the city here. They like sitting on the rocks in the middle of the river, watching out for prey in the water. I apologize for the bad photo. The little fellows are constantly on the move, and their habit is dropping curtseys. So I was glad to catch at least a snapshot.

A remarkable example of 1920s and 1950s architecture is standing on the southern bank of the river Enz: Herz-Jesu-Kirche (Heart of Christ Church) the catholic parish church of the city centre. The architect Otto Lindt from Stuttgart designed it in 1929. In the air raid of 23rd February 1945 the church was heavily damaged, but the western wall with the main portal and the steeple survived. Already in 1948 the rebuilding of the church began. The parish community again hired Otto Lindt for the planning. Lindt made some changes to his original plans to improve his work.
The interior is a wide oval hall under a dome. The beautiful mural on the wall behind the main altar, a relief in ceramics, shows the crucified Christ not on a cross, but on the Tree of Life, thus death and resurrection, Good Friday and Easter in one. It is a younger addition, created by the artist Wilhelm Müller in 1975. A few pieces of the 1920s interior still exist. To be mentioned: the two stone reliefs beside the doors showing St Theresa and St Antonius of Padova, 1929 by Edward Mürrle, and the statue of Blessed Bernhard von Baden in the baptismal chapel. The small stained glass windows in the wall underneath the gallery depict the stations of the Way of the Cross (1949).

Following Nagold river upstream, we reach a larger park (Stadtgarten) and the Schmuckmuseum (Museum of Jewellery). The museum owns and presents a large collection of jewellery from the ancient Greeks to contemporary pieces. It also shows temporary exhibitions at regular intervals. The museum occupies a building in the typical architecture of the 1950s which has been named Reuchlinhaus after the reformator. Photography was not permitted inside the exhibitions, but here are some images of the building. The spiral staircase is remarkable, and very 1950s.

The southern quarter on the hill above the Nagold Valley remained mostly undestroyed. This part of the city has a lot of 19th and early 20th century architecture, among them fine industrial buildings from the so-called Gründerzeit. All I have are quick snapshots from the car, sorry...

Further up the same hill there is an upscale residential quarter with beautiful villas. A friend, a local tour guide, drove us up there for a quick tour so we could get an idea that Pforzheim has pretty areas, too!

Stadtmuseum in Brötzingen

Brötzingen is a suburb in the west of Pforzheim that survived the war relatively unharmed and still has a notable ensemble of pre-war architecture. The village has long been incorporated into the city. Its centre includes the 18th century village church and parsonage, the 19th century schoolhouse, the art nouveau Christuskirche and some more older houses. The old village church, school and parsonage have been turned into the historical museum of the city. This is my no. 1 „Off the beaten path“ tip to see in Pforzheim.

The small village church was substituted by the much larger Christuskirche in 1912. Its oldest visible parts are late gothic but its origins date back to the 13th century. Between 1765 and 1770 the steeple and the nave were rebuilt in late baroque style after designs by Wilhelm Jeremias Müller, an architect from Karlsruhe who worked in the building department of Baden’s government.

The village school, now the main building of the museum complex, was built in 1854. It served as schoolhouse until 1888, and then was turned into apartments for the teachers.

The old parsonage buildings are located behind the church. The parsonage house now contains a cafe with beer garden in the front yard, and rooms for temporary exhibitions of the museum. A stairway leads around the house down into the backyard. Since all parsons did a little farming in former times, there are economy buildings, stables and barns in the back. One hosts a puppet theatre, the others are used by the museum as lapidarium. Don’t miss walking through the stable; you’ll discover a cute little baroque garden behind it.

The museum exhibitions are dedicated to different aspects of the town’s history, divided among the three buildings.

The old church presents the older times on the ground floor. Models show the state of the town around 1890 and a reconstruction of the castle. In 1447 the town saw the greatest celebration in its entire history, the wedding of Prince Karl, son of Margrave Jakob I, with Katharina von Habsburg, the sister of Emperor Friedrich III - four dioramas with thousands of tin figures show scenes of this event. A life-size classroom in the Latin school recalls the time of humanism and reformation. 3D pictures show the burning city in the wars of the 17th century; red and green glasses are provided. Some presentations look a bit old-fashioned and do-it-yourself but I enjoyed them even more because of that. Original late medieval frescoes are visible above the choir arch and in the sacresty.

The times of the Plague are shown in a panorama of the town, about 2 to 1.5 metres in size. It is a wooden relief with some mechanical elements, obviously handmade by some enthusiast some decades ago. It shows the old town of Pforzheim at night, with steeples and old houses and the watchman on a tower. When you approach it, some pieces start to move. A window opens, a light falls into almost deserted streets. The water is running down the little creek. Bats circle around the spire on the left. The full moon on a stick moves from left to right and back (wrong direction, LOL) The watchman is walking up and down behind the tower window. A rat is running around in a circle. And then, behind the house on the left, a cart with a coffin appears and slowly crosses the square to the right. When it is gone, a funeral procession goes the same way.
That thing is creeeeepy... and at the same time oh so funny in its old-fashionedness, despite the sad topic. This was my favourite piece of the museum. It can be admired in the choir of the old church. Take your time to watch and discover all the moving pieces.

The gallery of the church is devoted to the early 20th century. The reconstruction of an art deco cinema represents the 1920s. The focus is on the darkest day in Pforzheim’s younger history, February 23, 1945 when the city sank into ashes and rubble within a few hours.

The former school house shows an exhibition on arts and crafts with a number of rebuilt workshops, like shoemaker, saddler, potter and, of course, goldsmith and watchmaker. The upper floor shows how people lived in town and in the countryside.

The former stables and barns of the parsonage contain the Lapidarium with sculptures and reliefs. Temporary exhibitions are shown in the parsonage house.

Practical Hints:
Visiting the museum is free.
Opening hours: Tues to Thurs 14:00-17:00, Sun 10:00-17:00
Address: Westliche Karl-Friedrich-Straße 243
Directions: At the far end of Westliche Karl-Friedrich-Straße, about half an hour's walk from the city centre/town hall.
Several bus lines, No. 10 from/to the train station. Bus stop: „Stadtmuseum“

Further down the side street (Kirchenstraße) there is a beautiful 18th century half-timbered house. It hosts another museum, that of the associations of expellees from former German territories in the East.

Christuskirche, the next-door neighbour of Stadtmuseum, is the present protestant parish church of Brötzingen. The huge art nouveau church was built to substitute the old village church of Brötzingen, which had become too small for the growing western quarters of the city. It was built in 1909-1912, the later years of Jugendstil / art nouveau. Jugendstil decorations were often combined with baroque and neoclassical architecture and modern concrete structures in those years. The adjacent parsonage house and community rooms were built at the same time. The church does not seem to have regular opening hours. Next time I'll make an appointment to see it.

Gruschtelmarkt: Annual Big Flea Market

Once per year, one Friday night and Saturday in July, the city centre of Pforzheim is turned into a big flea market. The pedestrian zone is filled with stalls, tables and blankets where people sell just about everything. For a very moderate fee per square metre everyone can occupy a spot and put stuff on sale. Professional merchants are just as welcome as private sellers.

A special area is reserved for unaccompanied children of 14 and under who can sell, for example, toys they have outgrown.

According to the rules the merchandise has to be used, second-hand stuff, no new products and no self-made products (browsing through the market makes me doubt, though, how strictly this rule is observed.)

The verb „gruschteln“ (the u is a long „oo“ sound“) is local dialect and means digging in piles of stuff.

The market is a big event in the city, with lots of people around, food and drink stalls, some accompanying events in the adjacent churches, and so on. Even if you don't plan a shopping spree it's fun to look around and people-watch.

The date for future markets can in due time be checked on http://www.pforzheim.de
Currently the whole concept is being redesigned. From 2017 onwards the market will take place on a Sunday (instead of Friday night and Saturday) and move from the city centre to the banks of the Enz. Next date: July 23, 2017.

And while we are discussing language matters, allow me to mention that the name Pforzheim is likely to cause chuckles among people from other parts of the country, in particular from the North because they don’t pronounce the P and just say „Forzheim“. We once tried to explain to a Dutch girl what is so funny about it, and when she finally understood she translated to „Pupjestad“. „Pforz“ sounds very much like „Furz“, so in English it would be „Fart City“…