Landstuhl () is a

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an ori ...

in the Kaiserslautern district of

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 the seat of ''Verbandsgemeinde Landstuhl'', a kind of "collective municipality." Landstuhl is situated on the north-west edge of the Palatinate Forest, west 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 ...

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 Fo ...

period was a holy site until

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

times, and a Roman settlement dates from the

1st century The 1st century was the century spanning AD 1 ( I) through AD 100 ( C) according to the Julian calendar. It is often written as the or to distinguish it from the 1st century BC (or BCE) which preceded it. The 1st century is considered part o ...

. About 1152, Emperor

Frederick I Frederick I may refer to: * Frederick of Utrecht or Frederick I (815/16–834/38), Bishop of Utrecht. * Frederick I, Duke of Upper Lorraine (942–978) * Frederick I, Duke of Swabia (1050–1105) * Frederick I, Count of Zoll ...

had

Nanstein Castle Nanstein Castle (german: Burg Nanstein) is a ruined medieval castle above the town of Landstuhl in Germany, which has been partially reconstructed. The red sandstone rock castle dates from the 12th century and was once owned by Franz von Sickin ...

built on the mountain south of town.

Early Modern period

During the

15th Century The 15th century was the century which spans the Julian dates from 1 January 1401 ( MCDI) to 31 December 1500 ( MD). In Europe, the 15th century includes parts of the Late Middle Ages, the Early Renaissance, and the early modern period. M ...

, the lords of Sickingen assumed responsibility for Landstuhl and the surrounding area. The most famous member of this dynasty was Franz von Sickingen. He converted the castle – Nanstein Castle (german: Burg Nanstein), the most visible landmark in Landstuhl and the surrounding area – into a dominating fortress. In August 1522, Sickingen moved to further expand his

feudal domain A demesne ( ) or domain was all the land retained and managed by a lord of the manor under the feudal system for his own use, occupation, or support. This distinguished it from land sub-enfeoffed by him to others as sub-tenants. The concept or ...

s by capturing

Trier Trier ( , ; lb, Tréier ), formerly known in English as Trèves ( ;) and Triers (see also names in other languages), is a city on the banks of the Moselle in Germany. It lies in a valley between low vine-covered hills of red sandstone in the ...

. 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 was prince elector of the Palatinate. His ...

; and

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

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

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...

style, but it was largely destroyed by

Louis XIV , house = Bourbon , father = Louis XIII , mother = Anne of Austria , birth_date = , birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France , death_date = , death_place = Palace of Vers ...

's army during the Rhine campaign of the

Nine Years' War The Nine Years' War (1688–1697), often called the War of the Grand Alliance or the War of the League of Augsburg, was a conflict between France and a European coalition which mainly included the Holy Roman Empire (led by the Habsburg monarch ...

Politics

Landstuhl's mayor is Ralf HersinaDirektwahlen 2019, Landkreis Kaiserslautern
Landeswahlleiter Rheinland-Pfalz, accessed 9 August 2021.

Economy and infrastructure

Landstuhl is home to Landstuhl Hospital (''Kirchberg-Kaserne''), also known as

Landstuhl Regional Medical Center The Landstuhl Regional Medical Center (LRMC), also known as Landstuhl Hospital, is a U.S. Army medical center, located in the German town of Landstuhl, near Ramstein Air Base. The installation is an amalgamation of Marceau Kaserne (german: Infan ...

, a

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...

installation Installation may refer to: * Installation (computer programs) * Installation, work of installation art * Installation, military base * Installation, into an office, especially a religious (Installation (Christianity) Installation is a Christian li ...

atop the ''Kirchberg''.

Notable people

* Aaron AltherrGerman-American

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

player *

Shawn Bradley Shawn Paul Bradley (born March 22, 1972) is a German-American former professional basketball player who played center for the Philadelphia 76ers, New Jersey Nets, and Dallas Mavericks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed "the ...

German-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 (appr ...

player *

LeVar Burton Levar Burton Jr. (born February 16, 1957) is an American actor, director, and television host, best known for playing Geordi La Forge in '' Star Trek: The Next Generation'' (1987–1994). He also played Kunta Kinte in the ABC miniseries ''Root ...

American actor *

Shelley FKA DRAM Shelley Marshaun Massenburg-Smith (born August 3, 1988), known professionally as DRAM (); an abbreviation for "does real-ass music", formerly Shelley FKA DRAM, is a German-born American rapper, singer, and record producer from Hampton, Virginia. ...

American musician *

David Rouzer David Cheston Rouzer (; born February 16, 1972) is an American politician who is the U.S. representative for North Carolina's 7th congressional district. Previously he was a Republican member of the North Carolina General Assembly, representing ...

American politician * Franz von SickingenGerman knight * Rob ThomasAmerican musician * Reggie WilliamsAmerican

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

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-Mouss ...

, France (1967) *

Bad Münster am Stein-Ebernburg Bad Münster am Stein-Ebernburg is a spa town of about 4,000 inhabitants (as of 2004) in the Bad Kreuznach district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Since 1 July 2014, it is part of the town Bad Kreuznach. It was the seat of the former like-na ...

, 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 Western Palatinate