Cosmopolitan business location at the German-French border

The District of South-West Palatinate scores points for its favourable location directly at the German-French border.

Working and living in one of Germany’s most attractive regions

Nearly 100,000 residents live in surroundings of a beautiful landscape, which attracts numerous tourists year after year. The German-French UNESCO biosphere reserve “Nature Park Pfälzerwald-Nordvogesen” impresses with spellbinding ponds, romantic castles and bizarre sandstone cliffs. Behind the border, Alsatia and Lorraine are beckoning.
The district’s economic backbone are strongly performing smaller and mid-sized businesses, which benefit from the good infrastructure as well as the proximity to the locations of Kaiserslautern University in Pirmasens and Zweibrücken. Yet, also the quickly reached French motorway network is highly important to business in South-West Palatinate.

Our special competence: the shoe industry

The shoe industry is a central pillar of the region. Companies known around the world, like Reno and Josef Seibel or the innovative brand Dockers by Gerli have their home in the district. The so-called “Shoe Mile” in Hauenstein is Germany’s largest shoe outlet centre with 25 stores and one million pairs of shoes to choose from. Scientific institutes and educational institutions deliver the know-how, qualified technical staff and sharpen the district’s profile as key business location of the shoe industry. Anyone seeking a career in this industry can receive the fitting education from Deutsche Schuhfachschule (German Vocational School of the Shoe Industry) or at the Pirmasens campus of University Kaiserslautern. The testing and research institute and the International Shoe Competence Centre in Pirmasens offer a broad and practical range of research and services all about shoe manufacturing, suppliers and retail.

Creative businesses and a powerful educational system

Based on the needs of the shoe industry, a powerful plastics production segment has developed. Metal and wood processing, the automotive industry, healthcare, mechanical engineering, environmental and energy sectors, the construction trade as well as the printing and paper industry are further important pillars. Likewise a key role is attributed to down-to-earth craftsmanship and dedicated retail.
Cosmopolitanism and innovative capacity also characterise the educational offer. The schools maintain international contacts, so that the students can improve their language skills and gather intercultural experiences. Special focus in this is of course on our direct neighbour, France.