A few words about Kaiserslautern

Kaiserslautern is situated in the south of the German province of Rhineland-Palatinate. It counts 100,000 inhabitants, with some 38,000 additional American citizens because of the large military bases in the region. The province itself was formed as recently as 1946 from parts of Prussia, Bavaria and Hessen which had previously never joined together. The Pfalz borders France, Luxembourg, and Belgium and accounts for two-thirds of the wine growing area in Germany.
Cultural centre of the Palatinate and central starting-point in wonderful hiking and holiday areas, Kaiserslautern owes its name back to the emperor Barbarossa. The beauty of the countryside impressed him 800 years ago, and he had therefore a palace built in "Lautern" for himself. The seemingly endless forests have enchanted the Count Palatine Johann Casiir, known from history as the legendary huntsman, the "Jäger aus Kurpfalz".
An archaeological evidence (a sarcophagus), found in 1895, revealed that the mountaintop on which Hohenecken Castle was constructed was fortified as early as Roman times. The final departure of the Romans in 406 AD left the area for several centuries almost uninhabited. In 1152, Frederick I (called Barbarossa because of his red beard) started fortifying the Palatinate, building a castle at Lautern and a number of surrounding fortifications, of which the largest was Hohenecken. The emperor himself stayed often at this palace, which caused the city to be known centuries later as Barbarossa's City.
In 1276 Lautern was granted a city charter by King Rudolf von Habsburg.
At this time a great hall church, the Collegiate Church, was built. Occupation by Spanish, Swedish and French troops during the Thirty Years' War devastated the medieval city. Under Napoleon, Kaiserslautern was made the seat of a sous-prefecture. After the end of Napoleon's era, the city and the Palatinate area as a whole became part of Bavaria. In the middle of the 19th Century was built the Fruchthalle, in which the revolutionary government of the Palatinate assembled.
After the First World War, French troops occupied again for several years the Palatinate. However, the Second World War had more significant impact on the town. More than 60% of the city was destroyed by allied air attacks. After the war, the economic pace remained slow and it was not until 1952 that construction for the newly established garrisons of American troops brought some more money to the area.
The pretty Martinsplatz (St. Martin's Square), the gateway to the old city, displays fragments of architecture from six centuries of civic history.
Its pedestal is composed of 10 reproductions of old boundary stones. At one side of the beautiful square once stood the "Kaufhaus", which was used for storing the city's grain reserves. Here are also the Old City Hall dating from 1745, now home of the municipal music school, the House of the Family Rettig, built in the middle of the 18th century, and the Hotel Zum Donnersberg, where Napoleon once breakfasted.
One of the tallest buildings in the city-center of Kaiserslautern, the Town Hall offers a bar and coffe-shop with splendid views of the town and surrounding countryside.
Another highlight is the Collegiate Church. It is considered to be the most significant late gothic hall church in southwest Germany. The castle "Kaiserpfalz", just next to St. Martin's Square, offers impressive ruins to visitors. An interesting landmark are the large botanic gardens in Japanese style. Another unusual feature is the largest swimming pool in Europe (Waschmühle), 160-metre long, which can be seen from the space. The major focus of the town's nightlife, with a lot of restaurants and bars, is the district around St-Martins-Platz. On the museum scene, noteworthy is the "Palatine Gallery", which was founded in 1874 as a Museum of Trades and Crafts. The museum building having been constructed from 1875 to 1880, today its main focus falls on painting and sculpture from the 19th to 21st century. Located in Germany' s largest forest area (Pfälzer Wald), Kaiserslautern and its surroundings also offer numerous hiking trails and lakes to visitors.