Institut für pfälzische Geschichte und Volkskunde
Kaiserslautern

The institute located in Kaiserslautern deals with Palatinate regional history and folklife studies. It is a major contact point for both scientists and interested laities and provides advice to individuals, associations, clubs, local and federal authorities and to museums of local history. Emigration history of the Palatines, whose descendants now live in more than fifty countries all over the world, is main research of the institute's historians. The studies on medieval castles within the Alsatian-Palatinate culture area enjoy great popularity. From 1999 on, they have been published in a "Burgenlexikon" divided into several tomes. This is the first attempt ever to document each and every castle with both pictures and texts. Alongside, the institute focuses on refurbishing Palatinate history during WW2.

The "Institut für pfälzische Geschichte und Volkskunde" (Institute for Palatinate History and Folklife Studies) disposes of a comprehensive reference library composed of 18.000 books on regional history, a wide range of newspapers, a 300.000 sheet emigration file with an estimated 600.000 registered migration movements and a large collection of photographs. The institute releases the results of its own research activities in numerous publications. In addition, it edits other authors' works about Palatinate history and folklife studies. Videos on Palatinate landscape and history and on ancient professions in the "Pfälzerwald" (Palatinate Forest) are also available at the institute. With lectures, conferences and exhibitions the institute always succeeds in drawing the public opinion to Palatinate history.