Calw: Hermann Hesse's Birthplace on the Nagold in the Northern Black Forest
Hermann Hesse was born in Calw in 1877. The Nobel laureate's childhood home on the Marktplatz now houses a museum, and the town trades heavily on the connection. The Hesse-Brunnen fountain, Hesse walking trails, and annual Hesse-themed events draw literary tourists. But Calw has more than its famous son: the half-timbered Altstadt along the steep Nagold valley is one of the most picturesque in the Northern Black Forest. About 23,750 people live here in the Calw district of Baden-Wuerttemberg.
The Nagold river curves sharply through town, with the old centre perched on its banks. Hirsau, a Calw district, holds the ruins of the Kloster Hirsau, one of the most important Romanesque abbey complexes in southwestern Germany. The Hirsau reform movement in the 11th century influenced monasticism across the Holy Roman Empire.
Pforzheim is roughly 20 kilometres to the north. Stuttgart is about 50 kilometres east. Nagold lies upstream to the south. The Black Forest terrain rises steeply around Calw, with hiking and cross-country skiing in the surrounding Naturpark Schwarzwald Mitte/Nord.
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Hermann Hesse was born in Calw in 1877. The Nobel laureate's childhood home on the Marktplatz now houses a museum, and the town trades heavily on the connection. The Hesse-Brunnen fountain, Hesse walking trails, and annual Hesse-themed events draw literary tourists. But Calw has more than its famous son: the half-timbered Altstadt along the steep Nagold valley is one of the most picturesque in the Northern Black Forest. About 23,750 people live here in the Calw district of Baden-Wuerttemberg.
The Nagold river curves sharply through town, with the old centre perched on its banks. Hirsau, a Calw district, holds the ruins of the Kloster Hirsau, one of the most important Romanesque abbey complexes in southwestern Germany. The Hirsau reform movement in the 11th century influenced monasticism across the Holy Roman Empire.
Pforzheim is roughly 20 kilometres to the north. Stuttgart is about 50 kilometres east. Nagold lies upstream to the south. The Black Forest terrain rises steeply around Calw, with hiking and cross-country skiing in the surrounding Naturpark Schwarzwald Mitte/Nord.
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