Palatinate (region)
The Palatinate
Rhenish Palatinate Die Pfalz | |
---|---|
Historical region of Germany | |
Demonym(s) | Palatine Pfälzer |
The Palatinate (German: Pfalz; Palatine German: Palz), or the Rhenish Palatinate (Rheinpfalz), is a historical region of Germany. Palatinate occupies most of the southern quarter of the German federal state of Rhineland-Palatinate (Rheinland-Pfalz), covering an area of 2,105 square miles (5,450 km2) with about 1.4 million inhabitants. Its residents are known as Palatines (Pfälzer).
Geography
The Palatinate borders Saarland in the west, historically also comprising the state's Saarpfalz District. In the northwest, the Hunsrück mountain range forms the border with the Rhineland region. The eastern border with Hesse and the Baden region runs along the Upper Rhine river, while the left bank, with Mainz and Worms as well as the Selz basin around Alzey, belong to the Rhenish Hesse region. In the south, the German-French border separates the Palatinate from Alsace.
One-third of the region is covered by the Palatinate Forest (Pfälzerwald), including the Palatinate Forest Nature Park popular with hikers. With about 1,771 km2 (684 sq mi), it is Germany's largest contiguous forested area, and is part of the Franco-German Palatinate Forest-North Vosges Biosphere Reserve.
The western and northern part of the Palatinate is densely forested and mountainous. Its highest mountain is the Donnersberg with a height of 687 m (2,254 ft), situated in the North Palatine Uplands near Kirchheimbolanden. Most of the major Palatinate towns (Ludwigshafen, Speyer, Landau, Frankenthal, Neustadt) lie in the lower eastern part of the Upper Rhine Plain down to the River Rhine. Here the German Wine Route (Deutsche Weinstraße) passes through the Palatinate wine region. It is one of the greatest wine-producing regions in Germany, and in the last two decades has become well known for its prize-winning white and reds of highest quality produced by a number of talented young winemakers.
Major rivers include the Upper Rhine tributaries Lauter, Queich and Speyerbach, as well as Schwarzbach and Glan in the west.
Historically the Electoral Palatinate and several other territories were part of the Palatinate, but today belong to other German territories.
Subdivision
The Palatinate is divided into four non-administrative sub-regions, comprising the following rural districts and independent towns and cities:
- North Palatinate (Nordpfalz), i.e. the sparsely inhabited North Palatine Uplands, made up of
- Donnersbergkreis (KIB), including the small towns of Eisenberg, Kirchheimbolanden and Rockenhausen
- Anterior Palatinate (Vorderpfalz) between Upper Rhine and the Haardtrange of the Palatinate Forest
- Bad Dürkheim (DÜW)
- Rhein-Pfalz-Kreis (RP)
- and the towns and cities of Frankenthal (FT), Ludwigshafen (LU), Neustadt an der Weinstraße (NW) and Speyer (SP)
- South Palatinate(Südpfalz).
- Germersheim (GER)
- Südliche Weinstraße (SÜW)
- and the town of Landau (LD)
- West Palatinate (Westpfalz) up to the western part of the North Palatine Uplands
- Kaiserslautern (district) (KL)
- Kusel (KUS)
- Südwestpfalz (PS)
- and the towns of Kaiserslautern (KL), Pirmasens (PS) and Zweibrücken (ZW).
Climate
Like most of Southwestern Germany, the Palatinate’s climate is either
History
During the Holy Roman Empire prior to World War II, it was also referred to as Rhenish Bavaria and Lower Palatinate (Unterpfalz),[1][2] which designated only the western part of the Electorate of the Palatinate (Kurfürstentum Pfalz), as opposed to the Upper Palatinate (Oberpfalz).[3]
Formerly a Celtic region, this area was conquered by the Roman Empire under Emperor Augustus in about 12 BCE; thereafter, it was part of the province of
Holy Roman Empire
From the Middle Ages until 1792, the Palatinate was divided into 45 secular and ecclesiastical
The major ecclesiastical territory in the region was the
Other larger regional entities included the Duchy of Zweibrücken and the Prince-Bishopric of Speyer.[4] 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
Bavarian rule
Following the defeat of
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).[6] Initially, however, joint Austro-Bavarian administration was retained.
On 14 April 1816, a
- 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
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[8] 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
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 Saarland, 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,
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
The Pfalz was initially one of five districts in Rhineland-Palatinate; however, in 1968, the district was merged with the neighbouring district of
Pennsylvania Dutch
Many
Many more Palatines emigrated in the course of the 19th century, and the great majority of them to North America, so that in the US temporarily "Palatine" was a common designation for
, Palatinate, to the United States in 1840.Cuisine
This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (March 2010) |
Arguably the most famous dish in Palatinate is the saumagen, literally "sow's stomach", a dish that consists of a thick, crispy-fried casing (sow stomach) stuffed with a mixture of pork, potatoes, and seasonings. Other traditional meat dishes of the region include bratwurst, Palatinate liverwurst, a blood pudding sausage called grieweworscht ("griewe" are speck (bacon) cubes, so lit. "sausage with bacon bits"), lewwerknedel (Leberknödel) (or lewwerknepp, liver dumplings), and fleeschknepp (Fleischknödel: meat dumplings). Sauerkraut is the typical side dish in all seasons, but especially in winter, as are mashed potatoes and brown gravy. Also eaten are dampfnudels, which can be served with either sweet sauces or side dishes (such as wine, vanilla sauce or canned fruit such as plums, prunes, or pears) or with savory side dishes (such as potato soup, vegetable soup, goulash, or pepper pork).
References
- ^ Heilprin, Angelo; Heilprin, Louis; Raza, Moonis (1906). Geographical Dictionary of the World. Concept Publishing Company. p. 1392.
- ^ "Rhenish Palatinate - Encyclopedia Volume - Catholic Encyclopedia - Catholic Online". Catholic Online. Retrieved March 20, 2018.
- ^ "Palatinate". Encyclopædia Britannica. August 20, 2020. Retrieved July 28, 2021.
- ^ Adalbert Heib: Beamtenverzeichniß und Statistik des Königlich Bayerischen Regierungs-Bezirkes der Pfalz, Speyer, Kranzbühler, 1863, pp. 58 ff (Online)
- ^ F. W. A. Schlickeysen: Repertorium der Gesetze und Verordnungen für die königl. preußischen Rheinprovinzen, Trier: Leistenschneider, 1830, pp. 8 ff. (Online)
- ^ Haupt-Vertrag des zu Wien versammelten Congresses der europäischen Mächte, Fürsten und freien Städte, nebst 17 besondern Verträgen, Article 51, p. 101 (digitalised)
- ^ Treaty of Munich dated 14 April 1816 in G. M. Kletke: Die Staats-Verträge des Königreichs Bayern ... von 1806 bis einschließlich 1858, Regensburg, Pustet, 1860, p. 310 (Online)
- ^ "Forschung - Universität Regensburg". Uni-regensburg.de. Retrieved September 9, 2012.
- ^ "Chapter Two – The History Of The German Immigration To America – The Brobst Chronicles". Homepages.rootsweb.ancestry.com. Retrieved August 28, 2017.
- ^ Astrid von Schlachta: Gefahr oder Segen? Die Täufer in der politischen Kommunikation. Göttingen 2009, p. 427.