 In the aftermath of the democratic revolution of 1848, a republican government was elected there.Karlsruhe was visited by Thomas Jefferson during his time as the American envoy to France; when Pierre Charles L'Enfant was planning the layout of Washington, D.C., Jefferson passed to him maps of 12 European towns to consult, one of which was a sketch he had made of Karlsruhe during his visit.In 1860, the first-ever international professional convention of chemists, the Karlsruhe Congress, was held in the city.