Hochspeyer 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 ...

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 ...

. It is situated in the Palatinate forest (Pfälzer Wald), approx. 10 km east of

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 ...

. Hochspeyer was the seat of the former Verbandsgemeinde Hochspeyer ("collective municipality").

History

Hochspeyer's history is closely related to the

Cistercian The Cistercians, () officially the Order of Cistercians ( la, (Sacer) Ordo Cisterciensis, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint ...

Abbey of

Otterberg Otterberg is a town in the district of Kaiserslautern in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate with about 7,350 (as of 6/2006) inhabitants. It is situated approximately north of Kaiserslautern. Otterberg is the seat of the ''Verbandsgemeinde ...

, to which the ''Münchhof'' belonged since 1195. In 1801 the region Palatinate became part of the French Département Mont-Tonnerre, and in 1815 it became part of the Bavarian Kingdom. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

Palatinate (and with it Hochspeyer) was incorporated in the federal state of

Education

Hochspeyer has the ''Münchhofschule'' (a primary and secondary school) as well as three Kindergartens.

Economy

Trade, minor industry and farming shape the small local economy in Hochspeyer. Tourism is about to develop since the Palatinate forest has become part of the

biosphere reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological or o ...

'' Pfälzer Wald-Vosges du Nord'' in 1998 and projects like the Mountainbikepark Pfälzerwald, a route network for mountainbiking, have been initiated. Image:Hochspeyer Fernansicht.JPG, Farmland and forests form Hochspeyer's environment Image:Neubaugebiet Pfarracker.JPG, New development areas lead to a rise of population Image:Hochspeyer Teilansicht.JPG, Good traffic infrastructure and the Palatine Forest attract tourists

Transport

Hochspeyer is near the A6 and A63 motorways. It is also served by the B37 and B49 roads. For rail, Hochspeyer is served by

RheinNeckar S-Bahn The Rhine-Neckar S-Bahn ''(S-Bahn RheinNeckar)'' forms the backbone of the urban rail transport network of the Rhine Neckar Area, including the cities of Mannheim, Heidelberg and Ludwigshafen. The S-Bahn operates over 437 km of route in th ...

trains on the Saarbrücken–Mannheim line between

/ Homburg and

Mannheim Mannheim (; Palatine German: or ), officially the University City of Mannheim (german: Universitätsstadt Mannheim), is the second-largest city in the German state of Baden-Württemberg after the state capital of Stuttgart, and Germany's 2 ...

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: ''Heidlberg'') is a city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914 ...

half-hourly.

Climate

Climate in this area has mild differences between highs and lows, and there is adequate rainfall year-round. The

Köppen Climate Classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...

subtype for this climate is " Cfb" (Marine West Coast Climate/

Oceanic climate An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate, is the humid temperate climate sub-type in Köppen classification ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of continents, generally featuring cool summers and mild winters ( ...

).Climate Summary for Hochspeyer from Weatherbase.com
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Notable people

Johannes Böhm Johannes Böhm (1857–1938) was a German geologist and palaeontologist. He was a researcher in the Prussian Geological Institute in Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 milli ...

(1890–1957), politician (SPD) *Wilhelm Moschel (1896–1954), chemist *Karl Ritter (1916–1994), politician (SPD) *Hugo Ohliger (1920–1999), politician (CSU) *Peter Schwarz (born 1953), football player

References

External links

Hochspeyer Web Site
Tourism and Community Town site {{Authority control Palatinate Forest Kaiserslautern (district)