Hochspeyer is a municipality in the district of Kaiserslautern

Kaiserslautern (district)

Kaiserslautern is a district in the south of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Neighboring districts are Kusel, Saarpfalz-Kreis, Donnersbergkreis, Bad Dürkheim and Südwestpfalz. The city of Kaiserslautern is almost fully enclosed by, but not belonging to the district.-History:The district of...

, in Rhineland-Palatinate

Rhineland-Palatinate

Rhineland-Palatinate is one of the 16 states of the Federal Republic of Germany. It has an area of and about four million inhabitants. The capital is Mainz. English speakers also commonly refer to the state by its German name, Rheinland-Pfalz ....

, Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

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

Kaiserslautern

Kaiserslautern is a city in southwest Germany, located in the Bundesland of Rhineland-Palatinate at the edge of the Palatinate forest . The historic centre dates to the 9th century. It is from Paris, from Frankfurt am Main, and from Luxembourg.Kaiserslautern is home to 99,469 people...

.

Hochspeyer is the seat of the Verbandsgemeinde Hochspeyer

Hochspeyer (Verbandsgemeinde)

Hochspeyer is a Verbandsgemeinde in the district of Kaiserslautern, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. The seat of the Verbandsgemeinde is in Hochspeyer....

 ("collective municipality").

History

Hochspeyer's history is closely related to the Cistercian Abbey of Otterberg

Otterberg

Otterberg is a municipality in the district of Kaiserslautern in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate with about 7,350 inhabitants. It is situated approx...

, to which the Münchhof belonged since 1195.

In 1801 the region Palatinate became part of the French Département Mont-Tonnerre

Mont-Tonnerre

Mont-Tonnerre is the name of a département of the First French Empire in present Germany. It is named after the highest point in the Rhenish Palatinate, the Donnersberg. It was the southernmost of four départements formed in 1798, when the west bank of the Rhine was annexed by France...

, and in 1815 it became part of the Bavarian Kingdom.

After World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

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

Rhineland-Palatinate

Rhineland-Palatinate is one of the 16 states of the Federal Republic of Germany. It has an area of and about four million inhabitants. The capital is Mainz. English speakers also commonly refer to the state by its German name, Rheinland-Pfalz ....

.

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

Biosphere reserve

The Man and the Biosphere Programme of UNESCO was established in 1971 to promote interdisciplinary approaches to management, research and education in ecosystem conservation and sustainable use of natural resources.-Development:...

 Pfälzer Wald-Vosges du Nord in 1998 and projects like the Mountainbikepark Pfälzerwald, a route network for mountainbiking, have been initiated.

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

RheinNeckar S-Bahn

The Rhine-Neckar S-Bahn forms the backbone of the urban rail transport network of the Rhine Neckar Area, including the cities of Mannheim, Heidelberg and Ludwigshafen....

 trains on the Saarbrucken–Mannheim line between Kaiserslautern

Kaiserslautern

Kaiserslautern is a city in southwest Germany, located in the Bundesland of Rhineland-Palatinate at the edge of the Palatinate forest . The historic centre dates to the 9th century. It is from Paris, from Frankfurt am Main, and from Luxembourg.Kaiserslautern is home to 99,469 people...

/Homburg

Homburg, Saarland

Homburg is a town in Saarland, Germany, the administrative seat of the Saarpfalz district. With a population of c. 44,000 inhabitants, is the third city in its federal state. The medical department of the University of Saarland is situated here. The city is also home to the Karlsberg beer brewery...

 and Mannheim

Mannheim

Mannheim is a city in southwestern Germany. With about 315,000 inhabitants, Mannheim is the second-largest city in the Bundesland of Baden-Württemberg, following the capital city of Stuttgart....

/Heidelberg

Heidelberg

-Early history:Between 600,000 and 200,000 years ago, "Heidelberg Man" died at nearby Mauer. His jaw bone was discovered in 1907; with scientific dating, his remains were determined to be the earliest evidence of human life in Europe. In the 5th century BC, a Celtic fortress of refuge and place of...

half hourly.

External links

• Hochspeyer Web Site Tourism and Community Town site