Landstuhl (), officially the Sickingen Town of Landstuhl (), is a

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

in the district of Kaiserslautern, in

Rhineland-Palatinate Rhineland-Palatinate ( , ; ; ; ) is a western state of Germany. It covers and has about 4.05 million residents. It is the ninth largest and sixth most populous of the sixteen states. Mainz is the capital and largest city. Other cities are ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. It is the seat of the

Municipal Association of Landstuhl The Municipal Association of Landstuhl () is a municipal association () in the district of Kaiserslautern, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. The seat of the municipal association is the Sickingen Town of Landstuhl. It contains the followin ...

. Situated on the north-west edge of the

Palatinate Forest The Palatinate Forest (; ), sometimes also called the Palatine Forest, is a List of landscapes in Rhineland-Palatinate, low-mountain region in southwestern Germany, located in the Palatinate (region), Palatinate in the state of Rhineland-Palatina ...

, west of the city of

Kaiserslautern Kaiserslautern (; ) 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 from Paris, from Frankfurt am Main, 666 kilometers (414 m ...

, the town is located near Ramstein Air Base.

History

Early history

The earliest traces of human settlement in Landstuhl date from around 500 BC. The "heathen rock" (''Heidenfels'') from the

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foot ...

period was a holy site until Roman times, and a Roman settlement dates from the 1st century. About 1152, Emperor Frederick I had Nanstein Castle built on the mountain south of town.

Early Modern period

During the 15th century, the lords of Sickingen assumed responsibility for Landstuhl and the surrounding area. The most famous member of this dynasty was

Franz von Sickingen Franz von Sickingen (; 2 March 14817 May 1523) was a knight of the Holy Roman Empire who, with Ulrich von Hutten, led the so-called " Knights' War," and was one of the most notable figures of the early period of the Protestant Reformation. Sic ...

. He converted the castle – Nanstein Castle (), the most visible landmark in Landstuhl and the surrounding area – into a dominating fortress. In August 1522, Sickingen moved to further expand his feudal domains by capturing

Trier Trier ( , ; ), formerly and traditionally known in English as Trèves ( , ) and Triers (see also Names of Trier in different languages, names in other languages), is a city on the banks of the Moselle (river), Moselle in Germany. It lies in a v ...

. After several unsuccessful attempts to lay siege to the city, he withdrew to Nanstein Castle and was subsequently besieged by a coalition of Richard, Archbishop of Trier;

Louis V, Elector Palatine Louis V, Count Palatine of the Rhine ( German: ''Ludwig V. von der Pfalz'') (2 July 1478, in Heidelberg – 16 March 1544, in Heidelberg), also Louis the Pacific, was a member of the Wittelsbach dynasty. He was prince elector of the Palatinat ...

; and

Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse (13 November 1504 – 31 March 1567), nicknamed (), was a German nobleman and champion of the Protestant Reformation, notable for being one of the most important of the early Protestant rulers in Germany. He was ...

. During the 1523 siege of Nanstein Castle, Sickingen fell mortally wounded. His sons rebuilt the castle in

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

style, but it was largely destroyed by

Louis XIV LouisXIV (Louis-Dieudonné; 5 September 16381 September 1715), also known as Louis the Great () or the Sun King (), was King of France from 1643 until his death in 1715. His verified reign of 72 years and 110 days is the List of longest-reign ...

's army during the Rhine campaign of the

Nine Years' War The Nine Years' War was a European great power conflict from 1688 to 1697 between Kingdom of France, France and the Grand Alliance (League of Augsburg), Grand Alliance. Although largely concentrated in Europe, fighting spread to colonial poss ...

Politics

Landstuhl's mayor is Mattia De Fazio, who was elected in August 2024. De Fazio is a member of the CDU.

Economy and infrastructure

Landstuhl is home to Landstuhl Hospital, also known as Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, a U.S. Army installation atop the ''Kirchberg''.

Notable people

* Aaron AltherrGerman-American

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

player * Shawn BradleyGerman-American

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player * LeVar BurtonAmerican actor * Shelley FKA DRAMAmerican musician * David RouzerAmerican politician *

German knight * Rob ThomasAmerican musician * Reggie WilliamsAmerican

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player

International relations

Landstuhl is twinned with: *

Pont-à-Mousson Pont-à-Mousson () is a commune in the Meurthe-et-Moselle department in north-eastern France. Its inhabitants are known as ''Mussipontains'' in French. It is an industrial town (mainly steel industry), situated on the river Moselle. Pont-à-Mou ...

, France (1967) * Bad Münster am Stein-Ebernburg, Germany (1998)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Landstuhl Towns in Rhineland-Palatinate 1320s establishments in the Holy Roman Empire American diaspora in Europe Kaiserslautern (district) Palatinate Forest Populated places established in the 1320s