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{{Multiple issues|
{{Expand German|topic=geo|date=February 2009|Calw}}
{{More citations needed|date=March 2022}}
}}

{{Infobox German place
|type = Stadt
|name = Calw
|image_coa = Wappen-Calw.svg
|image_photo = Marktplatz Calw - panoramio.jpg
|image_caption = Market square
|state = [[Baden-Württemberg]]
|regbzk = [[Karlsruhe (region)|Karlsruhe]]
|district = [[Calw (district)|Calw]]
|Gemeindeschlüssel = 08235085
|area = 59.88
|elevation = 330-630
|coordinates = {{coord|48|43|N|8|44|E|format=dms|display=inline,title}}
|image_plan = Calw in CW.svg
|postal_code = 75351-75365
|area_code = 07051, 07053
|licence = CW
|mayor = Florian Kling<ref>[https://www.staatsanzeiger.de/staatsanzeiger/wahlen/buergermeisterwahlen/ Aktuelle Wahlergebnisse], Staatsanzeiger, accessed 11 September 2021.</ref>
|leader_term       = 2019&ndash;27
|Bürgermeistertitel = Lord Mayor
|party = independent
|website = [https://rathaus.calw.de/ rathaus.calw.de]
}}

'''Calw''' ({{IPA|de|ˈkalf|-|De-Calw.ogg}}; previously pronounced {{IPA|de|ˈkalp|}} and sometimes spelled Kalb accordingly; {{langx|swg|Calb}})<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=rNBcAAAAcAAJ&q=calw Deutschland beschrieben von Galletti], p. 100</ref> is a [[Landstadt|town]] in the middle of [[Baden-Württemberg]] in the south of [[Germany]], capital and largest town of the [[Calw (district)|district Calw]]. It is located in the [[Northern Black Forest]] and is approximately {{cvt|18|km}} south of [[Pforzheim]] and {{cvt|33|km}} west of [[Stuttgart]]. It has the status of a ''[[große Kreisstadt]].''

==Geography==

===Location===
Calw is located in the valley of the [[Nagold (river)|Nagold]] in the [[Northern Black Forest]] at an altitude between {{convert|330|and(-)|630|m|ft}} above sea level.{{citation needed|date=March 2022}} The historic centre lies west of the river. The newer parts of town have developed on the surrounding slopes. The following streams also exist within the town: the [[Tälesbach]], Ziegelbach, Wurstbrunnenbach, [[Schießbach (Nagold)|Schießbach]], Schlittenbach und Schweinbach. In the northern part of the town, on the western slope of the Nagold valley is the cave known as the Bruderhöhle.

===Neighbouring communities===
The following towns and communities (''[[Gemeinde (Germany)|Gemeinde]]n'') border on the town of Calw (clockwise, from the north): [[Bad Liebenzell]], [[Althengstett]], [[Gechingen]], [[Wildberg, Baden-Württemberg|Wildberg]], [[Neubulach]], [[Bad Teinach-Zavelstein]], [[Neuweiler]], [[Bad Wildbad]] and [[Oberreichenbach, Baden-Württemberg|Oberreichenbach]] (all in the Calw district).

===Subdivisions===
Calw has 13 subdivisions known as ''Stadtteile'' (quarters or neighborhoods):  Altburg, Oberriedt, Speßhardt, Spindlershof, Weltenschwann, Calw, Alzenberg, Heumaden, Wimberg, [[Hirsau]], Ernstmühl, Holzbronn und Stammheim. The subdivision known as Calw corresponds to the historic town centre. The following subdivisions are centered on historic villages: Altburg, Alzenberg, Hirsau, Holzbronn, and Stammheim.

===Climate===
{{Weather box |width = auto |collapsed = Y
|metric first = Y
|single line = Y
|location = Calw
|precipitation colour = green

| Jan high C  =2.0
| Feb high C  =3.9
| Mar high C  =8.2
| Apr high C  =12.6
| May high C  =17.0
| Jun high C  =20.2
| Jul high C  =22.5
| Aug high C  =22.0
| Sep high C  =18.9
| Oct high C  =13.3
| Nov high C  =6.9
| Dec high C  =3.2
| year high C =
| Jan low C  =-3.2
| Feb low C  =-2.5
| Mar low C  =0.0
| Apr low C  =3.1
| May low C  =7.1
| Jun low C  =10.4
| Jul low C  =12.1
| Aug low C  =11.8
| Sep low C  =8.9
| Oct low C  =5.1
| Nov low C  =0.8
| Dec low C  =-2.2
| year low C =
| Jan precipitation mm  =60
| Feb precipitation mm  =53
| Mar precipitation mm  =57
| Apr precipitation mm  =40
| May precipitation mm  =78
| Jun precipitation mm  =69
| Jul precipitation mm  =82
| Aug precipitation mm  =70
| Sep precipitation mm  =54
| Oct precipitation mm  =60
| Nov precipitation mm  =59
| Dec precipitation mm  =72
| year precipitation mm =
| Jan humidity    =89
| Feb humidity    =82
| Mar humidity    =75
| Apr humidity    =70
| May humidity    =70
| Jun humidity    =71
| Jul humidity    =69
| Aug humidity    =71
| Sep humidity    =75
| Oct humidity    =80
| Nov humidity    =85
| Dec humidity    =88
| year humidity   =

| Jan sun  =58.9
| Feb sun  =90.4
| Mar sun  =133.3
| Apr sun  =168.0
| May sun  =210.8
| Jun sun  =225.0
| Jul sun  =251.1
| Aug sun  =226.3
| Sep sun  =183.0
| Oct sun  =127.1
| Nov sun  =72.0
| Dec sun  =58.9
| year sun =
| Jand sun  =1.9
| Febd sun  =3.2
| Mard sun  =4.3
| Aprd sun  =5.6
| Mayd sun  =6.8
| Jund sun  =7.5
| Juld sun  =8.1
| Augd sun  =7.3
| Sepd sun  =6.1
| Octd sun  =4.1
| Novd sun  =2.4
| Decd sun  =1.9
| yeard sun =

|source = DWD(Precipitation<ref>{{cite web |title=Niederschlag: vieljährige Mittelwerte 1991 - 2020 |trans-title=Precipitation: Long-term averages for 1991-2020 |language=German|url=https://www.dwd.de/DE/leistungen/klimadatendeutschland/mittelwerte/nieder_9120_SV_html.html?view=nasPublication&nn=771428 |website=Dwd.de |publisher=Deutscher Wetterdienst |access-date=25 February 2024}}</ref>), Weather2visit<ref>{{cite web |title=Calw monthly weather averages |url=https://www.weather2visit.com/europe/germany/calw.htm |website=weather 2 visit |access-date=25 February 2024}}</ref>
}}

== History ==
Calw was first mentioned in records in 1037.<ref name=EB1911>{{cite EB1911|wstitle=Calw}}</ref> In the 11th century, the town grew around the older castle of the ''{{lang|de|[[Graf]]en}}'' (Counts/Earls) of Calw. In the Middle Ages, Calw was an important commercial town, especially in the cloth and leather trades. In 1345, Calw became part of [[Württemberg]],<ref name=EB1911/> and by the 16th century, it had become the summer residence of the [[Duchy of Württemberg|Dukes of Württemberg]]. In the 18th century, Calw flourished from the lumber trade and rafting of timber on the river [[Nagold (river)|Nagold]].

[[File:Black Forest Autochrome 46 Calw.jpg|thumb|Calw in 1910.]]
In 1945, a small subcamp of [[Natzweiler-Struthof]] [[concentration camp]], where parts for aircraft were assembled by female Jewish forced laborers, was located here.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/full-listing-of-concentration-camps|title=Full Listing of Concentration Camps|website=www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org}}</ref>

After the [[World War II]], Calw fell into the French zone of occupation and thus came to the newly founded state of Württemberg-Hohenzollern in 1947. In 1952, the provisional post-war state in the administrative region of South Württemberg-Hohenzollern merged and has since belonged to the new state of Baden-Württemberg.{{citation needed|date=March 2022}}

The most prominent resident of Calw was the [[author]] and [[List of Nobel laureates in Literature|Nobel prize winner]] [[Hermann Hesse]].

The district reform of 1 January 1973 gave the district of Calw its current size. It became a part of the newly founded [[Northern Black Forest Region]], which itself was assigned to the administrative region of [[Karlsruhe (region)|Karlsruhe]]. On 1 January 1975, Calw was combined with the communities of Altburg, [[Hirsau]] and [[Stammheim, Calw|Stammheim]] into the town of Calw-Hirsau. On 1 January 1976, the combined municipality was renamed as Calw.

===Religious history===
{{unreferenced section|date=March 2022}}
Calw was originally part of the [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Speyer]]. From 1534, in Calw as in the rest of the Duchy of Württemberg, the Reformation took force. In 1555, Calw became the seat of a [[deanery]], which still exists today. The Deanery of Calw encompasses 43 congregations of the [[Evangelical-Lutheran Church in Württemberg]]. In the town of Calw there is the greater congregation of Calw, comprising the town-centre congregation (Calw Stadtkirche), the Bergkirche congregation of Wimberg/Alzenberg, and the Versöhnungskirche congregation of Heumaden, of which the last two came into existence only after the arrival of ''[[Heimatvertriebene]]'' after World War II. There are also congregations in the villages of Altburg, Hirsau, Holzbronn und Stammheim.

There is also a congregation of the [[United Methodist Church]], an independent Protestant church, in Calw.

In the 19th century, Catholics returned to Calw. In 1885–1886, they founded the parish of St. Josef, which later became the seat of a deanery within the diocese of Rottenburg (today [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Rottenburg-Stuttgart|Rottenburg-Stuttgart]]). The parish of St. Josef covers the entire territory of the town as well as several surrounding communities.

The [[New Apostolic Church]] is represented in Calw and in the villages or hamlets of Heumaden, Holzbronn, and .  A congregation of [[Seventh-day Adventists]] was founded in Calw in 1914.

===Population===
Populations within the town limits of Calw as defined for each date; the numbers are estimates or census results of the respective statistical agencies (by primary residence):

Data sources: census results (¹) or data from statistical offices
{|
|-
| valign="top" |
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Year/Date
! Inhabitants
|-
| 1525 || style="text-align:right;"| approx 1,500
|-
| 1622 || style="text-align:right;"| 2,545
|-
| 1702 || style="text-align:right;"| 1,896
|-
| 1803 || style="text-align:right;"| 3,199
|-
| 1849 || style="text-align:right;"| 4,529
|-
| 1 December 1871 || style="text-align:right;"| 5,582
|-
| 1 December 1880 ¹ || style="text-align:right;"| 4,662
|-
| 1 December 1890 ¹ || style="text-align:right;"| 4,522
|-
| 1 December 1900 ¹ || style="text-align:right;"| 4,943
|-
| 1 December 1910 ¹ || style="text-align:right;"| 5,595
|-
| 16 June 1925 ¹ || style="text-align:right;"| 5,681
|-
| 16 June 1933 ¹ || style="text-align:right;"| 5,478
|-
| 17 May 1939 ¹ || style="text-align:right;"| 6,160
|}
| valign="top" |
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Year/Date
! Inhabitants
|-
| 1946 || style="text-align:right;"| 6,795
|-
| 13 September 1950 ¹ || style="text-align:right;"| 7,416
|-
| 6 June 1961 ¹ || style="text-align:right;"| 9,690
|-
| 27 May 1970 ¹ || style="text-align:right;"| 13,075
|-
| 31 December 1975 || style="text-align:right;"| 21,561
|-
| 31 December 1980 || style="text-align:right;"| 23,165
|-
| 27 May 1987 ¹ || style="text-align:right;"| 21,018
|-
| 31 December 1990 || style="text-align:right;"| 22,668
|-
| 31 December 1995 || style="text-align:right;"| 23,709
|-
| 31 December 2000 || style="text-align:right;"| 23,357
|-
| 31 December 2005 || style="text-align:right;"| 23,828
|-
| 31 December 2010 || style="text-align:right;"| 23,230 <!-- Quelle: Statistisches Landesamt B-W. -->
|-
| 31 December 2015 || style="text-align:right;"| 23,232
|}
|}

== Politics ==

=== Municipal council ===
Since the municipal elections of 7 June 2009 the [[Municipal Council|municipal council]] of Calw has had a total of thirty members (previously there were only twenty-seven). The [[Lord Mayor]] (in German "Oberbürgermeister") has a votes and acts as the chairperson of the council. The municipal election of 25 May 2014 yielded these results:<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://calw.nussbaum-eblaettle.de/2014/cwred22.pdf|title=CALW Journal vom 30. Mai 2014}}</ref>

{| class="wikitable"
|-
|'''Party'''
! Percentage of votes || + / - || Seats || + / -
|- style="text-align:center;"
| style="text-align:left;"| [[Free Voters]] || 33.0% || - 2.7 || 10 || -1
|- style="text-align:center;"
| style="text-align:left;"| [[Christian Democratic Union of Germany|Christian Democratic Union]] || 20.4% || - 3.0 || 6 || - 1
|- style="text-align:center;"
| style="text-align:left;"| [[Social Democratic Party of Germany|Social Democratic Party]] || 13.7% || - 0.3 || 4 || ± 0
|- style="text-align:center;"
| style="text-align:left;"| Neue Liste Calw || 17.3% || + 9.8 || 5 || + 3
|- style="text-align:center;"
| style="text-align:left;"| Gemeinsam für Calw || 15.7% || + 15.7 || 5 || + 5
|}

=== Mayor ===
By the 15th century, Calw had an electoral system that chose a new mayor (''Bürgermeister'') every two years. Proof exists for a council as far back as 1453. Since its elevation to the rank of a ''große Kreisstadt'' in 1976, the mayor has carried the title of ''Oberbürgermeister'' (Lord Mayor). An elected deputy mayor carries the title ''Bürgermeister.''

==== Mayors and lord mayors ====
{{div col|colwidth=30em}}
* 1799–1802: Ernst Friedrich Wagner
* 1802–1809: Ernst Bernhard Wagner
* 1809–1817: Johann Gottfried Konrad und Johann Naschold
* 1817–1820: Carl Friedrich von Gärtner
* 1820–1826: Johann Jakob Hess
* 1826–1835: Johann Friedrich Dreiß
* 1835–1884: Christian Friedrich Schuldt
* 1884–1902: Hermann Haffner
* 1902–1918: Eduard Conz
* 1918–1946: Otto Göhner
* 1946–1948: Oskar Blessing
* 1948–1965: Reinhold Seeber
* 1965–1991: Karl-Heinz Lehmann
* 1991–1998: Herbert Karl
* 1999–2003: Werner Spec (no party)
* 2003–2011: Manfred Dunst ([[Free Voters]])
* 2011–2019: Ralf Eggert (no party)
* since 2019: Florian Kling (SPD)
{{div col end}}

===Coat of arms===
The coat of arms of the town of Calw shows a red lion with a blue tongue and blue crown standing atop a blue hill with three ridges, all against a golden background. The town flag is red-gold. The lion on the three-ridged hill is the coat of arms of the counts of Calw, the former lords of the town. The coat of arms has been used for centuries and was reapproved for use by the state government when the town was expanded in 1976.

==Economy==
More than 8,000 people are employed in Calw, of which more than 5,200 work in the service sector and around 2,700 in the goods-producing sector.{{citation needed|date=March 2022}}

==Transport==
Calw is served by [[Bundesstraße|''Bundesstraßen'']] (federal highways) 295, 296 und 463. Climbing out of the Nagold valley toward Stuttgart, Bundesstraße 296 has two lanes. This 2.7&nbsp;km section thereby makes it possible to pass slower vehicles in two switchbacks.

The [[Nagold Valley Railway]], which runs from [[Pforzheim]] to Hochdorf in [[Nagold]], has two stops in Calw: the new Calw Station, which is adjacent to the central bus station, as well as a stop in Hirsau. The former Calw Station, which stood outside the town centre, was removed from service. The imposing station hall has been converted to other uses. It was formerly a connecting station for the [[Black Forest Railway (Württemberg)|Black Forest Railway]] to Stuttgart, whose western extension to Calw was closed in 1988. Since the purchase by Calw District in 1994 of the closed railway section to [[Weil der Stadt]], the district has been pushing for a restoration of service as part of the Hermann Hesse Railway project.{{citation needed|date=March 2022}}

Several bus lines provide public transportation. Buses of the agencies Regional Bus Stuttgart, Däuble Reisen, Bolz Reisen, and SüdwestBus offer connections to Unterreichenbach, Böblingen, Sindelfingen and Weil der Stadt (Regional Bus Stuttgart) as well as to Herrenberg (Däuble Reisen).

==Government and military==
Calw is the seat of the district council of Calw District. There is also a tax office a local court, which belongs to the judicial districts of the state court Tübingen and of the superior state court of Stuttgart.

The [[Kommando Spezialkräfte]] (Special Operations Forces) of the [[German Army]] has been stationed since 1996 in the Graf Zeppelin barracks (''[[:de:Graf-Zeppelin-Kaserne|Graf-Zeppelin-Kaserne]]'') near Heumaden in Calw.<ref name="BW1">{{cite web |access-date=2024-07-10 |date=2023 |location=Bonn |publisher=Federal Ministry of Defence: Bundeswehr (Federal Armed Forces of Germany) |title=German Army: Rapid Forces Division (Division Schnelle Kräfte) |url=https://www.bundeswehr.de/en/organization/army/organization/rapid-forces-division}}</ref>

== Culture, art, and tourism ==

Calw has a small historic centre that was largely untouched by the last war. Many guests visit the town's marketplace and the Nikolausbrücke (a historic bridge). Calw has begun catering to the tourist trade, with numerous shops, restaurants, bistros and ice-cream parlours.

In the 1970s part of the historic centre was replaced with a shopping centre.{{citation needed|date=March 2022}} Soon after, the town centre was closed off and established as a pedestrian zone. Buildings with exposed concrete (bus station, parking garage) have marked the part of the town centre facing the Nagold for years. A shopping centre built around 2000 borders the historic centre to the north.{{citation needed|date=March 2022}}

One of the cultural high points of the calendar in Calw is the Calw Hermann Hesse Prize. Every other year it honors literary journals and translators that have focused on the work of Hermann Hesse. In the Hermann Hesse Colloquium, current issues having to do with Hermann Hesse are discussed in Calw by international experts. Every year in the Benedictine ruins of the Monastery of St. Peter und Paul the theatre festival "Calwer Klostersommer in Hirsau" (Calw Monastery Summer in Hirsau) takes place. This replaced the Klosterspiele Hirsau (Monastery Plays of Hirsau), which were rich in tradition. Hermann Hesse's Gerbersau stories provide the material for the yearly "Gerbersauer Lesesommer“ (Gerbersau Reading Summer). Stories and anecdotes are read from more than three dozen stories and reflections of Hermann Hesse about life in Gerbersau, his literary pseudonym for Calw. A feature of the reading series is the frequent use of settings from Hesse's life. A cultural strength of the Hesse Town is music; worth mentioning are the Aurelius-Sängerknaben (Aurelius Boys' Choir), whose fame extends far beyond the borders of Baden-Württemberg. Further musical features include concert series in the Evangelical Lutheran Stadtkirche (Town Church) and in the St. Aurelius Church.

== Notable people ==
[[File:Fortunabrunnen Freiberg Ulrich Ruelein von Calw.jpg|thumb|140px|[[Ulrich Rülein von Calw]] by a fountain in [[Freiberg]]]]
[[File:Hermann Hesse 2.jpg|thumb|140px|[[Hermann Hesse]]]]
* [[Johannes Valentinus Andreae]] (1586–1654), clergyman, linked to [[Rosicrucianism]]
* [[Gottfried von Calw]] (d.1131), [[List of counts palatine of the Rhine|Count Palatine of the Rhine]], from 1113 to 1129
* [[Ulrich Rülein von Calw]] (1465–1523), doctor, [[mathematician]], [[Astrology|astrologer]], town planner and mayor of [[Freiberg]]
* [[Joseph Gärtner]] (1732–1791), [[botanist]], worked on seeds.<ref>{{Cite NIE |wstitle= Gärtner, Joseph |volume= VIII | page= |short=1}}</ref>
* [[Karl Friedrich von Gaertner]] (1772–1850), [[botanist]], the son of [[Joseph Gaertner]]
* [[August Friedrich Gfrörer]] (1803–1861), historian and deputy of the Frankfurt National Assembly.<ref>{{Cite EB1911 |wstitle= Gfrörer, August Friedrich |volume= 11 |page= 915 |short=1}}</ref>
* [[Hermann Gundert]] (1814-1893), Indologist, translated [[Malayalam]] bible, grandfather of [[Hermann Hesse|Herm.Hesse]], died locally
* [[Hermann Hesse]] (1877–1962), Swiss  poet, novelist and painter, winner of [[Nobel Prize in Literature]] in 1946
* [[Frank Hölzle]] (born 1968), professor of [[oral and maxillofacial surgery]]
* [[Peter Lehmann (author)|Peter Lehmann]] (born 1950), social scientist, [[Honorary doctorate#Honorary doctorates|honorary doctor]] of the [[Aristotle University of Thessaloniki|University of Thessaloniki]], Knight of the [[Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany|Federal Cross of Merit]]
* [[Jörg Lutz]] (born 1963), [[independent politician]], mayor of [[Lörrach]]
* [[Silke Maier-Witt]] (born 1950), former member of the [[Red Army Faction]], later became a trauma psychologist
* [[Konrad Rieger]] (1855–1939), psychiatrist
* [[Rudolf Schlichter]] (1890–1955), painter, engraver and writer.
* [[Heinz-Wolfgang Schnaufer]] (1922–1950), Luftwaffe [[night fighter]] pilot of WWII

=== Sport ===
* brothers [[Sascha Goc]] (born 1979), [[Marcel Goc]] (born 1983) & [[Nikolai Goc]] (born 1986), ice hockey players
* [[Chantal Hagel]] (born 1998), footballer, played 170 games and 13 for [[Germany women's national football team|Germany women]]

== Twinnings ==
* {{flagicon|Thuringia}} [[Weida, Thuringia]]
* {{flagicon|ITA}} [[Latsch]], [[South Tyrol]], [[Italy]]
== Gallery ==
<gallery mode=packed>
File:Calw Marktplatz.jpg
File:Calw schnaufer1.jpg
File:Calw schnaufer2.jpg
File:Calw-marktplatz01.jpg
File:Calw-nikolauskapelle.jpg
File:Calw-stadtkirche.jpg
File:Calw nikolausbruecke.jpg
</gallery>

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*{{commons category-inline|Calw}}
*{{wikivoyage inline|Calw}}

{{Cities and towns in Calw (district)}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Calw (district)]]