Calw

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 kilometres south of Pforzheim and 33 kilometres west of Stuttgart.

History

Calw was first mentioned in records in 1037. 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, it had become the summer residence of the Duke of Württemberg. In 1634 the town was taken by the Bavarians, and in 1692 by the French. 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.

Calw (district)

Calw is a district (Kreis) in the middle of Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Neighboring districts are (from north clockwise) Karlsruhe, Enz, the district-free city Pforzheim, Böblingen, Freudenstadt and Rastatt.

History

The district was created in 1938, when the Oberamt Calw together with the neighboring Neuenbürg und Nagold were merged into a district. During the communal reform in 1973 the district at first was planned to be dissolved and its municipalities split to neighboring district. However it already had the right size and population which was planned for the newly created districts, and thus this plan was abandoned. But some changes in the outline of the districts happened - 15 municipalities of the district changed to the neighboring districts Enz, Rastatt and Böblingen, and in return it gained 6 municipalities from the districts Freudenstadt and the dissolved district Horb.

Geography

The district belongs to the northern part of the Black Forest mountains. The main river is the Nagold and the Enz.

Calw (disambiguation)

Calw may refer to:

Name bearers from the same line:

Other bearers of the name: