Additionally, approximately 45,000 NATO military personnel are based in the city and its surrounding district (Landkreis Kaiserslautern).

[6] Local legends claim in 1497, a nearly 6 m long pike was caught in a lake, the Kaiserwoog, with a ring saying it was placed by Emperor Frederick II, personally in 1230, later finding its way onto the city's coat of arms.

As the population of Kaiserslautern grew, King Rudolf von Habsburg chartered the town an imperial city in 1276.

Sickingen and the local nobles began their battle against the Archbishop of Trier; but the attack was unsuccessful, and they retreated to Nanstein.

Sickingen died after the castle surrendered, and the Protestant nobility of the Electoral Palatinate were subdued by the Catholic princes.

Count of the Electoral Palatinate Johann Casimir, came to Kaiserslautern during the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648).

During the unquiet episodes in the 18th century, the Palatinate was the scene of fighting between French and German troops of different states.

[11] The railway and several main roads were primary targets, with the heaviest attacks occurring on 7 January 11 August, and 28 September 1944.

The pace of the economy remained slow until 1952, when construction for newly established garrisons of American troops brought economic growth to the area.

In May 2012 an unexploded 250-pound (110 kg) Allied bomb was found, buried deeply and reportedly covered by water pipe, during a construction project in the downtown area of the city.

On 14 November 1956, a U.S. Air Force F-86 fighter jet crashed into the district office in the Burgstrasse / Maxstrasse area.

With the incorporation of the previously independent communities of Dansenberg, Erfenbach, Erlenbach, Hohenecken, Mölschbach, Morlautern and Siegelbach on 7 June 1969, Kaiserslautern became a city.

[13] Modern-day Kaiserslautern is a centre of information and communications technology, home to a well-known university, a technical college and many international research institutes located throughout the city.

The bar and coffee shop on the top floor provides a panoramic view of the city and surrounding countryside.

Another unusual feature is the Waschmühle (also known as "Wesch"), an enormous 160-metre (520 ft) public swimming pool that is the largest in Europe.

Kaiserslautern has a diverse culinary sector, offering visitors the chance to sample dishes from across the world.

The Kammgarn stands among the top venues in Germany and serves as a first-call club for rising groups and performers as well as established jazz, rock, blues and pop artists in Europe.

King, Manfred Mann's Earth Band, Pat Metheny, Uriah Heep and Jan Garbarek.

Having begun as a series of botanical displays and enjoying success at the first State Garden Exhibition of Rhineland-Palatinate in Kaiserslautern in 2000, this 54-acre (220,000 m2) park has been transformed into one of the most multi-dimensional cultural centres in Germany.

FC Kaiserslautern, which won the Bundesliga four times and the wheelchair basketball team FCK Rolling Devils.

For this reason Kaiserslautern is also referred to as "K-town"; a term coined by the early American military population who had difficulty pronouncing the name.