Pforzheim sits at the point where the Black Forest meets the Rhine plain, at the confluence of three rivers, and has been known for jewelry and watchmaking since the 18th century — the trade earned it the nickname "Goldstadt" (Golden City). Around a third of all European jewelry is still designed and made here, and the Schmuckmuseum (Jewelry Museum) in the Reuchlinhaus is one of the finest of its kind in the world, with a collection spanning 5,000 years from Egyptian scarabs to contemporary pieces.
The city was almost entirely destroyed in a British bombing raid on 23 February 1945 — one of the most devastating attacks of the war relative to city size — and was rebuilt in the 1950s. The rubble was piled into the Wallberg, now a memorial hill on the southern edge of the centre. There's not much old architecture left — the Schlosskirche is the rare survivor — but the museum is outstanding, the Gasometer panorama on the eastern edge is striking, and the town makes a good gateway into the northern Black Forest. The Enztal valley running south from the city is particularly good walking and cycling country.