In the beginning, the American and Karlsruhe founding fathers literally stood in the forest. Karlsruhe was fortunate to have the dreaming margrave who built his new residence here. The successful development story of the USA into a world power is well known. Due to immigration and emigration, there have long been business, private, and official contacts across the Atlantic. This book offers business partners, guests, friends, and relatives factual, surprising, and amusing background information on questions such as 'How did the planner of Washington D.C. come to Karlsruhe's city plan?', 'Why did a U.S. Interior Minister flee through Rastatt's sewage canal?', 'Why does Karlsruhe have an American library?', and 'How did Karlsruhe become a global IT pioneer?' This book reveals that and much more about the diverse historical and current relationships with the USA in a well-founded manner.