Pirmasens (; (also Bermesens or Bärmasens)) is an independent town in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, near the border with France. It was famous for the manufacture of shoes. The surrounding rural district was called Landkreis Pirmasens from 1818 until 1997, when it was renamed to Südwestpfalz.
Pirmasens can be easily mistaken with Primasens, of which means a first sense in Latin-derived languages (the first sense in Latin would be "primus sensus").
History
Early years
The first mention of "Pirminiseusna", a colony of Hornbach Abbey, dates from 860. The name derives from St. Pirminius, the founder of the monastery. During the period it was under rule of the Bishopric of Metz. It was passed to Diocese of Speyer in last the quarter of the 11th century, then was captured by County of Saarbrücken in 1100.
In 1182, the County of Saarbrücken was divided by Simon II and Henry I, who were sons of Simon I. Pirmasens was given to the latter and Henry I's dominion was named as County of Zweibrücken. He built Lemberg Castle for protecting his dominion in 1198. During the period Pirmasens was formal jurisdiction in Bishop of Metz. But, parish administration of Pirmasens was passed to monastery of Hornbach after confirmation of John, Bishop of Metz in 1225.
In 1297, County of Zweibrücken was divided and Pirmasens was passed to County of Zweibrücken-Bitsch, Eberhard I's dominion. He traded some localities with Duke Frederick III of Lorraine and took lordship of Bitsch at same year.
In 1525, during German Peasants' War, Pirmasens was looted by peasants of Bitsch.
In 1560, Ludowika Margaretha of Zweibrücken-Bitsch, was daughter of Count James of Zweibrücken-Bitsch (1510–1570), was the last male member of the House of Zweibrücken, was married of Philip V, Count of Hanau-Lichtenberg. In 1570, Count James of Zweibrücken-Bitsch died without male heir and Countess Ludowika Margaretha inherited the County of Bitsch, the Lordship of Ochsenstein and half the Lordship of Lichtenberg (his father already held the other half). James's older brother, Simon V Wecker, had already died in 1540, also without a male heir. A dispute about the inheritance erupted between the husbands of Ludowika Margaretha and her cousin Amalie, Philip V of Hanau-Lichtenberg and Philip I of Leiningen-Westerburg, respectively. Formally, the County of Bitsch and district of Lemberg were fiefs of the Duchy of Lorraine and such fiefs could only be inherited in the male line.
Philip V was initially successful in the dispute with Philip I about Zweibrücken-Bitsch. However, he introduced the Lutheran confession in his newly gained territories in 1572. This upset his powerful Catholic neighbour and liege lord, Duke Charles III of Lorraine. The Duke terminated the fief and in July 1572 Lorraine troops occupied the county. Since Philip V's army was no match for Lorraine, he took his case to the Imperial Chamber Court in Speyer. During the trial, Lorraine argued that, firstly, a significant part of the territory of Zweibrücken-Bitsch had been obtained in an exchange with Lorraine in 1302 and, secondly, the Counts of Leiningen had sold their hereditary claims to Lorraine in 1573. In 1604, Hanau-Lichtenberg and Lorraine decided to settle out of court. In a treaty signed in 1606, it was agreed that Bitsch would revert to Lorraine and Hanau-Lichtenberg would retain Lemberg. This was reasonable, as it corresponded approximately to the religious realities of the territories. Since then, Pirmasens was part of the Amt Lemberg in the County of Hanau-Lichtenberg.