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Landau or Landau in der Pfalz (pop. 41,821) is an autonomous (kreisfrei) city surrounded by the Südliche Weinstraße
Südliche Weinstraße

S?dliche Weinstra?e is a district in the south of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Neighboring districts are S?dwestpfalz, Bad D?rkheim , the district-free city Neustadt , Rhein-Pfalz-Kreis, Germersheim , and the France d?partement Bas-Rhin....
 ("Southern Wine Route") district of southern Rhineland-Palatinate
Rhineland-Palatinate

Rhineland-Palatinate is one of the 16 States of Germany of Germany. It has an area of and about four million inhabitants. The capital is Mainz....
, Germany
Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands....
. It is a university town (since 1990), a long-standing cultural centre, and a market and shopping town, surrounded by vineyards and wine-growing villages of the Palatinate wine region
Palatinate (wine region)

Palatinate is a German wine-growing List of wine producing regions in the area of Bad D?rkheim, Neustadt an der Weinstra?e, and Landau in Rhineland-Palatinate....
. Landau lies east of the Palatinate forest, Europe's largest contiguous forest, direct on the German Wine Route.

au was first mentioned as a settlement in 1106.






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Landau or Landau in der Pfalz (pop. 41,821) is an autonomous (kreisfrei) city surrounded by the Südliche Weinstraße
Südliche Weinstraße

S?dliche Weinstra?e is a district in the south of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Neighboring districts are S?dwestpfalz, Bad D?rkheim , the district-free city Neustadt , Rhein-Pfalz-Kreis, Germersheim , and the France d?partement Bas-Rhin....
 ("Southern Wine Route") district of southern Rhineland-Palatinate
Rhineland-Palatinate

Rhineland-Palatinate is one of the 16 States of Germany of Germany. It has an area of and about four million inhabitants. The capital is Mainz....
, Germany
Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands....
. It is a university town (since 1990), a long-standing cultural centre, and a market and shopping town, surrounded by vineyards and wine-growing villages of the Palatinate wine region
Palatinate (wine region)

Palatinate is a German wine-growing List of wine producing regions in the area of Bad D?rkheim, Neustadt an der Weinstra?e, and Landau in Rhineland-Palatinate....
. Landau lies east of the Palatinate forest, Europe's largest contiguous forest, direct on the German Wine Route.

History

Landau was first mentioned as a settlement in 1106. It was in the possession of the counts of Leiningen-Dagsburg-Landeck, whose arms, differenced by an escutcheon of the Imperial eagle, served as the arms of Landau until 1955 . The city was granted a charter in 1274 by Rudolf I of Habsburg
Rudolph I of Germany

Rudolph I, also known as Rudolph of Habsburg May 1, 1218 – July 15, 1291) was King of the Romans from 1273 until his death. He played a vital role in raising the Habsburg family to a leading position among the Germany feudal dynasties....
, King of Germany, who declared the city an Imperial Free City in 1291; nevertheless the bishop of Speyer
Bishop of Speyer

The Bishop of Speyer is the Ordinary of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Speyer in the Archdiocese of Bamberg.The diocese covers an area of 5,893 km?....
, a major landowner in the district, seized the city in 1324. The city did not regain its ancient rights until 1511, through the offices of Maximilian I
Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor

Maximilian I of Habsburg was Holy Roman Empire from 1508 until his death, but had ruled jointly with his father for the last ten years of his reign, from circa 1483....
.
Square in Landau
An Augustinian monastery was founded in 1276.

Landau was later occupied by the French
France

France , officially the French Republic , is a country whose Metropolitan France is located in Western Europe and that also comprises various Overseas departments and territories of France....
 from 1680 to 1815, when it was one of the Décapole
Décapole

The D?capole was an alliance of ten towns of the Holy Roman Empire in Alsace, in a league founded in 1354, and discontinued in 1679.In 1354 the List of Holy Roman Emperors Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor ratified the treaty uniting the towns of Haguenau, Colmar, Wissembourg, Turckheim, Obernai, Kaysersberg, Rosheim, Munster, Haut-Rhin, S?l...
, the ten free cities of Alsace
Alsace

Alsace is the fourth-smallest of the 26 regions of France in land area , and the smallest in metropolitan France. It is also the sixth-most densely populated region in France , with 222 inhabitants per km? ....
, and received its modern fortifications by Louis XIV's military architect Vauban
Vauban

S?bastien Le Prestre, Seigneur de Vauban and later Marquis de Vauban , commonly referred to as Vauban, was a Marshal of France and the foremost military engineer of his age, famed for his skill in both designing fortifications and in breaking through them....
 in 1688–99, making the little city (population in 1789 was still only approximately 5,000) one of Europe's strongest citadels. After Napoleon's Hundred Days
Hundred Days

The Hundred Days marked the period between Napoleon I of France's return from exile on Elba to Paris on 20 March 1815 and the second restoration of King Louis XVIII of France on 8 July 1815 ....
 following his escape from Elba, Landau, which had remained French, was granted to the Kingdom of Bavaria
Kingdom of Bavaria

The Kingdom of Bavaria was a Germany state that existed from 1806–1918. Elector Maximilian I Joseph of Bavaria of the House of Wittelsbach became the first King of Bavaria in 1806....
 in 1816 and became the capital of one of the thirteen Bezirksämter (counties) of the Bavarian Rheinpfalz. Following World War II
World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a Participants in World War II, including all of the great powers, organised into two opposing military alliances: the Allies of World War II and the Axis powers....
, Landau was an important barracks city for the French occupation
History of Germany since 1945

As a consequence of Germany's defeat in World War II and the onset of the Cold War, the country was split between the two global blocs in the East and West....
.

Main sights

Landau's giant main square (Rathausplatz) is dominated by the city hall (Rathaus) and the market hall (Altes Kaufhaus). The former fortifications gave way in the 19th-century to a Hauptring that encircles the old town centre, from which the old industrial buildings have been excluded. A convention hall, the Festhalle, was built in Art Nouveau
Art Nouveau

Art Nouveau is an international Art movement and style of art, architecture and applied art?especially the decorative arts?that peaked in popularity at Fin de si?cle of the 20th century ....
 style, 1905–07 on a rise overlooking the city park and facing the modernist Bundesamt, the regional government building.

Economy

Wine-making continues to be an important industry of Landau.

Culture

The familiar luxury open carriage called the "landau
Landau (car)

Landau, when used in referencing an automobile, generally means a simulated convertible.It is originally a coachbuilding term for a type of carriage; see Landau ....
" was invented in the city.

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