Pforzheim

Pforzheim (pfôrts`hīm), city (1994 pop. 117,450), Baden-Württemberg, SW Germany, on the Enz River, at the northern end of the Black Forest. It is the center of the German jewelry and watchmaking industry. Other manufactures include machinery, electrical equipment, and paper. An important medieval trade center, Pforzheim often changed hands until it passed to the margraves of Baden in the 13th cent.; the city served as their residence until 1565. Pforzheim was damaged in the Thirty Years War (1618–48) and was devastated (1689) by the French in the War of the Grand Alliance; later, more than three quarters of the city was destroyed in World War II. Noteworthy buildings include an 11th-century church (the only remains of the former margravial residence) and the Romanesque Church of St. Martin. Johann Reuchlin, the German humanist, was born there (1455).