During the
Holy Roman Empire prior to
World War II, it was also referred to as
Rhenish Bavaria and
Lower Palatinate (
Unterpfalz), which designated only the western part of the
Electorate of the Palatinate (
Kurfürstentum Pfalz), as opposed to the
Upper Palatinate (
Oberpfalz). Formerly a
Celtic region, this area was conquered by the
Roman Empire under Emperor
Augustus in about 12 BC; thereafter, it was part of the province of
Germania Superior. During the decline of the Empire,
Alamannic tribes settled here; their territory was conquered by
Francia under King
Clovis I about 496. From 511 onwards, the area belonged to the eastern part of Frankish
Austrasia, which — as
Rhenish Franconia—became part of
East Francia according to the 843
Treaty of Verdun.
Holy Roman Empire From the Middle Ages until 1792, the Palatinate was divided into 45 secular and ecclesiastical
territories, some of which were very small. The largest and most important of these was the Electorate of the Palatinate (
Kurfürstentum Pfalz), encompassing a number of
Franconian territories on both sides of the Rhine formerly held by the
Counts palatine (
Pfalzgrafen) of
Lotharingia. By the late 12th century, the Count palatine had achieved the status of a
Prince-elector (
Kurfürst), becoming one of the seven higher nobles with the privilege of electing the
Emperor, as confirmed by the
Golden Bull of 1356. In 1214, the Bavarian
House of Wittelsbach was
enfeoffed with these estates, which they ruled until 1918, together with the collateral branch of
Palatine Zweibrücken from 1410. Needing stronger protection, they lost control with the reunification with
Bavaria under Elector
Charles Theodore in 1777. The major ecclesiastical territory in the region was the
Bishopric of Speyer. The
Imperial city of
Landau joined the Alsatian
Décapole in 1521 to preserve its status. Nevertheless, it was seized by
France after the
Thirty Years' War. Other larger regional entities included the
Duchy of Zweibrücken and the
Prince-Bishopric of Speyer. The Prince-Bishopric held possessions on both sides of the Rhine. For centuries, the Electoral Palatinate and Bavaria maintained dynastic links because both were ruled by members of the Wittelsbach family.
French rule In 1794, the
Left Bank of the Rhine, including the Palatinate, was occupied by
French revolutionary troops. As a result of the
Treaty of Campo Formio (1797), the
First French Republic annexed the region. In 1798, the French introduced a new administrative system with the establishment of departments. The area of the Palatinate largely became the
Département of Mont Tonnerre, laying the cornerstone of its regional identity today. Minor parts of today's region were attached to the neighbouring departments of the
Sarre and
Bas-Rhin. The French further subdivided the department into cantons, mayoralties and municipalities, and introduced their legal system (
Napoleonic Code) and the
metric system.
Bavarian rule into the
German Empire, 1871 Following the defeat of
Napoleon at the
Battle of Leipzig in 1813 and the capture of the Left Bank of the Rhine by the Allies in January 1814, the region was, from 2 February 1814, initially under the provisional authority of the
General Government of the Middle Rhine. However, from 16 June of the same year, it was placed under the administration of the
Imperial-Royal ("k.k.") Austrian and Royal Bavarian Joint Land Administration Commission (
k.k. österreichischen und k. bairischen gemeinschaftliche Landes-Administrations-Kommission). In the main treaty agreed at the
Congress of Vienna in 1815, and dated 9 June 1815, Article 51 stated (
inter alia) that on the Left Bank of the Rhine the former French
départements of the Sarre and Mont-Tonnerre, except where set forth in the same treaty, were to fall "with full sovereignty" and ownership rights within the overlordship of His Majesty the Emperor of Austria (
Herrschaft Sr. Maj. des Kaisers von Oesterreich). Initially, however, joint Austro-Bavarian administration was retained. On 14 April 1816, a
treaty was signed between
Austria and
Bavaria in which the various territorial changes were agreed on. According to Article 2 of the treaty, Emperor
Francis I of Austria ceded various regions to King
Maximilian I of Bavaria. These included, in addition to various regions east of the Rhine, the following regions west of the Rhine: :
In the Département of Mont-Tonnerre (Donnersberg): :#
the districts of Zweibrücken, Kaiserslautern, and Speier; the latter with the exception of the cantons of Worms and Pfeddersheim; :#
the canton of Kirchheim-Bolanden, in the district of Alzei. :
In the Département of the Sarre: :#
the cantons of Waldmohr, Blieskastel, and Kusel, the latter with the exception of several villages on the road from Sankt Wendel to Baumholder, for which there was to be compensation, by another territorial transfer, with the agreement of the assembled plenipotentiaries of the allied powers at Frankfurt. :
In the Département of the Bas Rhin: :#
the canton, town, and fortress of Landau, the latter as a federal fortress in accordance with the regulations of 3 November 1815; :#
the cantons of Bergzabern, Langenkandel, and the whole part of the Département of Bas Rhin on the left bank of the Lauter, which had been ceded in the Paris Tractat of 20 November 1815. These changes took effect on 1 May 1816. In accordance with the prevailing Bavarian administrative structure, the region became one of eight Bavarian districts (
Kreise). From 1808,
Bavaria embarked on the administrative reorganisation of its territory, creating districts which, as in France, were named after the main local rivers. Thus, the new district along the Rhine was given the name
Rheinkreis (i.e. the Rhine district), with
Speyer as its capital. Of the former French administrative structure, the subdivision of the district into arrondissements, cantons, mayoralties, and municipalities was, in large measure, retained. The Bavarian government also preserved the French legal system (
Code Napoléon), giving the Palatinate a distinct legal status within the Bavarian kingdom. At the next lower level, the three former French
arrondissements were continued as
Kreisdirektion ("Circle", i.e. district, "direction") of Frankenthal, Kaiserslautern, and Zweibrücken.
Kreisdirektion Landau was, however, a new creation. In 1818, the cantons were merged into 12 administrative districts called
Landkommissariat. In 1862, these were designated individually as
Bezirksamt. In 1939, each one became a
Landkreis (rural district). As his first provincial governor, King
Maximilian selected the Privy Councillor (
Hofrat) Franz Xaver von Zwack, whose name gave rise to the popular Palatine nickname for Bavarians,
Zwockel. In 1832 the
Rheinkreis became the focal point of liberal movements. The
Hambach Festival, a large gathering near
Neustadt an der Weinstraße, proved fertile ground for what came to be considered a milestone in German history. In 1835, King
Ludwig I of Bavaria's
romantic outlook gave rise to the adoption of new, historically evocative names for the administrative districts of Bavaria. As such, the Rheinkreis officially became the
Pfalz (Palatinate). The historic Electorate of the Palatinate had spanned both sides of the Rhine with
Heidelberg and
Mannheim as its capitals on the eastern side, whereas the new "Palatinate" established in 1815–1816 lay solely on the left bank of the Rhine. It included territories that had never been part of the historical Palatinate (e.g., territories of the former Bishopric of Speyer, the imperial city of Speyer or
Kirchheimbolanden, which had formerly belonged to the
Weilburg branch of
Nassau). To avoid confusion of the new Palatinate and the former one (and with the
Upper Palatinate), the name Rhenish Palatinate (
Rheinpfalz) became common and is still used today, but was never made its official name. Another term, that of Rhenish Bavaria (
Rheinbayern), though used occasionally, never gained great currency, but can, nonetheless, be found sometimes on older maps. The Bavarian Royal Family tried to encourage Palatine unity with Bavaria by erecting a royal palace in
Edenkoben, and by restoring
Speyer Cathedral under the direct supervision of King Ludwig I. The new town of
Ludwigshafen was named after the king. Despite these attempts, the Palatinate's representatives to the Bavarian Parliament always prided themselves on the claim that they came from a more progressive region. Indeed, they tried to promote their liberalism, which the French had introduced to the Palatinate, to the whole Bavarian kingdom. German historian Heiner Haan described the special status accorded the Palatinate within Bavaria as being one of a
Hauptstaat (main state, i.e. Bavaria) with a
Nebenstaat (adjacent state, i.e. the Palatinate). In May/June 1849, after the failed
revolution of 1848, and as part of the
Imperial Constitution campaign, separatist elements wanted the district to secede from Bavaria and establish its own "
Palatine Republic". A separatist uprising was suppressed by Prussian military intervention. The Palatinate's union with Bavaria persisted after it became part of the
German Empire in 1871, and, indeed, after the Wittelsbach dynasty was deposed, and Bavaria became a free state of the
Weimar Republic in 1918. In 1910, the town of Landau was declared independent of the
Bezirksamt.
French occupation of the Palatinate After
World War I, French troops occupied the Palatinate under the terms of the
Treaty of Versailles. In 1920, the western
Bezirksämter of
Sankt Ingbert and
Homburg (
Saarpfalz) were separated from the Bavarian Palatinate, and became part of the newly established
Saar basin territory, which, according to the peace treaty, was governed by the
League of Nations. That same year, seven more towns were declared independent of the
Bezirksämter: Speyer, Ludwigshafen, Frankenthal, Neustadt an der Weinstraße, Kaiserslautern, Pirmasens, and Zweibrücken. They remain separate to this day. Between 1919 and 1923, during the occupation, there were French-backed attempts at separating the Palatinate from Bavaria and the Empire. On 1 June 1919, Eberhard Haaß, founder of the "Free Palatine Association" (1918), proclaimed the "Palatine Republic", but failed to occupy the government building in Speyer. On 23 November 1923,
Franz Josef Heinz proclaimed the "Government of the Autonomous Palatinate in the Association of the
Rhenish Republic" at Speyer, after gaining control of the towns of Kaiserslautern, Neustadt, and Landau, and after the capitulation of the Palatine government. In the following days, several more towns fell into his group's hands. The Bavarian government reacted sharply. It organised a squad under the command of
Edgar Julius Jung. On 9 January 1924, Heinz was assassinated while dining at the Wittelsbacher Hof in Speyer. Other leading members of the separatist movement were killed on 12 February, in a shooting in
Pirmasens. By then, a treaty between Bavaria and the
Inter-Allied Rhineland High Commission (the supreme council of the Allied occupation forces) of January 1924 recognised the status quo and guaranteed that the Palatinate would remain a part of Bavaria, thereby putting an end to separatist attempts. Under Nazi rule, from 1933 to 1945, the Palatinate officially remained part of Bavaria, but was otherwise totally reorganised—it was merged with the Saarland into the
Gau Westmark, with headquarters in
Saarbrücken.
Rhineland-Palatinate The union with Bavaria was finally dissolved following the reorganisation of German states during the
Allied occupation of Germany after
World War II. While Bavaria itself was part of the U.S. occupation zone, the Palatinate was occupied by French forces. The French reorganised their occupation zone by founding new states, so that in 1947 the Palatinate was combined with
Rhenish Hesse (
Rheinhessen), the former parts of the
People's State of Hesse west of the Rhine, and the southern part of the Prussian
Rhine Province, to form the German federal state of
Rhineland-Palatinate. The Palatinate formed the administrative district (
Regierungsbezirk) of the Pfalz. This reorganisation came with smaller losses of former district territory to the Saarland, especially in the area of
Sankt Wendel. As part of the 1969 administrative reform, some minor border changes were made in the north. The
Diocese of Speyer and the
Evangelical Church of the Palatinate still exist today largely based on the historic boundaries of the old Bavarian district. The Pfalz was initially one of five districts in Rhineland-Palatinate; however, in 1968, the district was merged with the neighbouring district of
Rheinhessen to form the district of
Rheinhessen-Pfalz. On 1 January 2000, all administrative districts of Rheinland-Pfalz were dissolved. == Pennsylvania Dutch ==