Misplaced Pages

#452547

91-632: The eastern rim of the Palatinate forest has been densely populated since the Middle Ages. Several medieval castles show the significance of the region during the early Holy Roman Empire . The district was established in 1969 by combining portions of the former districts of Neustadt and Frankenthal. The dialect of Bad Dürkheim and environs is closer to the Pennsylvania Dutch language—also known as Pennsylvania German or as Deitsch,

182-467: A " Barbarossa city ". Local legends claim in 1497, a nearly 6 m long pike was caught in a lake, the Kaiserwoog, with a ring saying it was placed by Emperor Frederick II , personally in 1230, later finding its way onto the city's coat of arms. The Stiftkirche , Kaiserslautern's oldest church, was constructed in 1250–1350. As the population of Kaiserslautern grew, King Rudolf von Habsburg chartered

273-566: A Palatine geographer and local historian. Prior to 1850, there was no overall name for the Palatine's bunter sandstone mountains Historical territorial factors, rather than geographical ones, governed perceptions at the time. By contrast, the Celts and Romans viewed the entire mountain range west of the Rhine as a single unit, making no distinction between different parts of the region that, today,

364-610: A Roman Catholic church, whilst the highest structure in all Kaiserslautern is the television tower in the suburb of Dansenberg, southwest of the city centre. Kaiserslautern's large botanical gardens feature a Japanese-style garden. Another unusual feature is the Waschmühle (also known as "Wesch"), an enormous 160-metre (520 ft) public swimming pool that is the largest in Europe. There are several pedestrian-only shopping zones with numerous and varied restaurants and bars located in

455-475: A U.S. Air Force F-86 fighter jet crashed into the district office in the Burgstrasse / Maxstrasse area. In addition to the pilot, two civilians were killed, and numerous wounded. With the incorporation of the previously independent communities of Dansenberg, Erfenbach, Erlenbach, Hohenecken, Mölschbach, Morlautern and Siegelbach on 7 June 1969, Kaiserslautern became a city. The University of Kaiserslautern

546-550: A few months before the Kristallnacht . A memorial archway was constructed at the site in 2002. Between 1950 and 1955, Kaiserslautern developed into the largest US military community outside of the United States. For this reason Kaiserslautern is also referred to as "K-town"; a term coined by the early American military population who had difficulty pronouncing the name. The Kaiserslautern Military Community (KMC)

637-592: A line from Eisenberg via Göllheim and Börrstadt to Otterberg near Kaiserslautern . The hill country between the Haardt and the Upper Rhine Plain, where Palatine wines are grown, is known as the Weinstrasse . The German Wine Route runs through this zone of hills. The St. Ingbert-Kaiserslauten Depression runs up to the northwestern Palatinate Forest from west-southwest to east-northeast into which

728-550: A long time, to refer to the entire range on the west bank of the Rhine, at the beginning of the 20th century, it gradually became restricted to the Alsatian part of the sandstone mountains, whilst the term Pfälzerwald ("Palatinate Forest") became increasingly used to refer to the Palatine part. This led to the Palatinate Forest and Vosges being defined as separate and distinct landscapes. However, in recent decades, in

819-628: A plateau bounded by deeply incised valleys. This plateau also runs towards the west at a height of about 500 m before descending gradually to 400 m. It is bisected by the Schwarzbach and Moosalb rivers. To the southwest other ridges separate the valleys of the Merzalbe and the headstreams of the Wieslauter . It is therefore possible to walk from Neustadt an der Weinstraße to Leimen or Kaiserslautern-Mölschbach without dropping below

910-400: A result of further depositions of sand, rock layers of up to 500 metres thickness were formed. This led inter alia , through the addition of iron oxide, to a variable colouration of the rock strata – hence the name "bunter" sandstone ( bunter being German for "coloured") – and, depending on the type and binding of the material, (clay-bound sandstone as opposed to silicified quartz sandstone) to

1001-411: A significant decline in population and the total number of settlements fell sharply (leaving abandoned villages ), as a result of wars and economic circumstances. Thus, during the colonization of the mountains, areas were often cleared that, because of the nutrient-poor sandy soils, were unsuitable for farming and had to be abandoned after a short period because of overuse and overexploitation . Also,

SECTION 10

#1732797896453

1092-679: A significantly different relief and is no longer fully forested. It not only stretches around the western edge of the Palatinate Forest, but also further south around the Vosges. From the area of Lemberg in Lorraine, it also forms the watershed between the Moselle and the Upper Rhine; the southern part of the region being drained completely via the Moder system to the Upper Rhine. To the south,

1183-543: Is a football stadium that accommodates 48,500 fans. In June 2006, after renovation, the stadium was one of 12 to host the 2006 FIFA World Cup . It is also home to 1. FC Kaiserslautern , which won the Bundesliga four times and the wheelchair basketball team FCK Rolling Devils . Kaiserslautern Zoo The Kaiserslautern Zoo was founded in 1968 and is located in Kaiserslautern's Siegelbach neighbourhood. It

1274-468: Is a combined community consisting of Army and Air Force components. The KMC consists of Army facilities at Kleber 32nd Air Defense HQ and Signal Corps, Panzer, Dänner-Kaserne, Landstuhl , Miesau , Einsiedlerhof, Pirmasens , Sembach , Baumholder, Rhine Ordnance Barracks and Pulaski Barracks along with Air Force facilities located at Ramstein Air Base , Vogelweh, and Kapaun Air Station . Kaiserslautern

1365-508: Is classified as a " Cfb " (Marine West Coast Climate/ Oceanic climate ) by the Köppen Climate Classification system. On 16 September 2020 the temperature reached 38,2 ° and reached the highest temperature since 1901. Modern-day Kaiserslautern is a centre of information and communications technology, home to a well-known university , a technical college and many international research institutes located throughout

1456-477: Is home to many different animals including some nearly extinct regional species. Other places of interest in Kaiserslautern, and the surrounding area, are: Kaiserslautern has a broad-based commercial economy. Among the big companies located in the city are: The largest church is St. Mary's ( Marienkirche ), a Roman Catholic church. There is also the historic Protestant Church of the Apostle ( Apostelkirche ). At

1547-515: Is no Misplaced Pages article. Characteristic of the Lower and Middle Bunter are V-shaped valleys , with narrow floors and steep sides, cutting deeply into the bedrock. They are the typical valley forms in the central Palatinate Forest, whilst in the southern and northern parts, U-shaped valleys with wider floors predominate. In the southwestern part of the Forest are the so-called woog valleys, in which

1638-660: Is the Palatinate Forest and the Vosges . The range was named after the Celtic forest god Vosegus and is recorded in many Roman manuscripts as "silva vosegus" or "mons vosegus". It was from this linguistic root that, during the Middle Ages, the name Vosges emerged in the French-speaking area and Wasgen or Wasigenwald , later also Wasgau , in the German-speaking region. So while the term Wasgen continued, for

1729-530: Is to develop the nature park and its eponymous biosphere reserve equally and to maintain its uniqueness and beauty as well as its national recreational value. Since 1997, the head office of the association has been in Lambrecht . The Palatinate Forest Nature Park was recognized in 1992 by UNESCO as a biosphere reserve . In 1998 it became the German part of the first cross-border UNESCO biosphere reserve, namely

1820-473: The Altschlossfelsen , fractures , overhangs and honeycomb weathering can also be observed. By contrast, felsenmeers and blockfields tend to be found more in the central Palatine Forest. The highest points in this low mountain range occur in the central Palatinate Forest, and mainly in the east. Here, in a single, contiguous ridge is a series of peaks exceeding the 600 metre mark, of which

1911-606: The Holy Roman Empire from 1155 until 1190. The small river Lauter made the old section of Kaiserslautern an island in medieval times. Ruins of Frederick's original castle, built 1152 –1160, can still be seen in front of the Rathaus (city hall). A second castle, Nanstein Castle , was built at Landstuhl to guard the western approach to the city. Barbarossa's influence on Kaiserslautern remains today, in its nickname as

SECTION 20

#1732797896453

2002-669: The Kraichgau . Only the Burgundian Gate beyond the Vosges forms an orographically clear border on the left bank of the Rhine. The Palatinate Forest can be divided into three areas. The Palatinate Forest is a major (3rd level) natural region within the Palatine-Saarland Scarplands (a 2nd order major region) and runs south as far as the Col de Saverne , i.e. far into French territory, where it continues as

2093-557: The Palatinate Forest-North Vosges Biosphere Reserve . It thus became the 12th of (as at 2009) 15 German biosphere reserves. These are areas that have a special significance for the global conservation of biological diversity and in which the ecological aspects, sustainable economic management, environmental education and environmental research are best linked together. In 2007, the state of Rhineland–Palatinate issued an ordinance by which

2184-725: The Palatine Forest , is a low-mountain region in southwestern Germany , located in the Palatinate in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate . The forest is a designated nature park ( German : Naturpark Pfälzerwald ) covering 1,771 km and its highest elevation is the Kalmit (672.6 m). Together with the northern part of the adjacent Vosges Mountains in France it forms the UNESCO -designated Palatinate Forest-North Vosges Biosphere Reserve . The Palatinate Forest, together with

2275-525: The Quaternary period (2.8 to 0.01 million years ago) erosion processes once more dominated. In particular, it was the weathering and removal processes that occurred during the various cold and warm periods that determined the final topographical shape of the Palatinate Forest. Characteristic of this is a system of deeply incised valleys, especially in the north and centre, diverse mountain shapes and bizarre rock formations. Gneisses and slates form

2366-571: The Tyrol and Swabia and the settlement of Huguenot and Mennonite religious refugees from Switzerland, France and the Netherlands. From then to the end of the 18th century, the population expanded as a result of the better design of farms (such as the Frankish house ) and the expansion of villages ( clustered village or Haufendörfer ). This development, however, meant that the resources of

2457-793: The Vosges ridge. This often goes unrecognized as a result of the French border; hence the French southern part of the natural region is often, wrongly, counted as part of the North Vosges. The important subdivisions of these bunter sandstone mountains were drawn up in the 1950s and 1960s in the Handbook of the Natural Region Divisions of Germany and 1:200,000 map sheets by the German Federal Institute for Regional Studies. Despite that, some deviation in

2548-670: The Vosges south of the French border, from which it has no morphological separation, is part of a single central upland region of about 8,000 km in area, that runs from the Börrstadt Basin (a line from Winnweiler via Börrstadt and Göllheim ) to the Burgundian Gate (on the line Belfort – Ronchamp – Lure ) and which forms the western boundary of the Upper Rhine Plain . This landscape forms, in turn,

2639-800: The Weinbiet (554.0 m), and the Eckkopf (516.0 m) near Deidesheim . North of the Isenach only the Rahnfels (516.5 m) breaks through the 500 metre contour. In its continuation to the north its descends from 400 to 300 metres above sea level. South of the Queich the countryside changes due to the somewhat different geological situation (see Landscape character ). Here larger erosion surfaces and rather isolated hillforms (conical hills), which on average reach heights of 450 metres, characterize

2730-587: The 'Dino Park' because of its lifesize dinosaur models, the Gartenschau is open from April through October and is popular with families. Having begun as a series of botanical displays and enjoying success at the first State Garden Exhibition of Rhineland-Palatinate in Kaiserslautern in 2000, this 54-acre (220,000 m ) park has been transformed into one of the most multi-dimensional cultural centres in Germany. Fritz-Walter-Stadion The Fritz-Walter-Stadion

2821-462: The 19th century (the Ludwig Railway and Landau–Zweibrücken line ) brought some improvement in the situation, because it became possible to commute to towns outside the Palatinate Forest and seek employment in one of the emerging industries (e.g. BASF at Ludwigshafen ) outside the region. In the 20th century, the general economic structural changes in Germany also affected the region of

Bad Dürkheim (district) - Misplaced Pages Continue

2912-532: The 450 metre contour line. North of the line from Hochspeyerbach to Speyerbach the highest points are the 570.8 m high Drachenfels and the Hoher Stoppelkopf ( Stoppelkopf ; 566.2 m). In the triangle formed by the Isenach to the north and German Wine Route to the east are other hills over 500 metres in height. The most prominent are Neustadt's northern local hill ( Hausberg ),

3003-424: The 9th century. It is 459 kilometres (285 miles) from Paris, 117 km (73 miles) from Frankfurt am Main , 666 kilometers (414 miles) from Berlin , and 159 km (99 miles) from Luxembourg . Kaiserslautern is home to about 100,000 people. Additionally, approximately 45,000 NATO military personnel are based in the city and its surrounding district ( Landkreis Kaiserslautern ). Prehistoric settlement in

3094-603: The Austrian emperor's army plundered the city, killing 3,000 of its 3,200 residents. It would not be repopulated for about another 160 years. Conflict did not end with the Peace of Westphalia in 1648. The Elector of the Pfalz had difficulty with many of his subjects and ordered all castles, including Nanstein, destroyed. The French repeatedly invaded and occupied the area, residing in Kaiserslautern in 1686–1697. Nevertheless, after

3185-500: The Earth's crust occurred (passive rifting ). At the same time the sides of the newly created lowlands were uplifted, in the case of the Palatinate Forest, to a height of about 1000 metres. These processes, which continue today, have had four important implications for the present landscape of the low mountain region: In the later Paleogene (34 to 23.8 million years ago) and Neogene (23.8 to 2.8 million years ago) and also in

3276-671: The Forest descends in a clear escarpment, especially into the boggy lowland of the Landstuhl Bruch west of Kaiserslautern. To the west of the Großer Hausberg, the Westrich Plateau separates from the Palatinate Forest at the sharp southern boundary of the Landstuhler Bruch in a comparatively smooth transition. It reaches comparable heights in the transition area, but as a muschelkalk plateau it has

3367-441: The French military government under General Marie-Pierre Kœnig . Little reconstruction took place until the currency reform of 1948. The pace of the economy remained slow until 1952, when construction for newly established garrisons of American troops brought economic growth to the area. Unexploded ordnance from WWII continues to be discovered in and around Kaiserslautern. In May 2012 an unexploded 250-pound (110 kg) Allied bomb

3458-756: The Great Kalmit , at 672.6 m, is also the highest point of the entire Palatinate Forest. The ridge begins at the Steigerkopf (also called the Schänzel ) (about 500 m) and heads westwards to the Frankenweide region around the Eschkopf (609.9 m) and Weißenberg (609.9 m). This massif extends from the town of Hochspeyer via Johanniskreuz to Hauenstein . Its central area between Johanniskreuz and Hermersbergerhof rather resembles

3549-429: The Lower and Middle Bunter have produced a scarpland relief, whose cuestas characterize the landscape, especially in the north and east, whilst the southeastern part of the Palatinate Forest is dominated by rather isolated types of hill separated by erosion surfaces. In the bunter sandstone mountains a wide variety of hill shapes may be observed, depending on the various rock strata of which they are composed. Typical of

3640-434: The Palatinate Forest, which was increasingly integrated into the overall economic and transport systems . Secluded forest farming villages became municipalities with a service character through the building of infrastructure (e.g. public transport), and, in many cases, the villagers now no longer worked locally, but in more distant regional centres, such as Ludwigshafen and Kaiserslautern. By contrast local industries in

3731-533: The Palatinate became a Bavarian province and remained so until 1918. After World War I , French troops again occupied the Palatinate for several years. In World War II , Allied bombing destroyed more than 85% of Kaiserslautern. Today 25 % of Kaiserslautern is made up by buildings from before 1945. The railway and several main roads were primary targets, with the heaviest attacks occurring on 7 January 11 August, and 28 September 1944. On 20 March 1945, as

Bad Dürkheim (district) - Misplaced Pages Continue

3822-560: The Palatinate". The best wine-growing area is the Mittelhaardt (" Middle Haardt "), where the Riesling wine is cultivated, which is considered to be one of the best German wines. The coat of arms displays: 49°30′N 8°10′E  /  49.5°N 8.17°E  / 49.5; 8.17 Palatinate forest The Palatinate Forest ( German : Pfälzerwald [ˈpfɛltsɐvalt] ), sometimes also called

3913-753: The Protestant nobility of the Electoral Palatinate were subdued by the Catholic princes. Count of the Electoral Palatinate Johann Casimir , came to Kaiserslautern during the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648). Spanish occupation in 1621–1632 ended when Protestant Swedish armies liberated the area. The city would fall to invading forces again in an especially violent incident in 1635. Croatian troops within

4004-616: The UNESCO guidelines for the design of biosphere reserves would be implemented specifically for the Palatinate Forest Nature Park. This laid down a zoning scheme as its main focus, which envisaged three zones with different objectives and protection functions: The "quiet zones" ( Stillezonen ) also covered in the law are intended to ensure a "recreation in the stillness", but are not part of the UNESCO guidelines for biosphere reserves. The concept originates rather from

4095-443: The appearance of the countryside. Over the millennia, the weathering and erosion of the sandstone, with its varying degrees of hardness, have produced bizarre rock formations, e. g. rock pinnacles , rock faces, rock walls and rock blocks. In addition, the small-scale weathering of strata of differing hardness has produced caves , natural arches and table rocks ( Devil's Table ). On the almost two-kilometre-long rock terrace of

4186-459: The area of what is now Kaiserslautern has been traced to at least 800 BC. Some 2,500-year-old Celtic tombs were uncovered at Miesau , a town about 29 kilometres (18 miles) west of Kaiserslautern. The recovered relics are now in the Museum for Palatinate History at Speyer . Kaiserslautern received its name from the favourite hunting retreat of Holy Roman Emperor Frederick Barbarossa who ruled

4277-521: The arts in Germany are significantly subsidized by the government, its ticket prices are reasonably low. Pfalztheater Kaiserslautern hosts the Else-Lasker-Schüler-Preis awards for German literature. The Kammgarn The Kammgarn is classified as a historical site. It served as a spinning factory before being transformed into the cultural heart of Kaiserslautern. This renovation has preserved its historical character while incorporating

4368-500: The bedrock of the Palatinate Forest today, but they are generally covered by younger rock formations, cropping out only in a few places on the eastern edge of the mountains. These rock strata cover the bedrock and consist, in addition to sandstone , of shale and marl . They generally have a softer consistency and therefore form broad valleys and erosion surfaces in the northern Palatinate Forest (the Stumpfwald ) as well as in

4459-457: The beginning of the Palaeogene period of the Cenozoic era (66 to 23.8 million years ago) the formation of the Alps led to considerable tensions in the Earth's crust , which, in their forelands to the north of the Alps, caused a bulge in the mantle and crust. At the apex of the arch so formed, there were considerable tensile stresses, so that the rock layers were stretched and about 35 million years ago, deep cracks and depressions in

4550-456: The chance to sample dishes from across the world. Kaiserslautern is located in one of the largest contiguous forested areas in Central Europe, the Palatinate Forest , which offers numerous hiking trails and lakes to visitors. Pfalztheater Kaiserslautern Local theatre Pfalztheater employs more than 300 people and features plays, operas, ballets, concerts, and musicals. The first German performance of West Side Story took place there. As

4641-445: The cities in the Rhine valley which were then suffering badly from air pollution. The nature park expansion programme envisaged 95 car parks, 13 camp sites, seven observation towers and five open-air pools. In fact, 62 woodland car parks were created in the first seven years as well as 530 benches and as many waste bins. A total of 370 km of walking routes were added or created and 45 signed circular walks laid out. The management of

SECTION 50

#1732797896453

4732-402: The city centre surrounding the old city ( Altstadt ). In the Altstadt you will find the "Kaiserbrunnen", a large ornamental fountain with symbols of the city's history such as a sewing machine, as produced by the Pfaff company in the city, a football representing the city's football club and various animals that children can climb. Kaiserslautern has a diverse culinary sector, offering visitors

4823-407: The city. Kaiserslautern is a popular destination for tourists, offering a range of attractions, and sites for tourists to visit. Town Hall Kaiserslautern is one of the tallest buildings and is located in the city centre. The bar and coffee shop on the top floor provides a panoramic view of the city and surrounding countryside. The tallest building in the centre of Kaiserslautern is St. Mary's,

4914-427: The context of European integration (the Schengen Agreement ), there has been an increasing trend to regard the entire mountain complex as a single geographical entity again. Evidence of this changed attitude can be seen, for example, in the establishment in 1998 of the first cross-border biosphere reserve, the Palatinate Forest-North Vosges Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO . Whilst there are traces of human activities in

5005-455: The core area in the biosphere reserve, with its mixed stands of primeval beech, oak and pine. The Palatinate Forest is primarily characterised by a block of bunter sandstone and its underlying formations of Zechstein . The tectonically formed bedding of these rock types and their subsequent erosion led to the topography of this low mountain range that we see today. In the Permian geological period (about 296–251 million years ago)

5096-401: The eastern part of the very extensive eastern scarplands of France, which, on German soil, take in large parts of the Palatinate and the Saarland, with older (e.g. on the Donnersberg ) and younger strata ( muschelkalk , e.g. the Westrich Plateau ). While the boundaries of the Palatinate Forest are comparatively clearly defined to the north and east, the transition to neighbouring landscapes to

5187-489: The edges of today's Palatinate Forest, there was increasing population pressure in the Middle Ages (10th to 13th century), especially through the initiatives of the nobility and the church , e.g. through the establishment of monasteries such as the Cistercian abbeys of Otterberg (1144) and Eußerthal (1148), the colonization and development of the mountains. Areas that could be used for agriculture were cleared and settled permanently. This development reached its peak in

5278-418: The establishment of the Palatinate Forest Nature Park and, later the Palatinate Forest-North Vosges Biosphere Reserve . The Palatinate Forest Nature Park was created in 1958 as the third nature park in Germany. In accordance with the requirements of the originator of the nature park concept, Alfred Toepfer , the Palatinate Forest was to be a place of recreation and exercise for the stressed office workers of

5369-446: The expansion of recreational facilities was viewed as complete and attention switched to the care of biotopes and the landscape in the centre. Increasingly there was also a desire to replace the many coniferous monocultures , planted as a result of war, wartime reparations and times of crisis, with species rich site-specific mixed forests . On 20 July 1982 the Palatinate Forest Nature Park Association ( Verein Naturpark Pfälzerwald )

5460-424: The first sandstone formations, some 100 metres thick, were deposited in the area of today's Palatinate Forest; in particular, the rock units of the Rotliegendes and the Zechstein (about 256–251 million years ago) are important. At the beginning of the Germanic Triassic , i.e. from the Lower to the beginning of the Middle Triassic, there was (about 251–243 million years ago) a desert-like climate, so that as

5551-445: The formation of rock layers of different hardness. This resulted in the subgroups of lower, middle and upper bunter sandstone. These bunter sandstone formations were buried by various types of sediments in the adjacent sections of muschelkalk (243–235 million years ago) and keuper (234–200 million years ago), and also during the Jurassic (200–142 million years ago) and Cretaceous (142–66 million years ago). At

SECTION 60

#1732797896453

5642-421: The further impoverishment of the population. Occupations that the forest itself supported, such as lumberjacks , charcoal burners , rafters , resin burners (pitch boilers) and ash burners, supported only a meagre existence. After large population losses during the Thirty Years' War , the population was initially restored and stabilized in the late 17th century, initially as a result of settler migration from

5733-402: The heart of the city is the large and old Stiftskirche (also Protestant). All three have large pipe organs and occasionally host concerts. In Kaiserslautern there is an Islamic Centre for the Muslim communities situated in the centre of the city. The Ditib Fatih Camii is a Turkish mosque in Kaiserslautern. There is also a university prayer room at the University of Kaiserslautern. The city

5824-411: The highest points in the southwest. The category structure of the list is based on the concept for the natural region division of the Palatine Forest . The important summits of the range are annotated with their corresponding landscape subdivision and arranged according to their height in metres (m) above sea level (NHN) . The nearest settlement is given for lesser known hills or those for which there

5915-407: The landscape. The highest points on the German side of the Wasgau are the Rehberg (576.8 m) near Annweiler, the castle hill of the ruins of Wegelnburg (570.9 m) near Nothweiler , followed by the Hohe Derst (560.5 m) west of Bad Bergzabern and the Großer Eyberg (513.0 m) southwest of Dahn . The Hohe List (475.8 m) and Erlenkopf (472.1 m) near Eppenbrunn are

6006-458: The last few decades have caused further structural problems, especially affecting remote communities in sparsely populated areas through population decline, aging and migration. At the same time, the forested highlands has gained increasing importance in the second half of the twentieth century as a place for recreation and leisure activities of special ecological status . This is reflected in various touristic concepts and activities to offer

6097-409: The last of the 1st Army crossed the Rhine at Remagen , the U.S. 80th Division , 319th Infantry, part of the 3rd US Army , seized Kaiserslautern without resistance. The city became part of the French occupation zone after the Second World War. The establishment of the state of Rhineland-Palatinate was ordered on 30 August 1946 as the last state in the western occupation zones by ordinance No. 57 of

6188-418: The latest sound and lighting technologies. The Kammgarn stands among the top venues in Germany and serves as a first-call club for rising groups and performers as well as established jazz, rock, blues and pop artists in Europe. Performances have included international stars B.B. King , Manfred Mann's Earth Band , Pat Metheny , Uriah Heep and Jan Garbarek. Gartenschau (garden exhibition) Better known as

6279-451: The more habitable regions of what is now the Palatinate, taking place since the Neolithic period (5,500-4,500 BC), and especially in Celtic (800 to 10 BC) and Roman (10 BC to 450 AD) times, the mountains on the west bank of the Rhine were practically uninhabited and covered by dense, ancient forest until the end of the Migration Period (about 600 AD). After the Frankish conquests in the Early Middle Ages (7th to 10th century) took them to

6370-424: The mountains became rarer or were closed, as can be seen in the example of the footwear industry. Since its heyday in the 1950s and 1960s, globalization has seen the relocation of shoe production abroad, resulting in the almost total collapse of the industry, reinforced especially in the 1980s and 1990s by increasing unemployment and induced migration trends. In addition, the far-reaching demographic changes of

6461-409: The mountains were rapidly exhausted and over-population and poverty, in particular in the 19th century, led to increased emigration to the New World . Apart from the modest level of iron extraction and processing, work in the forests and the operation of paper mills , the shoemaking industry in the region Pirmasens was the only real source of income. This meant that the railway in the second half of

6552-495: The names used by the handbook has prevailed. The most important subordinate landscapes are listed with the aid of a map; the map only showing the names of well-known landscapes and only the more significant landscape boundaries. The name Pfälzerwald was first used in 1843 – when the Palatinate was part of the Kingdom of Bavaria – by foresters in the centrally-located municipality of Johanniskreuz , who used it to refer to

6643-460: The narrow Zaberner Steige forms a border between the Palatinate Forest, which continues into France as the North Vosges ( Vosges du Nord or Nordvogesen ) and the "actual" Vosges . Geomorphologically and geologically, this dividing line is less pronounced than is the case on the right bank of the Rhine, where the Odenwald and Black Forest are clearly separated from each other by the lowland of

6734-454: The native population additional work and income opportunities and to assist in counteracting the structural changes described above. Whereas the Palatinate Forest was earlier seen mainly as a source of raw materials and energy supply, today, in addition to its recreation and leisure function, its ecological importance as a "special protected landscape" has come to the forefront. This change in attitude found visible expression, inter alia, through

6825-570: The native tongue of the Amish and others—than any other dialect of German. The district is located on the eastern rim of the Palatinate Forest a line of hills called the Haardt . The German Wine Road ( Deutsche Weinstraße ), a scenic road along the best vineyards of the Palatinate wine region , runs through the district from north to south. The district is sometimes called "the heart of

6916-640: The nature park took over the Palatinate Forest Club (PWV). The 20 open shelters, built for walkers in log house style, were named "Fischer Huts" after the managing director of the Palatinate Forest Club, Ludwig Fischer. In the mid-1960s, the PWV came to the conclusion that the work required could not be done by volunteers and handed the management of the nature park to the Palatinate provincial government. By 1974, 3.7 million euros had been spent on improving recreational opportunities. Around 1975

7007-617: The northern and central Palatinate Forest are prominent hill "blocks" ( Bergklötze ) and elongated trapezium-shaped ridges, frequently with rocky summit areas (e. g. the Kesselberg , 661.8 m) whilst, in the western part of the range, plateau-like hill formations with clearings predominate. In the southeastern Palatinate Forest, by contrast, the sediments of the Rotliegendes and Zechstein (erosion surfaces), and especially resistant Trifels and Rehberg beds (conical hills) influence

7098-408: The old protected area regulation for the Palatinate Forest Nature Park (1984) and therefore overlaps with the other three zones. Core, buffer and transition zones are representatively distributed over the area of the biosphere reserve. As part of this, some 16 core zones were defined, together covering about 2.3 percent of the area. The source region of the Wieslauter (2,296 ha) being the largest of

7189-527: The owner of Nanstein Castle. He became a Protestant , and in 1522 Nanstein was a stronghold for local nobles favouring the Reformation . Sickingen and the local nobles began their battle against the Archbishop of Trier ; but the attack was unsuccessful, and they retreated to Nanstein. Nanstein was then besieged by cannon -armed German Catholic princes. Sickingen died after the castle surrendered, and

7280-570: The region during the era of the Salian (10th-12th centuries) and Hohenstaufen (12th and 13th century) emperors, with the construction of Trifels Castle and other castles in the surrounding area that, for a time, made it the centre of power of the empire. This development took place in the Late Middle Ages (13th to 15th centuries) and Early Modern Period (16th to 18th century), because disease (e.g. The Plague ) and famine led to

7371-605: The southeast. The southern Palatinate sandstone formations of the Zechstein are divided into four strata having a total thickness of about 80 to 100 metres. The rock unit of bunter sandstone is divided into three strata: Weathering and erosion of the different rock strata of the Palatine Forest with their variable hardness have resulted in a low mountain landscape with a dense, deeply incised system of valleys and wide variety of hill shapes. The hard and resistant rocks of

7462-472: The town an imperial city in 1276. St. Martin 's Church was built in the 14th century, originally as a Franciscan monastery church. Today a section of the original city wall still stands in the courtyard of the church. By 1375, the city of Kaiserslautern was pledged to Electoral Palatinate and therefore became subsequently part of the Wittelsbach inheritance. In 1519, Franz von Sickingen became

7553-449: The treaty of Utrecht it was restored to be part of the Palatinate. During the unquiet episodes in the 18th century, the Palatinate was the scene of fighting between French and German troops of different states. In 1713, the French destroyed Barbarossa's castle and the city's wall towers. From 1793 until Napoleon 's defeat at Waterloo in 1815, the area was under French administration. As French power declined after 1815, Kaiserslautern and

7644-401: The use of the forest to obtain firewood and timber did not follow the principles of sustainability . On the one hand, the production of straw ( foliage as bedding for cattle) and wood pasture damaged the soils and forests; on the other hand the manufacture of iron , glass and potash , which needed a lot of wood, led for centuries to the overuse and destruction of the forest and thus to

7735-445: The valley floor is wide and they are therefore especially well suited for the construction of ponds, or woogs , reservoirs and small lakes (see below). Kaiserslautern Kaiserslautern ( German pronunciation: [ˌkaɪzɐsˈlaʊtɐn] ; Palatinate German : Lautre ) is a town in southwest Germany, located in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate at the edge of the Palatinate Forest . The historic centre dates to

7826-625: The west and south is less sharp. To the north, the Palatinate Forest is adjoined by the North Palatine Uplands , including the Donnersberg ( 686.5 m ). This is where the bunter sandstone formations typical of the Palatinate Forest end, being replaced by other types of rock such as those of the Rotliegendes . This results in a clear geomorphological separation of the two landscape areas, which runs approximately along

7917-482: The woods of the bunter sandstone region of the Palatinate. Its use was extended when, in 1902, the Palatinate Forest Club ( Pfälzerwald-Verein or PWV) was founded, Fritz Claus, one of the pioneers of the PWV, in particular, strove to promote the name. A more precise, scientifically based definition of the Palatinate Forest as an independent natural region was introduced in 1911 by Daniel Häberle,

8008-475: Was found, buried deeply and reportedly covered by water pipe, during a construction project in the downtown area of the city. On 5 September 2013, another WWII bomb was found during construction near the train station in Enkenbach-Alsenborn. In the late 1940s, Kaiserslautern area became the largest U.S. garrison outside the United States ( Kaiserslautern Military Community ). On 14 November 1956,

8099-441: Was founded as a support organization. The members of the association are those counties and independent towns whose territories are covered by the nature park as well as the Palatinate regional association, various rambling and sports clubs and environmental organizations. Many social organisations are involved in the work of the nature park, ensuring the independence of academic and regional individual interests. The association's goal

8190-463: Was founded in 1970. Industry flourished around the time of the first oil crisis (1973). In the 1970s, many industrial companies went through a crisis. In 1981, the spinning mill went bankrupt; Pfaff and Opel fired employees. The downsizing of the American garrison and the withdrawal of the French garrison cost more jobs. Kaiserslautern has a moderate climate with adequate rainfall year-round. It

8281-568: Was once the site of the magnificent Moorish Revival Kaiserslautern synagogue. Built in 1886, the synagogue's great dome could be seen from across the city skyline. The Nazi government forcibly demolished the synagogue on 31 August 1938. The reason provided for the synagogue's demolition was to create a route for a Nazi parade, but the event served as an example of the Nazis' underlying intentions including ethnic cleansing in The Holocaust , even

#452547