Pirmasens

Pirmasens began as a small settlement on the western edge of the Palatinate Forest, first recorded around 850 and named for Saint Pirmin, founder of nearby Hornbach Abbey. For centuries it remained a village, until Landgrave Ludwig IX of Hesse-Darmstadt chose it as the home of his soldiers. Under his patronage its few dozen houses gave way to barracks, churches and a large drill hall.

Pirmasens became a residence town in 1763, and its population grew to around nine thousand by Ludwig's death in 1790. Soldiers and their families made up much of the community. The landgrave's death brought the end of the garrison and deprived many inhabitants of their livelihood. Shoemaking offered a new occupation; local tradition recalls simple shoes fashioned from remnants of leather and military uniforms, the beginning of a trade that grew beyond the town.