Explorer Karlsruhe

The Karlsruhe Schlossgarten is a landscape park stretching north from Karlsruhe Palace, laid out as an extension of the palace grounds. Paths wind past lawns, mature trees and a lake, and the park is a regular venue for public events.

The Botanischer Garten Karlsruhe lies beside Karlsruhe Palace and was established by Margrave Charles III William, with its layout designed by Karl Christian Gmelin. Three 19th-century glasshouses for palms, cacti and tropical plants, rebuilt after wartime damage, stand among older trees and newer plantings.

The Karlsruhe Pyramid is a red sandstone monument in the market square, built in 1823-1825 by architect Friedrich Weinbrenner over the burial vault of the city's founder, Margrave Charles III William. It stands 6.5 metres tall on a square base and is regarded as the city's second emblem after its fan-shaped street plan.

The State Museum of Natural History Karlsruhe traces its collection back to the 18th-century natural history cabinet of Landgravine Caroline Louise of Hesse-Darmstadt. Its exhibitions on geology, palaeontology and zoology fill a 19th-century building on Friedrichsplatz and draw about 150,000 visitors a year.

The ZKM Center for Art and Media was founded in 1989 and has occupied a former weapons factory in Karlsruhe since 1997. It combines exhibition galleries for media art with a research institute, a library and a media theque under one roof, focused on digitisation, technology and the arts.

Karlsruhe Zoo is a combined city garden and zoo south of the main railway station, opened in 1865 as one of the oldest zoos in Germany. Around 3,000 animals of more than 240 species live across its landscaped grounds, which also include lakes, historic trees and the separate Tierpark Oberwald site.