Landau in der Pfalz

Landau or Landau in der Pfalz (pop. 41,821) is an autonomous (kreisfrei) city surrounded by the Südliche Weinstraße ("Southern Wine Route") district of southern Rhineland-Palatinate. 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. Landau lies east of the Palatinate forest, Europe's largest contiguous forest, direct on the German Wine Route .

Main sights

Landau's large main square (Rathausplatz) is dominated by the city hall (Rathaus) and the market hall (Altes Kaufhaus). in the 19th-century, the former fortifications gave way to a ring road 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 style, 1905–07 on a rise overlooking the city park and facing the modernist Bundesamt, the regional government building. The "Protestant Collegiate Church" in Landau in der Pfalz is one of the oldest buildings in the city. With the construction of the church started in the 14th century, was completed in the mid 16th Century. The "zoo" is located near Landau downtown, along the historic fortifications. Animals are held in natural enclosures. The zoo contains numerous exotic species such as tigers and cheetahs, but also seals, penguins, kangaroos and flamingos and many more.