Karlsruhe is the second-largest city of the German federal state of Baden-Württemberg after its capital of Stuttgart, its 309,999 inhabitants make it the 21st largest city of Germany. On the right bank of the Rhine, the city lies near the French-German border, between the Mannheim/Ludwigshafen conurbation to the north, the Strasbourg/Kehl conurbation to the south, it is the largest city of a region named after Hohenbaden Castle in the city of Baden-Baden. Karlsruhe is the largest city in the South Franconian dialect area, the only other larger city in that area being Heilbronn; the city is the seat of the Federal Constitutional Court, as well as of the Federal Court of Justice and the Public Prosecutor General of the Federal Court of Justice. Karlsruhe was the capital of the Margraviate of Baden-Durlach, the Margraviate of Baden, the Electorate of Baden, the Grand Duchy of Baden, the Republic of Baden, its most remarkable building is Karlsruhe Palace, built in 1715. There are nine institutions of higher education in the city, most notably the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology.

Karlsruhe/Baden-Baden Airport is the second-busiest airport of Baden-Württemberg after Stuttgart Airport, the 17th-busiest airport of Germany. 2019 the UNESCO announced that Karlsruhe will join her network of "Creative Cities" as "City of Media Arts". Karlsruhe lies to the east of the Rhine, completely on the Upper Rhine Plain, it contains the Turmberg in the east, lies on the borders of the Kraichgau leading to the Northern Black Forest. The Rhine, one of the world's most important shipping routes, forms the western limits of the city, beyond which lie the towns of Maximiliansau and Wörth am Rhein in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate; the city centre is about 7.5 km from the river. Two tributaries of the Rhine, the Alb and the Pfinz, flow through the city from the Kraichgau to join the Rhine; the city lies at an altitude between 100 and 322 m. Its geographical coordinates are 49°00′N 8°24′E, its course is marked by a stone and painted line in the Stadtgarten. The total area of the city is 173.46 km2, hence it is the 30th largest city in Germany measured by land area.

The longest north-south distance is 19.3 km in the east-west direction. Karlsruhe is part of the urban area of Karlsruhe/Pforzheim, to which certain other towns in the district of Karlsruhe such as Bruchsal, Ettlingen and Rheinstetten, as well as the city of Pforzheim, belong; the city was planned with the palace tower at the center and 32 streets radiating out from it like the spokes of a wheel, or the ribs of a folding fan, so that one nickname for Karlsruhe in German is the "fan city". All of these streets survive to this day; because of this city layout, in metric geometry, Karlsruhe metric refers to a measure of distance that assumes travel is only possible along radial streets and along circular avenues around the centre. The city centre is the oldest part of town and lies south of the palace in the quadrant defined by nine of the radial streets; the central part of the palace runs east-west, with two wings, each at a 45° angle, directed southeast and southwest. The market square lies on the street running south from the palace to Ettlingen.

The market square has the town hall to the west, the main Lutheran church to the east, the tomb of Margrave Charles III William in a pyramid in the buildings, resulting in Karlsruhe being one of only three large cities in Germany where buildings are laid out in the neoclassical style. The area north of the palace is a forest; the area to the east of the palace consisted of gardens and forests, some of which remain, but the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Wildparkstadion football stadium, residential areas have been built there. The area west of the palace is now residential. Karlsruhe experiences an oceanic climate and its winter climate is milder, compared to most other German cities, except for the Rhine-Ruhr area. Summers are hotter than elsewhere in the country and it is one of the sunniest cities in Germany, like the Rhine-Palatinate area. Precipitation is evenly spread throughout the year. In 2008, the weather station in Karlsruhe, operating since 1876, was closed. According to legend, the name Karlsruhe, which translates as "Charles’ repose" or "Charles' peace", was given to the new city after a hunting trip when Margrave Charles III William of Baden-Durlach woke from a dream in which he dreamt of founding his new city.

A variation of this story claims. Charles William founded the city on June 17, 1715, after a dispute with the citizens of his previous capital, Durlach; the founding of the city is linked to the construction of t

The Maui Nui large-billed moa-nalo known as the Maui Nui moa-nalo, is one of two species of moa-nalo in the genus Thambetochen. Moa-nalo are a group of extinct, large goose-like ducks, which evolved in the Hawaiian Islands of the North Pacific Ocean; the genus and species were described in 1976 from subfossil material collected from the Moomomi Dunes, on the island of Molokai. Remains of the bird have been recovered from Ilio Point on Molokai as well as from lava tubes on the southern slopes of the volcanic mountain of Haleakalā on the nearby island of Maui. Both Molokai and Maui are parts of what used to be the much larger prehistoric island of Maui Nui, to which the species appears to have been endemic; the bird evidently shared the island with another moa-nalo—the smaller small-billed moa-nalo—which, from the sites from which its remains have been recovered, appears to have been restricted to upland areas over 1100 m in altitude, while the large-billed species occupied the lowlands. It was larger than its only congener, the O'ahu moa-nalo

Dominatrix was a synthpop band from New York City, best remembered for their 1984 club hit, "The Dominatrix Sleeps Tonight". Although the group was short lived, their lone hit single was influential in the freestyle genre. Producer/songwriter Stuart Argabright formed Dominatrix with vocalist Claudia Summers, Ivan Ivan, Ken Lockie and keyboardist Peter Baumann; when Claudia Summers parted ways with the group and actress Dominique Davalos took her place. The band's only single was the controversial "The Dominatrix Sleeps Tonight," released in 1984; the track became a pioneering force in the freestyle genre, was noted for its use of spoken lyrics. The song's video, directed by Beth B. featured a fur and stocking-clad Dominique Davalos, it was the imagery in the video set against the subject matter of the song that prevented it from becoming a mainstream success. Commercial radio stations banned the single, MTV refused to air the risque video. In 2012, the video was placed on display in the contemporary art wing of the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.

Though the song was doomed to commercial failure in the pop charts, it went to number two for two weeks on the dance charts, spending a total of eighteen weeks on the chart. The song became a popular single in New York clubs where Dominatrix performed and made waves throughout Europe. Due to the success of "The Dominatrix Sleeps Tonight," the group toured as an opening act for Grace Jones, but soon dissolved to pursue other musical projects. Stuart Argabright has continued working as a producer and Dominique Davalos has appeared in several films and released solo records of her own, she now plays in an all-female rock band. In 2012, she joined the three piece rock band SuperEtte with local Austin musicians Susie Martinez and Matthew Phebus, they recorded their first EP, titled "Your's Till The End," in March, 2014. The song was featured in the 1986 film Parting Glances, the 1997 film Grosse Pointe Blank and the 2010 film Jean-Michel Basquiat: The Radiant Child. AllMusic Discogs Dominatrix on Myspace