KAISERSLAUTERN

city, Rhineland-Palatinate Land (state), southwestern Germany. It lies between the Haardt Mountains (Pflzer Wald) and the Saar-Nahe-Bergland (Nordpflzer Bergland) and is surrounded by the Pflzer Wald nature preserve. A royal residence existed there in the Carolingian period (after 751). The place-name is derived from Lauter (a local stream) and from the emperor (kaiser) Frederick Barbarossa, who built a palace on the site in the 12th century. It became an imperial city in 1276 but fell under the rule of the electoral counts Palatine by 1375. The city was the focal point of the Palatinate democratic revolution in 184849. By 1900 it had developed into one of the largest industrial centres in the Palatinate, with ironworks and cotton mills. Several of the city's old buildings survive in spite of severe damage in World War II. The cultural heart of the western Palatinate, Kaiserslautern has a variety of schools and museums, in addition to a theatre and a concert hall. The university in the city was founded in 1970 as part of the Trier-Kaiserslautern University joint campus; it became autonomous in 1975. Kaiserslautern is an important banking and rail transshipment centre that manufactures machines, textiles, and automobiles. Pop. (1992 est.) 100,541.