The municipality is situated on the Alb-Pfinz Plateau in the northern
Black Forest, 8 km east-southeast of
Ettlingen, 13 km southeast of
Karlsruhe, and 15 km west of
Pforzheim.
Constituent villages The municipality of Karlsbad consists of 5 previously independent single-village municipalities united by the municipality reform in 1971:
Langensteinbach Auerbach Mutschelbach Spielberg Ittersbach Neighbours Karlsruhe In the north Karlsbad borders to
Karlsruhe and its neighbourhoods
Stupferich and
Palmbach. Both of these neighbourhoods form part of a group of neighbourhood known as Karlsruhe's Bergdörfer (
mountain villages). Most of Karlsruhe is situated within the
Upper Rhine Plain, not so the Bergdörfer: They are situated on the mountains of the northern
Black Forest and the western
Kraichgau. They share the
autobahn exit
Karlsbad, situated within their borders, with their neighbour municipality and are connected with it through the
Landesstraßen L609 and L623.
Stupferich The village
Stupferich is a southeastern neighbourhood of
Karlsruhe. Until it was integrated into the city of Karlsruhe in 1972 it was an independent municipality. In 2000 the village celebrated its 900th anniversary. In December 2011 it had about 2,650 inhabitants.
Palmbach The village
Palmbach is an eastern neighbourhood of
Karlsruhe. Until it was integrated into the city of Karlsruhe in 1975 it formed part of the municipality Wetterbsbach composed of the villages Palmbach and
Grünwettersbach. Palmbach was founded in 1701 by 28
Waldensian refugee families consisting of 111 people from
La Balme in the
French Alps on an area of 306
acres belonging to
Grünwettersbach. They called their settlement
La Balme, just like the place, they came from, which turned into the village's current name still during the 18th century. In March 2012 Palmbach had about 1,800 inhabitants.
Waldbronn The western frontier of Karlsbad leads to
Waldbronn, a municipality in the
district of Karlsruhe at the borders of the Alb-Pfinz Plateau and within the
Alb Valley with some 12,500 inhabitants. Just like Karlsbad, this municipality is also product of the municipality reform in
Baden-Württemberg. Its current constituent villages and former independent municipalities joined the former single-village municipality Reichenbach: • Etzenrot and Neurod (joined in 1971) • Busenbach (joined in 1972) In 1974 the enlarged municipality Reichenbach was renamed and received the name
Waldbronn Marxzell The southwestern frontier of Karlsbad borders to
Marxzell, a municipality in the
district of Karlsruhe with about 5,300 inhabitants (as of December 2011) consisting of the former independent municipalities • Burbach: Burbach, Marxzell (also part of the other two former municipalities], Metzlinschwander Hof and the houses Fischweier and Weimersmühle. • Pfaffenrot: Pfaffenrot and Gertrudenhof • Schielberg: Schielberg, "Bergschmiede, Hotel", Schlotterhof, Steinhäusle and Frauenalb
Remchingen The municipality
Remchingen in the
Enz district borders to Karlsbad on the northeastern frontier of the last-mentioned. It is located within the
Pfinz Valley, counts about 12,000 inhabitants and consists of the following former municipalities: • Nöttingen (bordering to Auerbach), • Wilferdingen • Singen Historic ties between Karlsbad and Remchingen become obvious comparing the coats of arms of the former municipalities. The flowers on Mutschelbach's coat of arms are quite similar to those of all three parts of Remchingen. File:Wappen Noettingen.png| File:Wappen Wilferdingen.png| File:Wappen Remchingen-Singen.png| In addition, in both Nöttingen and Auerbach remains of
Roman settlements have been found that can be dated back to circa 80 A.D.
Keltern To the east of Karlsbad borders
Keltern, a municipality within the
Enz district with approximately 9,000 inhabitants. It consists of the following villages: • Dietenhausen • Ellmendingen • Weiler • Dietenhausen • Niebelsbach
Straubenhardt This municipality is located southeast of Karlsbad.
Straubenhardt forms part of the
Enz district with a total of approximately 11,000 inhabitants and is made up of the following previously independent municipalities: • Conweiler • Feldrennach • Pfinzweiler • Langenalb • Ottenhausen • Schwann == Politics ==