KIT's campus lies on the Kaiserstrasse, the main street of Karlsruhe, and it borders on the Hardtwald Forest, a perfect place to take a stroll. The campus is almost 60 hectares large. The proximity to Alsace and the mild climate of the Rhine River gives the Baden metropolis an almost Mediterranean flair in the summer. Known worldwide, the city has a fan-like ground plan thanks to the Margrave Karl Wilhelm von Baden-Durlach. Founded in 1715, Karlsruhe is the second-largest city in the federal state of Baden-Württemberg.
It is also known as the "Residence of Justice" because the seat of Germany's two supreme courts (the Federal Constitutional Court and the Federal Supreme Court) is located in Karlsruhe.
Karlsruhe lies in south-western Germany on the western edge of Baden-Württemberg and has over 300,000 residents. Located on the river Rhine, the city area borders on the federal state of Rhineland-Palatinate in the north-west and the country of France in the west.
In Karlsruhe, welcoming new citizens has a special significance and tradition. This is reflected by the fact that the "Bürgerstiftung Karlsruhe" rewrote the original "Privilegienbrief" (Charter of Rights), with which the city's founder attracted new inhabitants. It was rewritten as the "Karlsruher Bürgerbrief" in 2015.
Karlsruhe enjoys many diverse leisure, culture, and sports options, which offer something for everyone. The city boasts a wide variety of cultural attractions, including the Baden State Theatre, numerous private theatres, cinemas, museums, and art galleries. "Das Fest", one of Germany's largest open-air festivals, takes place in Karlsruhe once a year.
The local economy is based on a well-developed structure of medium-sized businesses, particularly in forward-reaching technologies such as computer science, multimedia, control systems, energy technology, and environmental science as well as nanotechnology. Several major companies, among them Bosch, Siemens, Daimler AG, and Michelin, have production facilities in the region. Major research and development institutions (e.g., Fraunhofer Institute, Intel research campus) are part of the reason why the innovative potential of this city and region are well known worldwide.