at the Rittersturz Conference in 1948 Monument in Koblenz The state of Rhineland-Palatinate was founded shortly after the
Second World War, on 30 August 1946. It was formed mainly from the southern part of the Prussian
Rhine Province (the of
Koblenz and
Trier), from
Rhenish Hesse, from the western part of
Nassau and the
Bavarian
Rhenish Palatinate minus the county of
Saarpfalz. The Joint German-Luxembourg Sovereign Region () is the only unincorporated area of the state of Rhineland-Palatinate. This
condominium is formed by the rivers
Moselle,
Sauer, and
Our, where they run along the border between Luxembourg and Rhineland-Palatinate or the Saarland. It was initially called Rhenish-Palatinate ( or ); the name Rhineland-Palatinate () was first confirmed in the constitution of 18 May 1947. The
provisional French government at that time wanted originally to leave the option open of annexing further areas
west of the Rhine after the Saarland was turned into a
protectorate. When the Americans and British, however had led the way with the establishment of German states, the French came under increasing pressure and eventually followed their example by setting up the states of
Baden, Württemberg-Hohenzollern, and Rhineland-Palatinate. However the French military government forbade the
Saarland from joining Rhineland-Palatinate.
Mainz was named as the state capital in the regulation; the "Mixed Commission" (), named as the highest organ of state charged with the administration of the new state and with the preparation of an advisory state assembly, started its work in Mainz. However war damage and destruction meant that Mainz did not have enough administrative buildings, so the headquarters of the state government and parliament were provisionally established in
Koblenz. On 22 November 1946, the constituent meeting of the Advisory State Assembly () took place there, and a draft constitution was drawn up. Previously, local elections had been held.
Wilhelm Boden was (after a short term of office as the of Rhineland-Hesse-Nassau) nominated on 2 December as the
minister president of the new state by the French military government.
Early years Adolf Süsterhenn submitted to the Advisory State Assembly a draft constitution, which was passed after several rounds of negotiation on 25 April 1947 in a final vote, with the absolute majority of the
CDU voting for and the
SPD and
KPD voting against. A point of contention involved the draft constitution providing for separate schools based on Christian denomination. On 18 May 1947, 53% of the electorate adopted the Constitution for Rhineland-Palatinate in a
referendum. While the Catholic north and west of the new state adopted the constitution by a majority, the majority in Rhenish Hesse and the Palatinate voted against it. On the same date the first elections took place for the state parliament, the
Landtag of Rhineland-Palatinate. The inaugural assembly of parliament took place on 4 June 1947 in the large city hall at
Koblenz. Wilhelm Boden was elected the first minister-president of Rhineland-Palatinate. Just one month later,
Peter Altmeier succeeded him. The constitutional bodies – the Government (), the Parliament () and the Constitutional Court () – established their provisional seat in Koblenz. In the following period, Koblenz and Mainz each emphasized their suitability as the state capital in a public debate. From the beginning, Minister-President Altmeier pressed for Mainz as the capital because he knew that the south of the country, especially the Palatinate, would not accept Koblenz, which was far to the north and formerly Prussian. On 16 May 1950, the decided to relocate itself and the from Koblenz to Mainz. After the government and parliament moved to Mainz, many state authorities and courts remained in Koblenz, including the Constitutional Court and the State Archives. In addition, the
German Federal Archives and Federal Office of Hydrology were established in Koblenz in 1952.
Consolidation A sense of community developed only very gradually in the "land of the retort", which had been established largely without regard to the historical affiliations of its inhabitants. It was given little chance of survival, especially as it had very few large industrial centres. However, the establishment of numerous military bases, both Allied and , helped to some extent to boost the economy. In 1956, under Article 29 of the
Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany, petitions were made in the regions of Koblenz, Trier, Montabaur, Rhenish Hesse, and Palatinate for their separation from the state and incorporation into the respective states of North Rhine-Westphalia, Hesse, Bavaria, and Baden-Württemberg. All petitions for a
referendum except those in the administrative district of Palatinate won the necessary majority; however, almost 20 years passed before the referendums finally took place. On 19 January 1975, none of the regions concerned returned a majority for being transferred to another state. This put an end to decades of discussion. Only the , a dispute over the districts of
Mainz-Amöneburg,
Mainz-Kastel, and
Mainz-Kostheim, has continued to exercise politicians up to the present day. == Geography ==