Calw

Calw
Coat of arms
Calw
Location of Calw within Calw district
Coordinates: 48°43′0″N 8°44′0″E / 48.71667°N 8.73333°E / 48.71667; 8.73333Coordinates: 48°43′0″N 8°44′0″E / 48.71667°N 8.73333°E / 48.71667; 8.73333
Country	Germany
State	Baden-Württemberg
Admin. region	Karlsruhe
District	Calw
Government
• Mayor	Ralf Eggert
Area
• Total	59.88 km2 (23.12 sq mi)
Population (2012-12-31)[1]
• Total	22,275
• Density	370/km2 (960/sq mi)
Time zone	CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2)
Postal codes	75351-75365
Dialling codes	07051, 07053
Vehicle registration	CW

Calw (German pronunciation: [ˈkalf]; locally [kʰalp]) is a town in the middle of Baden-Württemberg in the south of Germany, capital of the district Calw. It is located in the northern Black Forest and is approximately 18 kilometers south of Pforzheim and 33 kilometers west of Stuttgart.

History

Calw was first mentioned in records in 1075. In the 11th century the town grew around the older castle of the Grafen (Earls) of Calw. In the Middle Ages Calw was an important commercial town especially for the trade of cloth and leather. In 1345 Calw became part of Württemberg and by the 16th century had become the summer residence of the Duke of Württemberg. In the 18th century Calw flourished from the lumber trade and rafting of timber on the river Nagold.

Due to her romantic relationship with a Polish guest worker, seventeen year-old Calw resident Erna Brehm was publicly shaved bald in the town's market square in August 1941. She served eight months in jail in Calw and Stuttgart for violating Nazi Rassenschande ("racial shame") laws before being deported to Ravensbrück concentration camp. She was released on 1 April 1944 because she was in such poor health that she was no longer able to work. She was extremely underweight (reportedly only 34.5 kilograms or 76 pounds) and died on 19 August 1951 at the age of twenty-seven.^[2]

During World War II, a small subcamp of Natzweiler-Struthof concentration camp, where parts for aircraft where assembled by female forced laborers, was located here.^[3] The most prominent resident of Calw was the author and Nobel prize winner Hermann Hesse.

The district reform of 1 January 1973 gave Calw its current size. It became a part of the newly founded Northern Black Forest Region, which itself was assigned to the administrative region of Karlsruhe. On 1 January 1975 Calw was combined with the municipalities of Altburg, Hirsau and Stammheim into the town of Calw-Hirsau. On 1 January 1976 it was renamed as Calw.

Politics

Municipal council

Since the municipal elections of 7 June 2009 the municipal council of Calw has had a total of thirty members (previously there were only twenty-seven). Furthermore, the Lord Mayor (in German "Oberbürgermeister") acts as the chairperson of the council. The result of the last election was:

Mayor

By the 15th century Calw had an electoral system that chose a new mayor every two years. Proof exists for a council as far back as 1453.

Mayors and Lord Mayors

Important facts and figures about Calw

• Outlying districts: Alzenberg, Wimberg, Heumaden
• Town districts: Altburg, Hirsau, Stammheim, Holzbronn
• Labor force: Compulsorily insured employees 8,014. Of these:
  • Manufacturing industries: 2,763
  • Service industries: 5,251
• Waterways - Nagold river, Tälesbach, Ziegelbach, Wurstbrunnenbach, Schießbach, Schlittenbach, Schweinbach
• Base of the Kommando Spezialkräfte (KSK) (Special Forces Command)

Tourism and importance

Calw is heavily pedestrianised, and has begun catering for the tourist trade with numerous shops, restaurants, bistros and ice-cream parlours being opened. This growth has allowed Calw to be considered a large town at the centre of its district.

Famous residents

• Hermann Hesse, author
• Peter Lehmann, social scientist, publisher, freelance activist in humanistic anti-psychiatry, honorary doctor of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece, Knight of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
• Johannes Valentinus Andreae, clergyman
• Rudolf Schlichter, painter
• Heinz-Wolfgang Schnaufer Knights Cross & Diamonds. Highest scoring luftwaffe night fighter pilot of World War II.
• Marcel Goc, NHL player who currently plays for the Florida Panthers.
• Sascha Goc, NHL player who played for the New Jersey Devils and the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Twinnings

• Weida, Thuringia
•  Italy Latsch, South Tyrol

References

v t e Towns and municipalities in Calw (district) Altensteig Althengstett Bad Herrenalb Bad Liebenzell Bad Teinach-Zavelstein Bad Wildbad Calw Dobel Ebhausen Egenhausen Enzklösterle Gechingen Haiterbach Höfen an der Enz Nagold Neubulach Neuweiler Oberreichenbach Ostelsheim Rohrdorf Schömberg Simmersfeld Simmozheim Unterreichenbach Wildberg