Kaiserslautern: University city and home of Fritz Walter

May 17, 2006, 15:52 GMT

Kaiserslautern - Kaiserslautern`s World Cup stadium is the smallest stadium being used at the 2006 World Cup and is named after Germany and Kaiserslautern footballing legend Fritz Walter, captain of the country`s 1954 World Cup winning team.

It will host four group games and one round of 16 match.

Home of struggling Bundesliga club Kaiserslautern, who seem in a constant battle against insolvency and were relegated from the top flight again this season, the stadium itself was temporarily closed after cracks were found in its roof in December.

However, the move was merely a precautionary measure to repair the cracks and it will not affect the use of the 48,500-seater stadium for the World Cup next summer.

It was initially envisaged that the renovated Fritz Walter stadium would cost a total of 48 million euros (56 million dollars) but costs have since spiralled to over 70 million.

Known as the 'City of Barbarossa', where the emperor built a palace in 1152 on the banks of the Lautern river, amid the forests of the Palatinate, Kaiserslautern was occupied by Spain, France and Sweden during the 30 Years War, a conflict which devastated the medieval old town and left the imperial palace almost in ruins.

During the Napoleonic era, Kaiserslautern became a sub-prefecture. Allied bombing raids during World War II destroyed some 60 per cent of the city.

After German capitulation, United States troops installed the largest American air base outside of the United States at nearby Ramstein.

'From a goal factory to a factory for ideas' is Kaiserslautern`s motto for the World Cup. Football is still one of the passions of the 100,000 inhabitants of this university city, which is proud to call itself home to the greatest concentration of scientists dedicated to innovative technologies anywhere in the world.

Group games:

June 12: Australia v Japan 
June 17: Italy v United States 
June 20: Paraguay v Trinidad & Tobago 
June 23: South Korea v Spain

Round of 16:

June 26: WE v RF