Bann is a municipality in the district of Kaiserslautern, in

Rhineland-Palatinate Rhineland-Palatinate ( , ; german: link=no, Rheinland-Pfalz ; lb, Rheinland-Pfalz ; pfl, Rhoilond-Palz) 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 ...

, western

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. Located in the Steinalb valley with the Palatinate Forest bordering it to the east.

Vicinity

It is located between the hills of ''Hausberg'' (474 m), ''Kahlenberg'' (464 m) and ''Kirchberg'' (423 m) in the Steinalb valley, which separates the

Sickingen Heights The Sickingen Heights (german: Sickinger Höhe) form a landscape in the western part of the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate. The region was named after the family of imperial knight, Franz von Sickingen (1481–1523), because most of the are ...

from the Palatinate Forest. Through Bann flows a small stream, the Queidersbach, popularly called Steinalb. It rises at the Ziegelsteige on the Sickingerhöhe.

History

Bann was first mentioned in the year 1182 in a document by the Pope. Until the end of the 18th century the municipality belonged to the so-called Grand Court of the rule Landstuhl, which was owned by the barons of Sickingen the line to Hohenburg. In 1794, the left bank of the Rhine was occupied in the

War of the First Coalition The War of the First Coalition (french: Guerre de la Première Coalition) was a set of wars that several European powers fought between 1792 and 1797 initially against the Kingdom of France (1791-92), constitutional Kingdom of France and then t ...

. From 1978 to 1814 Bann belonged to the canton

Landstuhl Landstuhl () is a town in the Kaiserslautern district of Rhineland-Palatinate in Germany. It is the seat of ''Verbandsgemeinde Landstuhl'', a kind of "collective municipality." Landstuhl is situated on the north-west edge of the Palatinate F ...

in the department

Donnersberg The Donnersberg ("thunder mountain") is the highest peak of the Palatinate (german: Pfalz) region of Germany. The mountain lies between the towns of Rockenhausen and Kirchheimbolanden, in the Donnersbergkreis district, which is named after the m ...

. Due to the agreements made at the

Congress of Vienna The Congress of Vienna (, ) of 1814–1815 was a series of international diplomatic meetings to discuss and agree upon a possible new layout of the European political and constitutional order after the downfall of the French Emperor Napoleon B ...

, the area first came to

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

in June 1815 and was ceded to the

Kingdom of Bavaria The Kingdom of Bavaria (german: Königreich Bayern; ; spelled ''Baiern'' until 1825) was a German state that succeeded the former Electorate of Bavaria in 1805 and continued to exist until 1918. With the unification of Germany into the German E ...

in 1816 on the basis of the

Treaty of Munich The Munich Agreement ( cs, Mnichovská dohoda; sk, Mníchovská dohoda; german: Münchner Abkommen) was an agreement concluded at Munich on 30 September 1938, by Germany, the United Kingdom, France, and Italy. It provided "cession to Germany ...

. Under the Bavarian administration Bann belonged from 1817 to the District of Homburg in the Rhine district, from 1862 to the district office Homburg, moved in 1929 to the district office

Kaiserslautern Kaiserslautern (; Palatinate German: ''Lautre'') is a city 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 Frankfur ...

and belongs since 1939 to the district of Kaiserslautern. In 1982, the 800th anniversary of the municipality was celebrated with a big celebration. Amongst other things there was a big historical procession.

Coat of arms

The coat of arms is held in red and black. On the left hand side it shows a lion on a red background and on the right hand side five silver balls on a black background. The lion stands for the former belonging to the county of Homburg (Saar), while the five balls recall to the administration of the Sickingens for many centuries.

Population growth

The development of the population of the municipality Bann, the values from 1871 to 1987 are based on censuses.

Sports

At the season of 2006/2007 the

chess club A chess club is a club formed for the purpose of playing the board game of chess. Chess clubs often provide for both informal and tournament games and sometimes offer league play. Traditionally clubs host over the board, face to face chess more t ...

SC Bann took part in the 1.Schachbundesliga (the highest reachable league of chess in

Famous citizens

* (born 1939; died 2006 in

Queidersbach Queidersbach is a municipality in the district of Kaiserslautern, in Rhineland-Palatinate, western Germany. Geography The municipality is located 10 km southwest of Kaiserslautern in a natural meadow valley on the western edge of the Pa ...

), musician * Matthias Mayer,

drummer A drummer is a percussionist who creates music using drum The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel-Sachs classification system, it is a membranophone. Drums consist of at least one mem ...

of the Heavy Metal-Band "Ross the Boss" set up around former

Manowar Manowar is an American heavy metal band from Auburn, New York. Formed in 1980, the group is known for lyrics based on fantasy (particularly sword and sorcery) and mythology (particularly Norse mythology and Greco-Roman mythology), as well as ...

guitar-player Ross Friedman * Hugo Schmitt, elephant trainer at Circus Carl Hagenbeck and Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus * Leo Spielberger, Football Player

References

Kaiserslautern (district) Municipalities in Rhineland-Palatinate Palatinate Forest {{Kaiserslautern-geo-stub