Area) Exerzierplatz (The geographical center of the city) Countless forests and springs around the city Incorporations 1969: Erlenbrunn, Fehrbach, Hengsberg, Niedersimten, Winzeln 1972: Gersbach, Windsberg Evolution of population (since 1875): Politics Town council as at August 2014: CDU 40.7% – 18 seats SPD 28.0% – 12 seats FWG 10.4% – 5 seats REP 4.6% – 2 seats FDP 4.0% – 2 seats Die Linke 5.0% – 2 seats The Greens 4.6% – 2 seats National Democratic Party of Germany 2.0% – 1 seat Twin towns – sister cities Pirmasens is twinned with: Poissy, France Culture Events the "Landgrafen-Tage" (days of the landgraves) - every second weekend in April Open-Air Highlights at the parade-ground (e.g. musicals, opera) "Schlabbeflicker-Fest", a parade of uniformed musicians - every first weekend in August Parade-ground festival - every second weekend in September Euroclassic festival (Festival of the cities: Pirmasens, Bitche, Zweibrücken, Blieskastel and of the Verbandsgemeinde Zweibrücken-Land) "Grenadiermarkt" (infantryman market) - in Autumn "Novembermarkt" - last weekend of October or first weekend of November Christmas market in Advent Yearly Conventions like "Culinaria" Music Choir of oratory Pirmasens Chantor's house of Pirmasens Theatre Performances at the festival hall Sport FK Pirmasens TV 1863 Pirmasens VFB Pirmasens GW Pirmasens SG Pirmasens Rot-Weiß Pirmasens Blau-Weiß Pirmasens ASV Pirmasens TTC Pirmasens TUS/DJK Pirmasens SV 1907 Ruhbank RC Pirmasens 1. Boule Verein Pirmasens MTV 1873 Pirmasens Companies Carl Semler shoe factory ZWAANS GmbH - Import/Export of tannery machines, orthopedic branche Ergo-Fit - manufacturer of cardiology equipment FWB Kunststofftechnik GmbH - injection moulding Apoplex medical technologies GmbH - products for the prevention of stroke Cytoimmun diagnostics GmbH - cervical cancer screening Koch Maschinenbau GmbH - engineering Peter Kaiser GmbH - Germany's oldest shoe-factory Park&Bellheimer AG - brewery Profine GmbH, Kömmerling - manufacturer of synthetic material; major company psb GmbH SympaTel Telemarketing GmbH WAFO GmbH - specialist in the abrasion technique WAWI Euro GmbH - chocolate factory "Pirmasenser Zeitung" local newspaper "Die Rheinpfalz" local newspaper KD Schaltanlagenbau CONVAR Deutschland GmbH - provides data recovery of hard drives within difficult setups Footwear Concept and Design GmbH - Shoe design, Outsole design, mould manufacture and rapid prototyping Dampf-Shop GmbH WHG-Rahn GmbH - Systems for heating and cooling, plumbing Framas WASGAU AG Education Fachhochschule Kaiserslautern, Campus Pirmasens located in Pirmasens Deutsche Schuhfachschule Notable people Heinrich Bürkel (1802–1869), genre and landscape painter Godfrey Weitzel (1835–1884), Union Army general during the American Civil War Hugo Ball (1886–1927), author,