1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Durlach

DURLACH, a town of Germany, in the grand-duchy of Baden, 21/2 m. by rail from Carlsruhe, with which it is connected by a canal and an avenue of poplars, on the left bank of the Pfinz, at the foot of the vineyard-covered Thurmberg, which is crowned by a watch-tower and to the summit of which a funicular railway ascends. Pop. (1905) 6207. It possesses a castle erected in 1565 and now used as barracks, an ancient town hall, a church with an excellent organ, a high-grade school, an orphan asylum, and in the market-place a statue of the margrave Charles II. It has manufactures of sewing-machines, brushes, chemicals, tobacco, beer, vinegar and chicory; and considerable trade in market produce.

Durlach was bestowed by the emperor Frederick II. on the margrave Hermann V. of Zähringen as an allodial possession, but afterwards came into the hands of Rudolph of Habsburg. It was chosen as his residence by the margrave Charles II. in 1565, and retained this distinction till the foundation of Carlsruhe in 1715, though it was almost totally destroyed by the French in 1688. In 1846 it was the seat of a congress of the Liberal party of the Baden parliament; and in 1849 it was the scene of an encounter between the Prussians and the insurgents. Reichenbach the mechanician, and E. L. Posselt (1763–1804) the historian, were natives of the town.

See Fecht, Geschichte der Stadt Durlach (Heidelberg, 1869).