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awarded its township already in the 13th century, supposedely by Count
Gottfried III of Calw.
Since the Nagold valley was not suitable for agriculture Calw was
occupied by craftsmen, weavers, dyers and tanners. In the late Middle
Ages Calw was one of the most important trade centers for textiles in
Baden-Wuerttemberg. The economical success enabled the people of
Calw to rebuild their town in a remarkable short time after it had been
destroyed in 1634 during the Thirty years' War. Starting in 1692 the
timber trade increased and gained importance. A third commercial
activity of Calw's merchants was the salt trade in the 18th century.
Unfortunately this blooming period came to an end. Development
of the town stagnated for a number of reasons. One of them is a dramatic
traffic situation.The mainlanes of traffic change and the deep and narrow
valley lost it's central position. Cotton took the place of wool in textile
industry, a development Calw could not cope with. With the war starting
in the northern part of Italy at the beginning of the 19the century Calw's
most important trade relations were cut. Another reason is a lack of
industry and commerce because of the difficult topographic condition of
Calw's Site.
Calw today is an administrative center with about 23 500
inhabitants. Starting in 1938 and ending in 1975 we incorporated a few
smaller communities, for example Hirsau, which is known for its historical
monastery district. Hirsau was the center of monastery life in the 10th
century.
Besides its significance as a place of textile industry and merchant
activity Calw was the town where a number of famous people lived. For
example U. Ruehlein, the first author who wrote a book on metal mining
in German language in 1503 although in those days scientific literature
was used to be written in Latin. He was born in Calw, Or Johann Valentin
Andreae, the initiator of the Rosenkreuzer movement and important
person of religious life in the 17th century in the state of Wuerttemberg.
Let me also mention father and son Gaertner, both biologists, who
analysed and demonstrated sexuality of plants. Their work later was a
base for Darwin's "Origin of Species" or Mendel's theory of transmission.
And the last but not the least Hermann Hesse, the grandson of Hermann
Gundert and most famous "son" of our town. You see, Calw has always
been seeking its identity in culture and not in dates of wars, battles and
dynasties like many other medieval towns in Europe in those days.
*An excerpt from the welcome speech of Dr. Herbert Karl, Mayor of Calw, delivered at the reception of Kerala delegates in the City Council Hall on 15th May 1993.
