The Circle of the Rhine (german: Rheinkreis) or Rhine Circle, sometimes the Bavarian ( or ), was the name given to the territory on the west bank of the
Rhine
), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland
, source1_coordinates=
, source1_elevation =
, source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein
, source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland
, source2_coordinates=
, source ...
from 1816 to 1837 which was one of 15 (later 8) administrative districts of the
Kingdom of Bavaria
The Kingdom of Bavaria (german: Königreich Bayern; ; spelled ''Baiern'' until 1825) was a German state that succeeded the former Electorate of Bavaria in 1805 and continued to exist until 1918. With the unification of Germany into the German ...
. Before the
French revolutionary wars
The French Revolutionary Wars (french: Guerres de la Révolution française) were a series of sweeping military conflicts lasting from 1792 until 1802 and resulting from the French Revolution. They pitted France against Britain, Austria, Pruss ...
(1792) most of the land had belonged to the
Electoral Palatinate
The Electoral Palatinate (german: Kurpfalz) or the Palatinate (), officially the Electorate of the Palatinate (), was a state that was part of the Holy Roman Empire. The electorate had its origins under the rulership of the Counts Palatine of ...
. At the
Congress of Vienna
The Congress of Vienna (, ) of 1814–1815 was a series of international diplomatic meetings to discuss and agree upon a possible new layout of the European political and constitutional order after the downfall of the French Emperor Napoleon ...
in 1815 it was initially promised to the
Empire of Austria after having been under a provisional joint Austro-Bavarian administration since 1814. However, in the Treaty of Munich (1816), Austria relinquished the territory to Bavaria.
In 1837, the Circle of the Rhine was renamed the Palatinate ().
[', dated 29 November 1837. In ', 58/1837]
Online
It was also referred to as the Rhenish Palatinate (').
[Friedrich Wilhelm Hermann Wagener: ', F. Heinicke, 1867, S. 140]
Online
The territory remained Bavarian until 30 Aug 1946, with the exception of the area detached in 1920, which roughly corresponded to the present day county of . It then became part of the newly formed federal state of
Rhineland-Palatinate
Rhineland-Palatinate ( , ; german: link=no, Rheinland-Pfalz ; lb, Rheinland-Pfalz ; pfl, Rhoilond-Palz) is a western state of Germany. It covers and has about 4.05 million residents. It is the ninth largest and sixth most populous of the ...
.
Geography
The Rhine Circle largely covered the same area as the present
Palatinate region
The Palatinate (german: Pfalz; Palatine German: ''Palz'') is a region of Germany. In the Middle Ages it was known as the Rhenish Palatinate (''Rheinpfalz'') and Lower Palatinate (''Unterpfalz''), which strictly speaking designated only the wes ...
, which lies west of the Rhine in the south of the German state of
Rhineland-Palatinate
Rhineland-Palatinate ( , ; german: link=no, Rheinland-Pfalz ; lb, Rheinland-Pfalz ; pfl, Rhoilond-Palz) is a western state of Germany. It covers and has about 4.05 million residents. It is the ninth largest and sixth most populous of the ...
, but included additionally the
Saarland
The Saarland (, ; french: Sarre ) is a state of Germany in the south west of the country. With an area of and population of 990,509 in 2018, it is the smallest German state in area apart from the city-states of Berlin, Bremen, and Hamburg, a ...
districts of
Homburg and
Sankt Ingbert
St. Ingbert (also ''Sankt Ingbert''; pfl, Dingmert or ''Dimbert'') is a town in the Saarpfalz district in Saarland, Germany with a population of 35,213 (2020). It is situated approximately 10 km north-east of Saarbrücken and 10 km ...
. These were incorporated into the Saar region after the end of the
First World War
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...
and merged in 1974 into the
Saarpfalz-Kreis
Saarpfalz (''Saar-Palatinate'') is a Kreis (district) in the south-east of the Saarland, Germany. Neighboring districts are (from west clockwise) Saarbrücken, Neunkirchen, Kusel, Kaiserslautern, Südwestpfalz, district-free Zweibrücken, and th ...
. After the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...
there were smaller losses of territory to the Saarland, especially in the area of
Sankt Wendel. As part of the 1969 land reform the region designated as the Palatinate with Rhineland-Palatinate had its northern border changed somewhat. The
Diocese of Speyer
The Diocese of Speyer (lat. Dioecesis Spirensis) is a diocese of the Catholic Church in Germany. The diocese is located in the South of the Rhineland-Palatinate and comprises also the Saarpfalz district in the east of the Saarland. The bish ...
and the
Evangelical Church of the Palatinate
Evangelical Church of the Palatinate (german: Evangelische Kirche der Pfalz (Protestantische Landeskirche)) is a United Protestant church in parts of the German states of Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland, endorsing both Lutheran and Calvini ...
still exist today largely based on the historic boundaries of the Circle of the Rhine.
History
The territory of the Rhine Circle, established in 1816, had been divided before 1792 into a total of 45 secular and ecclesiastical
territories
A territory is an area of land, sea, or space, particularly belonging or connected to a country, person, or animal.
In international politics, a territory is usually either the total area from which a state may extract power resources or a ...
, some of which were very small. The largest were
Electoral Palatinate
The Electoral Palatinate (german: Kurpfalz) or the Palatinate (), officially the Electorate of the Palatinate (), was a state that was part of the Holy Roman Empire. The electorate had its origins under the rulership of the Counts Palatine of ...
, the
Duchy of and the
Prince-Bishopric of Speyer. Electoral Palatinate and Bavaria had had dynastic links through the family for centuries.
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
The Treaty of Campo Formio (today Campoformido) was signed on 17 October 1797 (26 Vendémiaire VI) by Napoleon Bonaparte and Count Philipp von Cobenzl as representatives of the French Republic and the Austrian monarchy, respectively. The trea ...
(1797) the
First French Republic
In the history of France, the First Republic (french: Première République), sometimes referred to in historiography as Revolutionary France, and officially the French Republic (french: République française), was founded on 21 September 1792 ...
annexed
Annexation (Latin ''ad'', to, and ''nexus'', joining), in international law, is the forcible acquisition of one state's territory by another state, usually following military occupation of the territory. It is generally held to be an illegal act ...
the region and introduced an administrative system in 1798. The subsequent Circle of the Rhine included considerable portions of the of as well as smaller parts of the
of the and .
Following the defeat of
Napoleon
Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader wh ...
at the
Battle of Leipzig
The Battle of Leipzig (french: Bataille de Leipsick; german: Völkerschlacht bei Leipzig, ); sv, Slaget vid Leipzig), also known as the Battle of the Nations (french: Bataille des Nations; russian: Битва народов, translit=Bitva ...
in 1813 and the capture of the Left Bank of the Rhine by the Allies in January 1814, from 2 February 1814 the region was initially under the provisional authority of the General Government of the Middle Rhine, but, from 16 June that same year, it was placed under the administration of the
Imperial-Royal Austrian and Royal Bavarian Joint Land Administration Commission ().
[F. W. A. Schlickeysen: ', Trier: Leistenschneider, 1830, pp. 8 ff.]
Online
In the main treaty agreed at the
Congress of Vienna
The Congress of Vienna (, ) of 1814–1815 was a series of international diplomatic meetings to discuss and agree upon a possible new layout of the European political and constitutional order after the downfall of the French Emperor Napoleon ...
in 1815, and dated 9 June 1815, Article 51 stated that () on the Left Bank of the Rhine the former of the and , except where stated in the same treaty, were to go "with full sovereignty" and ownership rights under the overlordship of the Emperor of Austria (). The joint Austro-Bavarian administration was initially retained, however.
On 14 April 1816, a
treaty
A treaty is a formal, legally binding written agreement between actors in international law. It is usually made by and between sovereign states, but can include international organizations, individuals, business entities, and other legal per ...
was signed between
Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
and
Bavaria
Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total l ...
, in which the various territorial changes were agreed. According to Article 2 of the treaty, Emperor
Francis I of Austria
Francis II (german: Franz II.; 12 February 1768 – 2 March 1835) was the last Holy Roman Emperor (from 1792 to 1806) and the founder and Emperor of the Austrian Empire, from 1804 to 1835. He assumed the title of Emperor of Austria in response ...
ceded various regions to
Maximilian I of Bavaria. These included, in addition to various regions east of the Rhine, the following regions west of the Rhine:
[Treaty of Munich dated 14 April 1816 in G. M. Kletke: ', Regensburg, Pustet, 1860, p. 310]
Online
: ''In the of ():''
:# ''the districts of , and ; the latter with the exception of the cantons of Worms and ;''
:# ''the canton of , in districts of .''
: ''In the :''
:#
''the cantons of , and , the latter with the exception of several villages on the road from to , which were to be compensated, by another territorial transfer, with the agreement of the assembled plenipotentiaries of the allied powers at Frankfurt.''
: ''In the of :''
:#
''the canton, town and fortress of , the latter as a federal fortress in accordance with the regulations of 3 November 1815;''
:# ''the cantons of . and the whole part of the Département of Bas-Rhin on the left bank of the , which had been ceded in the
Paris Tractat of 20 November 1815''.
The effective date for these changes was stated as 1 May 1816.
In accordance with the prevailing Bavarian administrative structure, the region was given the name "Rhine Circle" () with
Speyer
Speyer (, older spelling ''Speier'', French: ''Spire,'' historical English: ''Spires''; pfl, Schbaija) is a city in Rhineland-Palatinate in Germany with approximately 50,000 inhabitants. Located on the left bank of the river Rhine, Speyer lie ...
as its capital. Of the former French administrative structure, the subdivision of the region into cantons, mayoralties and municipalities was retained.
As his first provincial governor, King
Maximilian selected the Privy Councillor () , whose name is responsible for the popular Palatinate nickname for Bavarian officials, .
See also
*
History of the Palatinate: Bavarian period
References
External links
territorial.de
{{Authority control
History of the Palatinate (region)
Kingdom of Bavaria
Palatinate
Former states and territories of Rhineland-Palatinate