main town. They are legally constituted subdistricts, are known as Ortsteil and have a parish chair (Ortsvorsteher) to whom some of the functions of the former mayors have been transferred. Population in 2012 Neighbouring communities Neustadt's neighbouring municipalities running clockwise from the north are the small town of Deidesheim the municipalities of Ruppertsberg, Meckenheim, Haßloch and Maikammer, the small town of Lambrecht and the municipality of Lindenberg. Climate Neustadt has an equable climate, like that of the whole of Anterior Palatinate: warm summers (around ; lower curve of the climatic diagram) during which most of the precipitation falls, albeit the annual total of (upper curve) is quite low, and mild, yet drier winters. Annual precipitation figures are in the lower quartile of those recorded in Germany; only 12% of the monitoring stations of the German Weather Service register lower values . The driest month is March; the most rain falls in June, 1.7 times more than in March. However, they vary only slightly and are very evenly distributed throughout the year; only 3% of the weather stations register lower seasonal variations in precipitation. However, this climate chart is from a weather station at in the subdistrict of Haardt above the town, which is 25 metres lower. So the values differ, with temperatures being a little lower and rainfall higher. The chart shows an annual average temperatures of to in the summer months dropping during the winter. Its annual precipitation measured . History Chronological table Chronology Early history The oldest traces of settlement and archaeological finds indicate that Celts used to live in the area of the present town. They have left behind ringworks, clay pots, coins and weapons that date to the time around 150 B.C. The Romans probably took possession of the land around 20 A. D. Around 400 it was taken by the Alemanni who were superseded in turn around 500 A.D. by the Germanic Franks. There are no precise details for the centuries after the end of Roman rule, but it is known that villages already existed before the actual town of Neustadt was founded: Winzingen, today a town quarter, was already mentioned in 774. The subdistricts of Mußbach, Lachen-Speyerdorf, Geinsheim, Duttweiler and Hambach are also considerable older than the main town. In general it is fair to say that the history of Neustadt is closely linked to that of the Palatinate region. Middle ages Just a