Kaiserstraße, Shopping street in central Karlsruhe, Germany.

Kaiserstraße is a pedestrian zone in central Karlsruhe lined with shops, cafes, and restaurants on both sides. The street connects several key public squares and serves as a main axis through the downtown area.

The road existed before Karlsruhe's founding in 1715 as a country road linking Durlach and Mühlburg through the Hardtwald forest. It formed the southern edge of the fan-shaped plan, and buildings appeared from 1719. It was named Kaiserstraße on 21 May 1879 for the golden wedding of Emperor Wilhelm I and Empress Augusta; previously it was Lange Straße. After severe WWII bombing, it was rebuilt as a modern shopping street.

The name dates from 21 May 1879, the golden wedding anniversary of Emperor Wilhelm I and Empress Augusta; before that it was the Lange Straße. Near the Durlacher Tor the Brunnenstraße joins at about 45 degrees and is screened off as a contact area for prostitution, legal here because that stretch lies outside the city's restricted zone.

The pedestrian zone runs from Fritz-Erler-Straße to Douglasstraße at Europaplatz, with the main retail stretch between Marktplatz and Europaplatz. Since 2010 the street has been tunnelled for the Kombilösung project, moving tram and Stadtbahn lines underground; the works continued until December 2021. Cycling on the street was banned entirely in 2023 after several accidents.

Kaiserstraße is not one of the nine fan streets aimed at the palace: it crosses them at varying acute angles and runs roughly east-west for about two kilometres, from Durlacher Tor to Kaiserplatz. It existed before Karlsruhe's 1715 founding as a country road linking Durlach and Mühlburg, forming the southern edge of the planned fan layout.