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Kaiserslautern town big 2.jpg
Coat of arms of Kaiserslautern
Coat of arms
Kaiserslautern   is located in Germany
Country Germany
State Rhineland-Palatinate
District Urban district
 • Lord Mayor Klaus Weichel (SPD)
 • Total 139.72 km2 (53.95 sq mi)
Elevation 251 m (823 ft)
Population (2015-12-31)[1]
 • Total 98,520
 • Density 710/km2 (1,800/sq mi)
Postal codes 67655–67663
Dialling codes 0631, 06301
Vehicle registration KL
Website kaiserslautern.eu

Kaiserslautern (German pronunciation: [ˌkaɪzɐsˈlaʊtɐn] (About this sound listen)) is a city in southwest Germany, located in the Bundesland (State) of Rhineland-Palatinate (Rheinland-Pfalz) at the edge of the Palatinate Forest (Pfälzerwald). The historic centre dates to the 9th century, it is 459 kilometres (285 miles) from Paris, 117 km (73 miles) from Frankfurt am Main, and 159 km (99 miles) from Luxembourg.

Kaiserslautern is home to 100,569 people (December 2016). Additionally, approximately 45,000 NATO military personnel inhabit the city and its surrounding district (Landkreis Kaiserslautern), and contribute approximately US$1 billion annually to the local economy,[2] the city is also home to football club 1. FC Kaiserslautern that has won the German championship four times.


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.

Medieval period[edit]


The Stiftkirche, Kaiserslautern's oldest church, was constructed in 1250–1350, as the population of Kaiserslautern grew, King Rudolf von Habsburg chartered the town in 1276. St. Martin's Kirche (church) was built from 1300–1350 for an order of monks. Today a section of the original city wall still stands in the courtyard of the church.




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. In 1635, however, Croatian troops of the Austrian emperor's army entered Kaiserslautern and killed 3,000 of the 3,200 residents in three days' plundering.[citation needed] Landstuhl was saved from a similar fate by surrendering without a fight, it took Kaiserslautern about 160 years to repopulate itself.

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 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.

Bavarian province[edit]

As French power declined after 1815, Kaiserslautern and the Palatinate became a Bavarian province and remained so until 1918, after World War I, French troops again occupied the Palatinate for several years.

World War II[edit]

In World War II, Allied bombing destroyed more than 60% of Kaiserslautern, 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 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. 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 Allied bomb 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.

Largest groups of foreign residents
Nationality Population (2017)
 USA 15,985
 Turkey 3,047
 Portugal 3,034
 Poland 2,005
 Italy 916
 China 701


Kaiserslautern has a moderate climate with adequate rainfall year-round, it is classified as a "Cfb" (Marine West Coast Climate/Oceanic climate) by the Köppen Climate Classification system.[3]

Climate data for Kaiserslautern
Average high °C (°F) 4
Daily mean °C (°F) 1.3
Average low °C (°F) −1
Average precipitation mm (inches) 65
Source #1: Deutscher Wetterdienst [4]
Source #2: Wetterkontor [5]




Kaiserslautern Town Hall
Hauptbahnhof (Main Railway Station)




Culture and sports[edit]


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 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.

Pfalztheater Kaiserslautern

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 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)



The Fritz-Walter-Stadion accommodates 48,500 football fans; in June 2006, after renovation, Kaiserslautern was one of 12 German cities to host the 2006 FIFA World Cup. During the five matches played, the first goal ever from an Australian team in a Football World Cup match was scored (by Tim Cahill).

Kaiserslautern is also home to the Football team 1. FC Kaiserslautern, which achieved the title "Deutscher Meister" (German champions) four times and the wheelchair basketball team FCK Rolling Devils.

Museums and libraries[edit]


The Japanese Garden in the botanic gardens.


Other places of interest in Kaiserslautern are:

University in Kaiserslautern[edit]

  • The University of Kaiserslautern was founded on 13 July 1970. Earlier, it was part of the twin University of Trier/Kaiserslautern, it started with the departments of Mathematics, Physics and Technology. Later many more faculties were added.
  • Heinrich-Heine-Gymnasium
  • University of Applied Sciences, Kaiserslautern was founded on 1971. The main departments including Applied Logistics & Polymer Sciences, Building and Design, Business Administration, Engineering and Computer Sciences / Microsystems Technology.

Research Centre in Kaiserslautern[edit]



The largest church is St. Mary's (Marienkirche) - a Roman Catholic church. There is also the historic Protestant Church of the Apostle (Apostelkirche). Right at the heart of the city is the very large and old Stiftskirche (also Protestant). All three have very large pipe organs and occ concerts.



The city has two mosques, the first was built by the Turkish community living in the city. Another one built more recently is the Islamic Centre (which is an Arabic organization).


The city 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, it was destroyed on 31 August 1938, a few months before Kristallnacht.[6]


Kaiserslautern has a broad-based commercial economy, among the big companies located in the city are:

US Military[edit]

1950 photograph of barracks in Kaiserslautern

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) is a combined community consisting of Army and Air Force components. The KMC consists of Army facilities at Kleber, Panzer, and Dänner-Kaserne, Landstuhl, Miesau, Einsiedlerhof, Pirmasens, Sembach, Rhine Ordnance Barracks and Pulaski Barracks along with Air Force facilities located at Ramstein Air Base, Vogelweh, and Kapaun Air Station.

International relations[edit]

Kaiserslautern is twinned with:[7]

See also[edit]


  2. ^ "IMCOM Region Europe — Fact Sheets". U.S. Army Installation Management Command - Europe Region. Archived from the original on 2008-03-28. 
  3. ^ Climate Summary for Kaiserslautern
  4. ^ "Mittelwerte 30-jähriger Perioden". Retrieved May 31, 2013. 
  5. ^ "Klima Deutschland, Ramstein". Retrieved May 31, 2013. 
  7. ^ http://www.kaiserslautern.de/arbeit_bildung_wissenschaft/internationales_kaiserslautern/partnerstaedte/index.html.de
  8. ^ City of Davenport, Iowa | Sister Cities Archived 2008-04-08 at the Wayback Machine.

External links[edit]