Kaiserlautern

Kaiserslautern
Coat of arms
Kaiserslautern
Location of Kaiserslautern in Rhineland-Palatinate
Coordinates: 49°26′41″N 7°46′8″E / 49.44472°N 7.76889°E / 49.44472; 7.76889Coordinates: 49°26′41″N 7°46′8″E / 49.44472°N 7.76889°E / 49.44472; 7.76889
Country	Germany
State	Rhineland-Palatinate
District	Urban district
Government
• Lord Mayor	Klaus Weichel (SPD)
Area
• Total	139.72 km2 (53.95 sq mi)
Elevation	251 m (823 ft)
Population (2015-12-31)
• Total	98,520
• Density	710/km2 (1,800/sq mi)
Time zone	CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2)
Postal codes	67655–67663
Dialling codes	0631, 06301
Vehicle registration	KL
Website	kaiserslautern.eu

Largest groups of foreign residents
Nationality	Population (01.01.2015)
Portugal	1,003
Turkey	917
United States	882
Italy	789
Poland	738
China	498

Kaiserslautern (German pronunciation: [ˌkaɪzɐsˈlaʊtɐn]) 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. 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.

Kaiserslautern received its name from the favorite 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 the western approach to the city. Barbarossa's influence on Kaiserslautern remains today, both in its nickname as a "Barbarossa city" and the open-mouthed pike on the city's coat of arms, reportedly his favorite dish.