On June 2, 1900, Germany 1896 and FG Kaiserslautern merged to form FC 1900. In 1909, the club joined FC Palatia and FC Bayern to form FV 1900 Kaiserslautern.
In 1929 they merged with SV Phönix to become FV Phönix-Kaiserslautern, and in 1933 they finally took their current name.
As one of the founders of the Bundesliga, FKK played continuously in the top division from 1963 to 1996.
It has won four German Championships, two German Cups and one DFL Super Cup and is historically one of Germany's most successful football clubs, currently ranked eleventh in the overall Bundesliga table.
The club's international performances include reaching the quarter-finals of the Champions League in 1999, as well as two appearances in the semi-finals of the UEFA Cup.
Their first league title in the Bundesliga era was won in 1991.
Kaiserslautern then won the German championship in the 1997–98 season as a newly promoted team, which is unique in German football.
After six years in the second division, they were relegated to League 3 for the first time in 2018.
In 2022, Kaiserslautern were again relegated to the 2. Bundesliga as they won the promotion play-offs.
Since 1920, Kaiserslautern's stadium has been the Fritz-Walter-Stadion, named in 1985 in honor of Fritz Walter, captain of the West German national team who won the World Cup in 1954.
Walter spent his entire career in Kaiserslautern.
The club's two predecessors, Bayern Munich and FC 1900 Kaiserslautern, were in the Westkreis League when that league was formed in 1908, with the latter winning the first league.
From 1909 to 1918, the new Kaiserslautern performed well, finishing second in 1910 and 1912.
The team reached first level in the new Kreisliga Saarland in 1919, the Kreisliga Palatinate in 1920 and the Bezirksliga Rhine-Saarland in 1931 and held
The remainder of the 1930s bounced up and down between the Bezirksliga and the top league Gauliga Südwest, one of the sixteen top divisions formed as a result of the reorganization of German football under Nazi Germany.