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Pirmasens (German pronunciation: [ˈpɪʁmazɛns] (listen); Palatine German: Bärmesens (also Bermesens or Bärmasens)) is an independent town in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, near the border with France. It was famous for the manufacture of shoes. The surrounding rural district was called Landkreis Pirmasens from 1818 until 1997, when it was renamed to Südwestpfalz.

Pirmasens
Town
Old town hall
Flag
Coat of arms
Location of Pirmasens
Pirmasens
Pirmasens
Coordinates: 49°12′N 7°36′E
CountryGermany
StateRhineland-Palatinate
DistrictUrban district
Government
 • Lord mayor (2018–26) Markus Christian Zwick[1] (CDU)
Area
 • Total61.37 km2 (23.70 sq mi)
Elevation
380 m (1,250 ft)
Population
 (2020-12-31)[2]
 • Total40,176
 • Density650/km2 (1,700/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+01:00 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+02:00 (CEST)
Postal codes
66953–66955
Dialling codes06331
Vehicle registrationPS
Websitewww.pirmasens.de

Pirmasens can be easily mistaken with Primasens, of which means a first sense in Latin-derived languages (the first sense in Latin would be "primus sensus").


History



Early years


The first mention of "Pirminiseusna", a colony of Hornbach Abbey, dates from 860. The name derives from St. Pirminius, the founder of the monastery. During the period it was under rule of the Bishopric of Metz.[3][4] It was passed to Diocese of Speyer in last the quarter of the 11th century, then was captured by County of Saarbrücken in 1100.

In 1182, the County of Saarbrücken was divided by Simon II and Henry I, who were sons of Simon I. Pirmasens was given to the latter and Henry I's dominion was named as County of Zweibrücken.[5] He built Lemberg Castle for protecting his dominion in 1198. During the period Pirmasens was formal jurisdiction in Bishop of Metz. But, parish administration of Pirmasens was passed to monastery of Hornbach after confirmation of John, Bishop of Metz in 1225.

In 1297, County of Zweibrücken was divided and Pirmasens was passed to County of Zweibrücken-Bitsch, Eberhard I's dominion. He traded some localities with Duke Frederick III of Lorraine and took lordship of Bitsch at same year.

In 1525, during German Peasants' War, Pirmasens was looted by peasants of Bitsch.

In 1560, Ludowika Margaretha of Zweibrücken-Bitsch, was daughter of Count James of Zweibrücken-Bitsch (1510–1570), was the last male member of the House of Zweibrücken, was married of Philip V, Count of Hanau-Lichtenberg. In 1570, County of James of Zweibrücken-Bitsch died without male heir and Countess Ludowika Margaretha inherited the County of Bitsch, the Lordship of Ochsenstein and half the Lordship of Lichtenberg (his father already held the other half). James's older brother, Simon V Wecker, had already died in 1540, also without a male heir. A dispute about the inheritance erupted between the husbands of Ludowika Margaretha and her cousin Amalie, Philip V of Hanau-Lichtenberg and Philip I of Leiningen-Westerburg,[6] respectively. Formally, the County of Bitsch and district of Lemberg were fiefs of the Duchy of Lorraine and such fiefs could only be inherited in the male line.

Philip V was initially successful in the dispute with Philip I about Zweibrücken-Bitsch. However, he introduced the Lutheran confession in his newly gained territories in 1572. This upset his powerful Catholic neighbour and liege lord, Duke Charles III of Lorraine. The Duke terminated the fief and in July 1572 Lorraine troops occupied the county. Since Philip V's army was no match for Lorraine, he took his case to the Imperial Chamber Court in Speyer. During the trial, Lorraine argued that, firstly, a significant part of the territory of Zweibrücken-Bitsch had been obtained in an exchange with Lorraine in 1302 and, secondly, the Counts of Leiningen had sold their hereditary claims to Lorraine in 1573. In 1604, Hanau-Lichtenberg and Lorraine decided to settle out of court. In a treaty signed in 1606, it was agreed that Bitsch would revert to Lorraine and Hanau-Lichtenberg would retain Lemberg. This was reasonable, as it corresponded approximately to the religious realities of the territories. Since then, Pirmasens was part of the Amt Lemberg in the County of Hanau-Lichtenberg.

Before the Thirty Years War, Pirmasens had 59 families and about 235 inhabitants resident, whereas in Lemberg were counted 54 families (about 215 people). When counting is assumed that at that time there was a family of four to five people. In 1622, Pirmasens and Lemberg were ravaged by Spaniards and Croatian horsemen of the Imperial troops. The imperial army set fire to the village. Even the church was destroyed in a fire, after the withdrawal of the troops, Pirmasenser began to rebuild it.[7] It was again ravaged by imperial troops under Matthias Gallas. They also looted Lemberg Castle, which was burned in 1636. Then the headquarters of the Lutheran parish of Lemberg was moved to Pirmasens.[8] But, it was heavily damaged in it. In 1657, only 9 families (about 40 people) were lived in it. However, the population slowly increased by the immigration of Reformed Swiss, Catholic Tyrolean as well as Franconian and Württembergian families, so that in 1661 21 families (about 87 people) were counted in Pirmasens. However, during the Franco-Dutch War in 1677, the city was burned down again, this time by French troops. During the Nine Years' War, it was sacked by French troops under General de Ezéchiel Mélac, who devastated the Palatinate in 1689. In 1691, only 16 people lived in the village of Pirmasens. At the same time, the part of Lemberg Castle that was still habitable after the Thirty Years' War, was completely destroyed. Thus, the administrative centre of Amt Lemberg was moved to Pirmasens in 1697. This made Pirmasens the most important locality of the region.

In 1736, Johann Reinhard III, the last count of Hanau-Lichtenberg, died without male heir and the duchy passed to his grandson, Landgrave Ludwig IX of Hesse-Darmstadt, the son of Countess Charlotte of Hanau-Lichtenberg, sole heir of County of Hanau Lichtenberg, and Ludwig VIII, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt.

Landgrave Ludwig IX took residence in his grandfathers hunting lodge in Pirmasens and established a garrison. In 1763, Pirmasens was granted city rights by Ludwig IX who stayed in his small residence even after taking office in Hesse-Darmstadt due to his father's death in 1768. The garrison was continuously expanded, a town hall, two churches and a large exercise hall were erected. Residence and garrison abruptly ended with the landgrave's death in 1790.

In 1793, it was the location of the Battle of Pirmasens between Prussia and the French Corps of the Vosges. The French lost the battle, but their opponents' divisions nevertheless enabled them to return and occupy Pirmasens by the end of the year: between 1798 and 1814, the town was included in the French département of Mont-Tonnerre ("Donnersberg-Département" in German). After the French defeat, it was made part of Bavaria together with the Rhenish Palatinate.


20th century


Pirmasens in 1910.
Pirmasens in 1910.

On 15 March 1945 Pirmasens was captured by US troops, and the following year it became part of the newly founded Bundesland Rhineland-Palatinate. During the occupation on Sept. 19 the Museum of Pirmasens announced that about 50 paintings which had been stored in the air-raid shelter at Husterhoh School during the war have been plundered during the arrival of the American troops. The paintings were returned in 2006.[9]


Main sights


Old Postal Building
Old Postal Building

Incorporations


Evolution of population (since 1875):

  • 1875 – 10,136
  • 1890 – 21,041
  • 1925 – 42,996
  • 1933 – 47,221
  • 1939 – 50,560
  • 1950 – 49,676
  • 1970 – 57,773
  • 1987 – 47,997
  • 2000 – 45,212
  • 2001 – 44,822
  • 2002 – 44,367
  • 2003 – 43,971
  • 2004 – 43,637
  • 2005 – 44,137
  • 2006 – 43,456
  • 2007 – 41,875
  • 2008 – 41,358
  • 2011 – 40,887

Politics


Town council as at August 2014:


Twin towns – sister cities


See also: List of twin towns and sister cities in Germany

Pirmasens is twinned with:[10]


Culture



Events



Music



Theatre



Sport



Companies



Education



Notable people



Military


Husterhoeh Kaserne was a former (1945–1994) US military facility in Pirmasens, and is now a mostly closed Bundeswehr facility, which still hosts U.S. Army Medical Materiel Center – Europe. It was a constituent member of the Kaiserslautern Military Community.




References


  1. Wahl der Oberbürgermeister der kreisfreien Städte, Landeswahlleiter Rheinland-Pfalz, accessed 4 October 2022.
  2. "Bevölkerungsstand 2020, Kreise, Gemeinden, Verbandsgemeinden". Statistisches Landesamt Rheinland-Pfalz (in German). 2021.
  3. "Geschichte des Klosters Hornbach". Archived from the original on 2013-09-07. Retrieved 2013-08-27.
  4. Homepage of the Protestant church communities and Brenschelbach Hornbach: The history of the monastery of Hornbach
  5. http://www.historischer-verein-pirmasens.de/pirmasenser_chronik.htm History of village of Pirmasens between 850-1763
  6. http://de.wikisource.org/wiki/Seite:De_Zimmerische_Chronik_2_251.jpg Zimmerische Chronik, vol. 2, p. 251
  7. Julius B. Lehnung: Geliebtes Pirmasens. 1 edition. Vol 1 (740-1790), Komet-Verlag, Pirmasens, 1978, ISBN 3-920558-00-6, pp. 23-24
  8. Fritz Claus: Mary Rosenberg. Legend Sage and history. 3rd Edition, Edenkoben, 1911, publishing Zweibrücker People's Daily, p 331
  9. "Mystery of family's art unraveled: Stolen in World War II".
  10. "Städtepartnerschaft". pirmasens.de (in German). Pirmasens. Retrieved 2021-03-08.

Further reading




Wikimedia Commons has media related to Pirmasens.

На других языках

[de] Pirmasens

Pirmasens – auf der ersten Silbe betont und im örtlichen Dialekt Bärmesens[2] – ist eine kreisfreie Stadt in Rheinland-Pfalz. Sie liegt am Westrand des Pfälzerwalds und ist Verwaltungssitz des Landkreises Südwestpfalz und der Verbandsgemeinde Pirmasens-Land, von denen sie umschlossen ist.
- [en] Pirmasens

[es] Pirmasens

Pirmasens es una ciudad de Alemania, perteneciente al estado federado de Renania-Palatinado. Situada cerca de la frontera de Francia, está así mismo rodeada por el distrito de Palatinado Sudoccidental. Dada su importancia que tenía ,era considerada la capital alemana del calzado.

[ru] Пирмазенс

Пирмазенс (нем. Pirmasens) — город в Германии, город земельного подчинения, расположен в земле Рейнланд-Пфальц.


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