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Christopher Bechtler

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Christopher (alias Christian) Bechtler (November 29, 1782–1843) was a German-born American goldsmith and watchmaker . He produced defined gold dollars known as Bechtler Dollars, in the early 1830s and by 1840, before the US government itself started to produce gold dollars in 1849. The site of his mint is designated the Bechtler Mint Site Historic Park in North Carolina.

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65-735: Bechtler was born in Pforzheim , Margraviate of Baden on November 29, 1782. In 1767 Charles Frederick, Grand Duke of Baden , allowed watch manufacturing in Pforzheim and started a technical school. The latter gave ground to further educational institutions and is now the Goldschmiedeschule mit Uhrmacherschule Pforzheim (Jewelers and Watchmakers School of Pforzheim); Bechtler was trained there. Around 1820, Bechtler spotted small gold traces in Stubensand, an early household abrasive . In 1823, he requested

130-538: A document by Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor . Visits to Pforzheim by Heinrich IV in 1067 and 1074 are documented. Before 1080: The "old town" of Pforzheim was awarded market rights ( Marktrecht ). At that time Pforzheim belonged to the estate of Hirsau Monastery , according to monastery documents. From 1150: Establishment of the "new town" west of the "old town" at the foot of the Schlossberg (palais hill) under Margrave Hermann V . 1200: The town charter of

195-421: A million gold coins in the period between 1831 and 1841. Bechtler's precision and the reliable gold content of his coins allowed him to prevail against other producers and to obtain a large fortune. Bechtler's mint produced coins in three denominations: $ 1, $ 2.50, and $ 5, and the coins were struck in three Fineness : 20 carats, 21 carats, and 22 carats. At the time and within the limits of the existing technology,

260-541: A mining concession and tried placer mining for gold in the Late Triassic Stubensandstein around neighboring Sternenfels where the Stubensand was produced. The amount of gold found was not satisfactory, but Bechtler asked for a Ducal Badensian Patent for his gold washing machine in 1819. In 1829, Bechtler, his sons Augustus and Charles, and a nephew immigrated to the United States. In 1830 he opened

325-633: A plurality and Christian Stock (SPD) formed a grand coalition with CDU. On 12 October 1947, Bremen held another election, where SPD came four seats short of a majority and thus formed a coalition with BDV, with Kaisen continuing in office. On 1 January 1947, the American and British occupation zones were combined to form the Bizone . This became the Trizone after the French occupation zone joined on 1 August 1948 and became

390-648: A precursor of FDP. Following the passage of state constitutions, new elections were held in Württemberg-Baden on 24 November, resulting in Reinhold Maier (DVP) continuing the all-party (CDU, SPD, DVP, KPD) government, and on 1 December in Bavaria, where CSU won a majority, but Hans Ehard still formed a grand coalition with SPD and WAV , before leading a one-party government from 20 September 1947; and in Hesse, where SPD won

455-638: A radio station under U.S. control. From 22 September 1945, there were three long-distance train services operating in the American occupation zone, for the first time since the end of the war. All three routes travelled from Frankfurt am Main and were third class only: The original documents of the OMGUS are kept in the Washington National Records Center (held by the University of Maryland ). The documents from Hesse were recorded on microfiche in

520-512: A sense, the fraternities were early forms of health and life insurance . 8–9 August 1418: Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor visits Margrave Bernard I (Bernhard I) in Pforzheim. On this occasion the mint of the Margraves of Baden in Pforzheim was mentioned. Mint master was Jakob Broeglin between 1414 and 1431. The emperor appointed the master of the Pforzheim mint, Jakob Bröglin, and Bois von der Winterbach for five years as Royal Mint Masters of

585-561: A university in Pforzheim, but this plan had to be abandoned because Margrave Charles I lost the Battle of Seckenheim . 1463: Margrave Charles I was forced to transfer the palace and the town of Pforzheim as a fiefdom to the Elector Palatine after losing the Battle of Seckenheim. He then began to build a new palace in modern Baden-Baden . Christoph I, Margrave of Baden-Baden finally moved

650-581: A watchmaker store in Philadelphia , the site of the first United States Mint . Drawn by one of the first gold rushes in the United States, Bechtler moved to North Carolina in 1830 and established a private mint. Bechtler died in Rutherfordton, North Carolina . Bechtler and his successors' private mint in Rutherford County, North Carolina , was run from 1831 through the 1850s and produced more than

715-452: Is a city of over 125,000 inhabitants in the federal state of Baden-Württemberg , in the southwest of Germany . It is known for its jewelry and watch-making industry, and as such has gained the nickname "Goldstadt" ("Golden City"). With an area of 97.8 square kilometres (37.8 sq mi), it is situated about halfway between the cities of Stuttgart and Karlsruhe at the confluence of three rivers ( Enz , Nagold and Würm ). It marks

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780-666: Is still active today as the Loebliche Singergesellschaft of 1501 . (They are probably one of the oldest clubs in Europe). 1520s: The ideas of the protestant religious movement advanced by Martin Luther spread rapidly in Pforzheim. Its most prominent promoters were Johannes Schwebel, a preacher at Holy Ghost church (Heiliggeistkirche), and Johannes Unger, the principal of the Dominican Latin school . 1535–1565: Due to

845-530: The Allies a number of times. The largest raid, and one of the most devastating area bombardments of World War II, was carried out by the Royal Air Force (RAF) on the evening of 23 February 1945. Nearly one third of the town's population, 17,600 people, were killed in the air raid, and about 83% of the town's buildings were destroyed. The Allies believed that precision instruments were being produced here for use in

910-582: The Neckar and Rhine to, among other markets, the Netherlands for use in shipbuilding. Their timbers were also used to construct the foundations for Amsterdam , which was built in a swamp. Since 90: A settlement was established by Roman citizens at the Enz River near the modern Altstädter Brücke (old town bridge). Archeological surveys have unearthed several artifacts of that period which are kept and displayed in

975-870: The Southwest zone , was one of the four occupation zones established by the Allies of World War II in Germany west of the Oder–Neisse line in July 1945, around two months after the German surrender and the end of World War II in Europe. It was controlled by the Office of Military Government, United States (OMGUS) and ceased to exist after the establishment of the Federal Republic of Germany on 21 September 1949 (FRG established 23 May 1949), but

1040-592: The Soviet Occupation Zone , in order to place the whole of the Frankfurt–Göttingen railway under American control. This also brought part of Eichsfeld into the zone. The headquarters of the OMGUS was the former IG Farben Building in Frankfurt am Main . Command of the OMGUS was initially invested in the later President Dwight Eisenhower , who was commander-in-chief of the American forces in Europe at

1105-627: The Upper Germanic Limes border line of the Roman Empire and conquered the Roman administered area west of the Rhine River. From then on, over an extended period of time, historical records about the settlement were not available. 6th/7th century: Graves from this period indicate that the settlement had been continued. 1067: The settlement was mentioned as "Phorzheim" for the first time, in

1170-536: The heritage division of the clan of the Margraves of Baden, Margrave Ernst of Baden made Pforzheim the residential town of his family line. He decided to use the Schlosskirche St. Michael as the entombment site for his family line. 1549: A large fire caused severe damage to the town. 1556: After the conclusion of the Peace of Augsburg in 1555, Margrave Karl II introduced Lutheranism ( Protestantism ) as

1235-534: The "Densely Populated Area Karlsruhe/Pforzheim". Pforzheim has the functions of a regional center (Mittelzentrum) for the towns and municipalities Birkenfeld (Enz) , Eisingen , Engelsbrand , Friolzheim , Heimsheim , Ispringen , Kämpfelbach , Keltern , Kieselbronn , Königsbach-Stein , Mönsheim , Neuenbürg , Neuhausen , Neulingen , Niefern-Öschelbronn , Ölbronn-Dürrn , Remchingen , Straubenhardt , Tiefenbronn , Wiernsheim , Wimsheim and Wurmberg . The following towns and communities share borderlines with

1300-470: The "new town" was mentioned for the first time in a document. The "old town" continued to exist as a legally independent entity. 1220: The Margraves of Baden selected Pforzheim as their residence. This resulted in the "new town" becoming prominent. 1240: A mayor of Pforzheim was mentioned in a document for the first time. 13th/14th century: Pforzheim enjoyed its first period of flourishing. A group of influential patricians emerged. They developed

1365-656: The 1950s. Pforzheim is located at the northern rim of the eastern part of the Black Forest (Schwarzwald) and the rim of the hilly country of the Kraichgau , in an open valley at the confluences of the rivers Würm and Nagold , as well as the rivers Nagold and Enz . Due to its location, this city is also called the "three-valleys town" ( Drei-Täler Stadt ) or the "Gateway to the Black Forest" ( Pforte zum Schwarzwald / Porta Hercynia ). Pforzheim and its surrounding area belongs to

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1430-603: The American Zone had a population of: Berlin was divided in four between the four occupying powers. The southwestern portion (Zehlendorf, Steglitz, Schöneberg, Kreuzberg, Tempelhof, Neukölln) was the American sector and came under US military administration, but was formally separate from the American occupation zone. Under the Wanfried agreement on 17 September 1945, some villages on the Werra river were exchanged for some villages in

1495-602: The American sector of West Berlin continued until 2 October 1990. Under "Proclamation no. 2" of 19 September 1945, they announced the intention to organise the territory on a federal model. Between 1945 and 1946, the Americans established four states in their zone: Bavaria , Bremen , Greater Hesse , and Württemberg-Baden , which worked together in the State Council of the American occupation zone  [ de ] ( Länderrat ). Württemberg-Baden subsequently merged with

1560-614: The Auer Bridge Gate, the Upper Mill and the Nonnen Mill were burnt down). The French also stole all church bells, except for one minor one. On 20 September 1692, again crossed the Rhine river under the general command of Marshal Guy Aldonce de Durfort de Lorges , and advanced toward Durlach and Pforzheim. On 24 September, 2,000 cavalry soldiers and 1,200 infantry and artillery troops under

1625-682: The City of Pforzheim. Below they are mentioned in clockwise order, beginning to the north of the city. Except for Unterreichenbach, which belongs to the district of Calw , all of them are part of the Enz district. Ispringen , Neulingen , Kieselbronn , Niefern-Öschelbronn , Wurmberg , Wimsheim , Friolzheim , Tiefenbronn , Neuhausen (Enz) , Unterreichenbach , Engelsbrand , Birkenfeld (Enz) , Keltern and Kämpfelbach . The city of Pforzheim consists of 16 city wards. The communities Büchenbronn, Eutingen an der Enz , Hohenwart, Huchenfeld and Würm, which by way of

1690-714: The Federal Republic of Germany (" West Germany ") on 23 May 1949 with the passage of the Basic Law . Following the complete closure of all Nazi German media, the launch and operation of completely new newspaper titles began by licensing carefully selected Germans as publishers. Licenses were granted to Germans not involved in Nazi propaganda to establish those newspapers, including Frankfurter Rundschau (August 1945), Der Tagesspiegel (Berlin; September 1945), and Süddeutsche Zeitung (Munich; October 1945). Radio stations were run by

1755-418: The French troops had crossed the Rhine river under the command of Marshal Guy Aldonce de Durfort de Lorges at Philippsburg on 3 August 1691, they assaulted the Margraves' residential town of Durlach and 1,200 cavalry men, 300 dragoons and 1,200 infantry men advanced toward Pforzheim where they arrived in the morning on 9 August and surrounded the town. When the approximately 200 imperial soldiers under

1820-460: The German imperial command, who were defending the town, were forced to surrender. After a short period of looting, the French troops set the inner town area on fire on 15 August, which made that area uninhabitable for several weeks. Then the French moved on. During the following two years, French troops stayed away from Pforzheim, but the economic situation of the town was miserable. In addition to this,

1885-450: The German war effort and that the town was a transport centre for the movement of German troops. From 1945 to 1948, Pforzheim (after the initial French occupation) was administered by the United States military and was part of the short-lived state of Württemberg-Baden . In the 20 years following the end of the war, Pforzheim was gradually rebuilt. The town reflects the architecture of the postwar period and has some landmark buildings of

1950-515: The Kappelhof Museum. The settlement was located where the Roman military road connecting the military camp Argentoratum (nowadays Strasbourg in France) and the military camp at Cannstatt (now a suburb of Stuttgart ) at the Upper Germanic Limes border line of the Roman Empire crossed the Enz river. This place was known as Portus (meaning "river crossing, harbor"), which is believed to be

2015-742: The Palatinian Succession " (also called the Nine Years War ) caused tremendous destruction in Southwestern Germany. The French "sun king" Louis XIV 's efforts to expand the territory of France up to the Upper Rhine river and to put the Elector Palatine under pressure to severe its ties with the League of Augsburg included the Brûlez le Palatinat! tactics of destroying major towns on both sides of

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2080-501: The Rhine river and began the destruction of major towns in Baden. On 10 August 1689, a French army unit under the command of General Ezéchiel du Mas, Comte de Mélac appeared in front of Pforzheims town gates, but this time the town refused to surrender. In response, the French army began shelling the town with cannons from the Rod hill located southwest of the town, and the several hundred soldiers of

2145-411: The Rhine river. These tactics seem to have been mainly the idea of the French war minister, François Michel le Tellier, Marquis de Louvois . Pforzheim was occupied by French troops on 10 October 1688. Commanding officer is said to have been Joseph de Montclar . The town was forced to accommodate a large number of soldiers and had to pay a large amount of "contributions" to the French. When the army unit

2210-412: The United States maintains military presence across Germany. The zone encompassed a large section of south-eastern and central Germany: In addition, Bremen and Bremerhaven (including the districts of Wesermünde , Osterholz und Wesermarsch until December 1945) were part of the zone and played a central role as the port through which the occupation zone was supplied. At the end of October 1946,

2275-504: The Würm valley, where part of the Pforzheim town archives were hidden. The archive was burned. Another part of the town archive as well as documents of Baden administrative office had been brought to Calw, where they went up in flames, too. American-occupied zone of Germany The American occupation zone in Germany ( German : Amerikanische Besatzungszone ), also known as the US-Zone , and

2340-484: The cemetery on the estate of the Dominican order near nowadays Waisenhausplatz found during the last century may indicate that hundreds of citizens became the victims of the plague. There are indications that a fraternity for taking care of the sick and removing the bodies of the deceased from houses was formed in 1501, whose members later on stayed together and became known as the choral society Singergesellschaft , which

2405-499: The close by city of Calw and about 4000 in Stuttgart , which accounted for approximately one quarter to one half of the populations of those towns. Outbreaks of the disease were reported for many places in southwestern Germany, Bohemia , the Alsace region in nowadays France, Switzerland, and Italy. Common graves with massive numbers of human bones at the cemetery of St. Michael Church and

2470-487: The coins were considered of honest weight. Because of the Coinage Act of June 28, 1834, which increased the value of gold by more than 6%, Bechtler's coins today are quite scarce and consequently, command high prices when offered for sale. The North Carolina National Bank of Charlotte has a collection that can be viewed today. Pforzheim Pforzheim ( German pronunciation: [ˈpfɔʁtshaɪm] )

2535-411: The command of Marshal Noël Bouton de Chamilly , moved to Pforzheim, where the town and 600 soldiers of the imperial German army in town surrendered without any military engagements. The rest of the French army arrived on 27 September under the command of Marshal de Lorges. On the same day, the French army moved on to Oetisheim near Mühlacker and attacked an imperial army unit of 4,000 cavalry men under

2600-626: The command of Captain Zickwolf and other men in the town refused to surrender, the siege began. After shelling the town during the day and the following night, the resistance of the town broke down and on 10 August in the morning the French forced the town gates open, occupied and looted it (although with little success, as there was not much left to be taken away). On 12 August, the French moved on, this time refraining from setting houses on fire. The fortification had again been damaged, though (the White Tower,

2665-433: The command of Duke Frederick Charles of Württemberg-Winnental in their camp. As they were taken by surprise, they withdrew hastily and lost several hundred men, either killed or captured by the French. (The Duke himself was among the French prisoners.) On 28 September, the French army returned to Pforzheim and established a camp. It was reported that the entire Enz valley between the village of Eutingen east of Pforzheim and

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2730-405: The dissemination of the ideas of humanism and the protestant reformation movement. The most famous pupils included Reuchlin himself, Reuchlin's nephew Philipp Melanchthon , and Simon Grynaeus . 1460: Margrave Charles I established a kind of monastery (Kollegialstift) at the site of Schlosskirche St. Michael, turning the church into a collegiate church . There were also plans to establish

2795-608: The end of World War II. Eisenhower's successors were: The four Allied powers coordinated the occupation of Germany through the Allied Control Council , which ceased to operate after the Soviets withdrew from it on 20 March 1948. In 1949, the military administration of the American, British, and French zones was succeeded by the Allied High Commission , which remained in operation until 1955. The military occupation of

2860-485: The financial markets of those days. The town drew its income from the wood trade, timber rafting , the tannery trade, textile manufacturing, and other crafts. Documents mention mayor, judge, council and citizens . The town walls surrounding the new town were completed about 1290. During this era, three Roman Catholic orders established their convents in town (the Franciscan order established their domicile within

2925-565: The first half of the 16th century Pforzheim's printers contributed significantly to the establishment of this (in those days) new medium. 1501: Christoph I, Margrave of Baden-Baden enacted the " Ordinance on the timber rafting profession in Pforzheim". The single timber logs that were floated from the deeper Black Forest areas down the Enz, Nagold and Wuerm rivers were bound together in the Au area to form larger timber rafts. Those rafts were then floated down

2990-536: The first state Constituent Assembly elections were held (except in Bremen). In Bavaria, CSU won a majority ; in Württemberg-Baden, CDU won a plurality, whilst in Greater Hesse, SPD won a plurality. In Bremen, the first elections were held on 13 October 1946, resulting in a SPD majority, but Wilhelm Kaisen still chose to form a coalition with KPD and Bremen's Democratic People's Party (Bremer Demokratische Volkspartei, BDV),

3055-460: The frontier between Baden and Württemberg , being located on Baden territory. From 1535 to 1565, it was the home to the Margraves of Baden-Durlach . The City of Pforzheim is a Stadtkreis , meaning it is both a municipality and a district at the same time. Also, it hosts the administrative offices of the Enz district that surrounds the city. During World War II , Pforzheim was bombed by

3120-425: The latest regional administrative reform during the 1970s were incorporated into Pforzheim's administration , are represented by independent community councils and community administrations. In important matters concerning any of these communities the opinions of the respective community councils must be taken into consideration. However, final decisions on the matter will be made by the Pforzheim city council . It

3185-593: The lower Enz, Neckar and Rhine rivers. The timber rafting stations of Weissenstein, Dillstein and Pforzheim were well known in the profession. 1501 was also the year for which an outbreak of the plague (probably the bubonic plague ) is recorded in the Swabian chronicle Annalium Suevicorum by Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen professor Martin Grusius, published 1596. It is not known how many of Pforzheim's citizens died in that year, but there are reports of 500 deceased in

3250-646: The military government. Unlike the French and British zones, which each established a single channel ( SWF  [ de ] and NWDR respectively), the Americans established several broadcasters, in line with the system of local radio broadcasters in the United States: Bayerischer Rundfunk (BR, initially Radio München ), Radio Bremen , Hessischer Rundfunk (HR, initially Radio Frankfurt ), and Süddeutscher Rundfunk (SDR, initially Radio Stuttgart ). The RIAS in West-Berlin remained

3315-399: The mints of Frankfurt and Nördlingen . The Margrave was appointed as their patron. 1447: The wedding of Margrave Charles I (Karl I) of Baden with Katharina of Austria, the sister of Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor (Friedrich III), was celebrated in Pforzheim with great pomp (including tournaments and dances ). 1455: Johannes Reuchlin , the great German humanist ,

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3380-406: The origin of the first part of the city's name "Pforzheim". A Roman milestone (the so-called 'Leugenstein') from the year 245 was excavated in modern times at present-day Friolzheim ; it is marked with the exact distance to 'Portus' and is the first documented evidence of the settlement. 259/260: The Roman settlement 'Portus' was destroyed completely, as the Frank and Alemanni tribes overran

3445-549: The reconstruction of the town and the repairs of the fortifications under the supervision of Johann Matthaeus Faulhaber, the chief construction officer of the Margraviate Baden, required a lot of efforts. The accommodation of an imperial garrison under the command of (then) colonel Count Palffy also was a heavy burden. In 1691, Louvois instructed his marshals to destroy those towns which were to serve as winter quarters for imperial troops, explicitly including Pforzheim, and then continue to Wuerttemberg for further destructions. After

3510-414: The residence of the margraves to Baden-Baden. This gradually ended the first period of Pforzheim's flourishment. The rich merchants gradually left the town, which declined to the status of a country town of mostly small traders. 1486: The Weavers Ordinance ( Wollweberordnung ) for the towns Pforzheim und Ettlingen was approved by Christoph I, Margrave of Baden-Baden . This was a contract concerning

3575-433: The same trade were established: The fraternity of tailors in 1410, the fraternity of bakers on 14 May 1422, the fraternity of the weavers in 1469, the fraternity of the wine-growers in 1491, the fraternity of the skippers and timber raftsmen in 1501, and the fraternity of the carters in 1512. Members of the same fraternity assisted each other in various ways, for example with funerals and in cases of sickness. In

3640-411: The state religion in the district Baden-Durlach , which included Pforzheim. The (Catholic) monasteries were gradually shut down. 1565: Margrave Karl II chose Durlach as the new residential town. Pforzheim stayed one of the administrative centers of Baden. 1618: At the beginning of the Thirty Years' War , the number of inhabitants of Pforzheim is estimated to have been between 2500 and 3000. This

3705-474: The states of Baden and Württemberg-Hohenzollern in the French occupation zone to form Baden-Württemberg in 1952. On 5 March 1946, the Law for Liberation from National Socialism and Militarism (German: Befreiungsgesetz ) came into force in the American zone, providing the model for Denazification throughout the western zones: all Germans over 18 years of age must complete a questionnaire giving an account of their role in Nazi Germany . On 30 June 1946,

3770-406: The town privileges of Pforzheim. This regulation of the weaving trade did not allow the formation of a regular guild (Zunft). 1491: A contract between Christoph I, Margrave of Baden-Baden and the citizens of Pforzheim was concluded, granting the town of Pforzheim several privileges concerning taxes and business. 1496: Foundation of the first printer's shop by Thomas Anshelm . During

3835-402: The town wall at present-day Barfuesserkirche (the choir of which remains), the Dominican sisters order established their domicile outside the walls of the old town near Auer Bridge, and the Prediger cloister was located east of the Schlossberg, probably inside the town walls). Outside the town wall and across the Enz river, the suburb Flösser Quarters (the home of the timber-floating trade)

3900-458: The village of Birkenfeld west of Pforzheim was occupied by the 30,000 French soldiers' camps. From their base in Pforzheim, French army units obviously under the leadership of Marshal de Chamilly advanced along the river valleys of Nagold and Würm and looted and destroyed the villages and towns of Huchenfeld, Calw , Hirsau , Liebenzell and Zavelstein . They also destroyed Liebeneck castle about 10 kilometres from Pforzheim towering above

3965-472: Was about to depart early in the morning of 21 January 1689 (obviously because an army of the Holy Roman Empire had been approaching), they set many major buildings on fire, including the palais, the city hall, and vicarages. About 70 houses (i.e. one quarter of all houses) and part of the town's fortifications were reportedly destroyed. Between 2 and 4 August, the French army under the general command of Marshal Jacques Henri de Durfort de Duras again crossed

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4030-437: Was born in Pforzheim on 29 January (he died in Stuttgart on 30 June 1522). He attended the Latin School section of the monastery school run by the Dominican order of Pforzheim in the late 1460s. Later, partly due to Reuchlin's efforts, the Latin School of Pforzheim developed into one of the most prominent schools in southwestern Germany, named Reuchlin-Gymnasium . The school's teachers and pupils played an outstanding role in

4095-495: Was established. Next to the western town wall, the suburb of Brötzingen gradually developed. The Margraves of Baden considered Pforzheim as their most important power base up to the first half of the 14th century. Under Margrave Bernard I (Bernhard I), Pforzheim became one of the administrative centers of the margraviate. 1322: Holy Ghost Hospital was founded at Tränk Street (present-day Deimling Street). Various fraternities , also known as guilds, among people working in

4160-416: Was settled by the Romans earlier than the current centers of Stuttgart and Karlsruhe were. These colonists constructed a ford through the river, shortly past the confluence of the three rivers, for their military highway. Due to this strategic location, Pforzheim later became a center for the timber-rafting trade, which transported timber from the Black Forest via the rivers Wuerm, Nagold, Enz and down

4225-436: Was the largest town among all towns in Baden, even though at that time it had already declined somewhat. 1645: Toward the end of the Thirty Years' War the "old town" was burned down by Bavarian (i.e. Catholic) troops. It was rebuilt, but without the former fortifications , which gave it the status of a village-like settlement. It soon vanished from historical records. The "new town" had survived. 1688–1697: The " War of

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