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64-594: It is located 5 km (3.1 mi) outside Kaiserslautern and has a population of just under 4,000. The village is greatly influenced by the large number of Americans stationed in the area, often called the Kaiserslautern Military Community . This Kaiserslautern district location article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Kaiserslautern Kaiserslautern ( German pronunciation: [ˌkaɪzɐsˈlaʊtɐn] ; Palatinate German : Lautre )

128-610: 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

192-475: 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

256-550: 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)

320-728: Is twinned with: Kaiserslautern also has friendly relations with: Electoral Palatinate The Electoral Palatinate ( German : Kurpfalz ) or the Palatinate ( Pfalz ), officially the Electorate of the Palatinate ( Kurfürstentum Pfalz ), was a constituent state of the Holy Roman Empire . The electorate had its origins under the rulership of the Counts Palatine of Lotharingia in 915; it

384-543: 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

448-468: 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

512-540: 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 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

576-508: 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

640-477: 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

704-584: Is marked by the rule of Elector Palatine Frederick V , whose coronation as king of Bohemia in 1619 sparked the Thirty Years' War . After the 1648 Peace of Westphalia , the ravaged lands were further afflicted by the Reunion campaigns launched by King Louis XIV of France, culminating in the Nine Years' War (1688–97). Ruled in personal union with the Electorate of Bavaria from 1777, the Palatinate

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768-633: The Ezzonid dynasty governed several counties on both banks of the river. The southernmost point was near Alzey . From about 1085/86, after the death of the last Ezzonian count palatine Herman II , Palatinate authority ceased to have any military significance in Lotharingia. In practice, the Count Palatinate's Palatine authority had collapsed, reducing his successor ( Henry of Laach ) to a mere feudal magnate over his own territories – along

832-777: The Golden Bull of 1356 . The territory stretched from the left bank of the Upper Rhine , from the Hunsrück mountain range in what is today the Palatinate region in the German federal state of Rhineland-Palatinate and the adjacent parts of the French regions of Alsace and Lorraine (bailiwick of Seltz from 1418 to 1766) to the opposite territory on the east bank of the Rhine in present-day Hesse and Baden-Württemberg up to

896-654: The House of Salm (Count Otto I of Salm in 1040) and the House of Babenberg ( Henry Jasomirgott in 1140/41). The first hereditary Count Palatine of the Rhine was Conrad , a member of the House of Hohenstaufen and younger half-brother of Emperor Frederick Barbarossa . The territories attached to this hereditary office in 1156 started from those held by the Hohenstaufens in the Donnersberg , Nahegau , Haardt , Bergstraße and Kraichgau regions (other branches of

960-677: The Odenwald range and the southern Kraichgau region, containing the capital cities of Heidelberg and Mannheim . The counts palatine of the Rhine held the office of imperial vicars in the territories under Frankish law (in Franconia , Swabia and the Rhineland ) and ranked among the most significant secular Princes of the Holy Roman Empire . In 1541 elector Otto Henry converted to Lutheranism . Their climax and decline

1024-696: The University of Heidelberg , the oldest University in Germany . In 1400, the Elector Palatine, Rupert III , was elected as King of the Romans , but he was never crowned as Holy Roman Emperor because he was defeated in Italy while attempting to travel to Rome for a coronation. Due to the practice of dividing territories among different branches of the family, by the early 16th century junior lines of

1088-682: The Wittelsbach inheritance. In 1519, Franz von Sickingen became 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

1152-563: The orb represented their position as Arch- Steward of the Holy Roman Empire. In 1806, Baden was raised to a grand duchy and parts of the former Palatinate including Mannheim became part of it. At the Congress of Vienna in 1814 and 1815, southern parts of the left-bank Palatinate were restored and enlarged by mediatisation (consuming the former Prince-Bishopric of Speyer , the Free Imperial City of Speyer , and others) up to

1216-587: 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

1280-603: 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

1344-441: 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

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1408-583: The Hohenstaufens received lands in the Duchy of Swabia , Franche-Comté , and so forth). Much of this was from their imperial ancestors, the Salian emperors, and apart from Conrad's maternal ancestry, the Counts of Saarbrücken . These backgrounds explain the composition of Upper and Rhenish Palatinate in the inheritance centuries onwards. About 1182, Conrad moved his residence from Stahleck Castle near Bacharach up

1472-669: The Palatinate married Philippe of Orléans , younger brother of Louis XIV ; on this basis, Louis claimed the Rhineland territories of the Palatinate for France. However, he was outmaneuvered by Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor , whose third wife was Eleonore-Magdalena of Pfalz-Neuburg , eldest daughter of Philip William , a Catholic who was the closest male heir in the direct line. Leopold installed his father-in-law as Elector Palatine, ensuring that his electoral vote and this strategic region remained in Imperial control. When France invaded

1536-474: 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

1600-469: The Palatinate in September 1688 to enforce its claim, these wider connections meant the conflict rapidly escalated, leading to the outbreak of the Nine Years' War . The French were forced to withdraw in 1689 but before doing so, destroyed much of Heidelberg, another 20 substantial towns and numerous villages. This destruction was systematically applied across a large section of the Rhineland but especially

1664-623: The Palatinate restored to her son Charles Louis and the Protestant cause. When the Peace of Westphalia ended the war in 1648, he regained the Lower Palatinate and the title 'Elector Palatine' but now ranked lower in precedence than the others. He was succeeded by Charles II, Elector Palatine , in 1680, but the Simmern branch became extinct in the male line after he died in 1685. In 1670, Charles II's sister Elizabeth Charlotte of

1728-654: The Palatinate territories until 1918. During a later division of territory among the heirs of Duke Louis II, Duke of Upper Bavaria , in 1294, the elder branch of the Wittelsbachs came into possession of both the Rhenish Palatinate and the territories in the Bavarian Nordgau (Bavaria north of the Danube river) with the centre around the town of Amberg . As this region was politically connected to

1792-402: The Palatinate, which was raided again in 1693; the devastation shocked much of Europe. France later renounced its claim to the region in the 1697 Treaty of Ryswick . Johann Wilhelm succeeded as elector in 1690, changing his residence first to Düsseldorf , then back to Heidelberg and finally Mannheim in 1720. Like his father, he was a Catholic, which under the 1555 Peace of Augsburg meant

1856-535: The Palatinate. By marriage, the Palatinate's arms also became quartered with those of Welf and later Wittelsbach. The arms of Bavaria were used with reference to the elector's holdings in Bavaria. This was extended to quartering of the lion and the Bavarian Arms upon the ascension of Maximilian I to the position of elector of the Palatinate in 1623, used concurrently with the arms shown. From 1356 onwards,

1920-722: The Palatine Wittelsbachs came to rule in Simmern , Kaiserslautern , and Zweibrücken in the Lower Palatinate, and in Neuburg and Sulzbach in the Upper Palatinate. The Elector Palatine, now based in Heidelberg, adopted Lutheranism in the 1530s; when the senior branch of the family died out in 1559, the electorate passed to Frederick III of Simmern, a staunch Calvinist , and the Palatinate became one of

1984-730: The Protestant majority in the Palatinate was theoretically obliged to convert to Catholicism. The 1705 'Palatine Church Division' compromised by allocating five-sevenths of public church property to the Reformed or Calvinist church and the remainder to Catholicism, while excluding the Lutheran Church, whose membership exceeded 40% of the population in some areas. In 1716, Charles Philip succeeded his brother as elector and in January 1742, helped his cousin Charles Albert become

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2048-536: The Rhenish Palatinate, the name Upper Palatinate ( German : Oberpfalz ) became common from the early 16th century in contrast to the Lower Palatinate along the Rhine. With the Treaty of Pavia in 1329, the Wittelsbach Emperor Louis IV , a son of Louis II, returned the Palatinate to his nephews Rudolf and Rupert I . In the Golden Bull of 1356 , the Palatinate was recognized as one of

2112-708: The Rhine ) in a pre-arranged exchange for Tyrol , which Bavaria returned to Austria. Most of the area remained a part of Bavaria until after the Second World War (after 1918 the Free State of Bavaria ), with some western parts becoming part of the Territory of the Saar Basin after World War I. In September 1946 the territory was made part of the federal state of Rhineland-Palatinate , along with former left bank territories of Prussia (southern part of

2176-725: The Rhine river to Heidelberg . Upon Conrad's death in 1195, the Palatinate passed to the House of Welf through the (secret) marriage of his daughter Agnes with Henry of Brunswick . When Henry's son Henry the Younger died without heirs in 1214, the Hohenstaufen king Frederick II enfeoffed the Wittelsbach Duke Louis I of Bavaria , whose son, Otto II of Bavaria , married Agnes of the Palatinate , daughter of Henry of Brunswick and Agnes of Hohenstaufen , in 1222. The Bavarian House of Wittelsbach eventually held

2240-603: The Rhine'. The Palatine territories on the left bank of the Rhine were annexed by France in 1795, mainly becoming part of the Mont-Tonnerre department. In 1799 Elector Charles Theodore died and the territory was inherited by the Duke of Palatine Zweibrücken , uniting all the Wittelsbach lands. The loss of the left bank territories was accepted by the new Elector Maximilian Joseph in the Treaty of Paris . Those on

2304-658: The Upper Rhine in south-western Franconia. From this time on, his territory became known as the County Palatine of the Rhine (not because Palatine authority existed there, but as an acknowledgement that the Count still held the title, if not the authority, of Count Palatine). Various noble dynasties competed to be enfeoffed with the Palatinate by the Holy Roman Emperor – among them the House of Ascania ,

2368-521: 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

2432-662: The castle surrendered, and 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

2496-520: 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

2560-472: The city and its surrounding district ( Landkreis Kaiserslautern ). Prehistoric settlement in 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

2624-510: 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

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2688-407: 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,

2752-411: The favourite hunting retreat of Holy Roman Emperor Frederick Barbarossa who ruled 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

2816-404: The first non-Habsburg emperor in over 300 years. He died in December and the Palatinate passed to Charles Theodore , then Duke of Sulzbach , who also inherited the Electorate of Bavaria in 1777. The title and authority of the two electorates were combined, Charles and his heirs retaining only the vote and precedence of the Bavarian elector, although continuing to use the title 'Count Palatine of

2880-402: 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

2944-409: 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

3008-418: 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

3072-507: The major centers of Calvinism in Europe, supporting Calvinist rebellions in both the Netherlands and France . Elector Frederick IV became the leader of the Protestant Union in 1608. In 1619, the Protestant Frederick V , Elector Palatine, accepted the throne of Bohemia from the Bohemian Diet . This initiated the 1618–1648 Thirty Years' War , one of the most destructive conflicts in human history; it caused over eight million fatalities from military action, violence, famine, and plague in

3136-493: The most important of the Counts Palatine. Marital alliances meant that, by the Middle Ages, most Count Palatine positions had been inherited by the duke of the associated province, but the importance of the Count Palatine of Lotharingia enabled it to remain as an independent position. In 985, Herman I , a scion of the Ezzonids , is mentioned as count palatine of Lotharingia (which by then had been divided into Upper and Lower Lotharingia ). While his Palatine authority operated over

3200-440: The new border with France, and given (temporarily) to the Habsburg Austrian Empire ; after this time, it was this new region that was principally known as "the Palatinate". The right-bank Palatinate remained with Baden while northern parts became part of Prussia ( Rhine Province ) and Hesse ( Rhenish Hesse ). In 1816, the Palatinate became a formal part of the Wittelsbach Kingdom of Bavaria (the Rheinkreis or Circle of

3264-440: The period 1621–1622, the Palatinate was occupied by Spanish and Bavarian troops and Frederick was exiled to the Dutch Republic . His territories and electoral rights were transferred to the distantly related but Catholic Maximilian I of Bavaria , Duke of Bavaria and now Prince Elector Palatine After his death in 1632, Frederick's daughter Princess Elizabeth and wife Elizabeth Stuart, Queen of Bohemia , worked tirelessly to have

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3328-410: The right were taken by the Elector of Baden , after the 1805 Peace of Pressburg dissolved the Holy Roman Empire; the remaining Wittelsbach territories were united by Maximilian Joseph as the Kingdom of Bavaria . In 1156 Conrad of Hohenstaufen , brother of Emperor Frederick Barbarossa, became Count Palatine. The old coat of arms of the House of Hohenstaufen , the single lion, became coat of arms of

3392-439: The secular electorates, and given the hereditary offices of archsteward ( German : Erztruchseß , Latin : Archidapifer ) of the Empire and imperial vicar ( Reichsverweser ) of Franconia, Swabia, the Rhine, and southern Germany. From that time forth, the Count Palatine of the Rhine was usually known as the Elector Palatine ( German : Kurfürst von der Pfalz , Latin : Palatinus elector ). In 1386, Rupert I helped establish

3456-431: The semi-independent authority of the dukes (and their successors). Under the Merovingian dynasty , the position had been a purely appointed one, but by the Middle Ages had evolved into an hereditary one. Up to the tenth century, the Frankish empire was centered at the royal palace ( Pfalz ) in Aachen , in what had become the Carolingian kingdom of Lotharingia . Consequently, the Count Palatine of Lotharingia became

3520-449: 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

3584-406: The vast majority in the German states of the Holy Roman Empire. In terms of proportional German casualties and destruction, it was surpassed only by the period January to May 1945 and remains the single greatest war trauma in German memory. Frederick was evicted from Bohemia in 1620 following his defeat by the forces of Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor , at the Battle of the White Mountain . Over

3648-408: The western approach to the city. Barbarossa's influence on Kaiserslautern remains today, in its nickname as 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,

3712-409: The whole of Upper Lorraine , the feudal territories of his family were instead scattered around south-western Franconia, including parts of the Rhineland around Cologne and Bonn , and areas around the rivers Moselle and Nahe . In continual conflicts with the rivalling Archbishops of Cologne , he changed the emphasis of his rule to the southern Eifel region and further to the Upper Rhine, where

3776-451: Was constructed in 1250–1350. As the population of Kaiserslautern grew, King Rudolf von Habsburg chartered 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

3840-412: Was finally disestablished with the German mediatization and annexation by Baden on 27 April 1803 and the rest eventually to the Kingdom of Bavaria as the Circle of the Rhine . The comital office of Count Palatine at the Frankish court of King Childebert I was already mentioned about 535. The Counts Palatine were the permanent representatives of the king in particular geographic areas, in contrast to

3904-404: 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,

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3968-407: 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

4032-454: 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

4096-428: Was then restructured under the Counts Palatine of the Rhine in 1085. From 1214 until the Electoral Palatinate was merged into the Kingdom of Bavaria in 1805, the House of Wittelsbach provided the Counts Palatine or Electors. These counts palatine of the Rhine would serve as prince-electors ( Kurfürsten ) from "time immemorial", and were noted as such in a papal letter of 1261; they were confirmed as electors by

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