| Rheinkreis Pfalz (from 1837) | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Regierungsbezirk of theKingdom of Bavaria and theFree State of Bavaria | |||||||||||
| 1816–1946 | |||||||||||
 Coat of arms | |||||||||||
| Capital | Speyer | ||||||||||
| Area transferred | |||||||||||
| • 1920 | Saarpfalz-Kreis toSaar Basin | ||||||||||
| History | |||||||||||
| 1 May 1816 | |||||||||||
| 1 May 1849 | |||||||||||
| 1 December 1918 | |||||||||||
• Establishment ofTerritory of the Saar Basin | 10 January 1920 | ||||||||||
• Establishment ofRhineland-Palatinate | 30 August 1946 | ||||||||||
| |||||||||||
TheCircle of the Rhine[1] orRhine Circle (German:Rheinkreis), sometimes theBavarianRheinkreis (Bayerischer Rheinkreis orBaierischer Rheinkreis), was the name given to the territory on the west bank of theRhine from 1816 to 1837 which was one of 15 (later 8) administrative districts of theKingdom of Bavaria. Before theFrench revolutionary wars (1792) most of the land had belonged to theElectoral Palatinate. At theCongress of Vienna in 1815 it was initially promised to theAustrian Empire 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 thePalatinate (Pfalz).[2][3] It was also referred to as the Rhenish Palatinate (Rheinpfalz).[4] The territory remained Bavarian until 30 August 1946, with the exception of the area detached in 1920, which roughly corresponded to the present daySaarpfalz-Kreis. It then became part of the newly formed federal state ofRhineland-Palatinate.
The Rhine Circle largely covered the same area as the presentPalatinate region, which lies west of the Rhine in the south of the German state ofRhineland-Palatinate. Until 1919 it also included some territory aroundHomburg andSankt Ingbert (parts of theBezirksämter ofHomburg [de] andZweibrücken [de]), which was incorporated into theTerritory of the Saar Basin after the end of theFirst World War as the districts (Landkreise) ofHomburg [de] andSankt Ingbert [de]. After theSecond World War there were smaller losses of territory to theSaar Protectorate, especially in the area ofSankt Wendel. As part of the 1969 land reform the region designated as the Palatinate with Rhineland-Palatinate had its northern border changed somewhat; theDiocese of Speyer and theEvangelical Church of the Palatinate still exist today largely based on the historical boundaries of the Circle of the Rhine. In 1974 the two Saarland districts were dissolved and their territory largely merged into the newSaarpfalz-Kreis (Saar-Pfalz-Kreis until 1989).
The territory of the Rhine Circle, established in 1816, had been divided before 1792 into a total of 45 secular and ecclesiasticalterritories, some of which were very small. The largest were theElectoral Palatinate, theDuchy ofZweibrücken and thePrince-Bishopric of Speyer.[5] The Electoral Palatinate and theElectorate of Bavaria had dynastic links through theHouse of Wittelsbach for centuries and from 1777 were ruled in apersonal union underElector Charles Theodore. TheHouse of Palatinate-Zweibrücken was also a Wittelsbach branch.
In 1794, theLeft Bank of the Rhine, including the Palatinate, was occupied byFrench revolutionary troops. As a result of theTreaty of Campo Formio (1797) theFirst French Republicannexed the region and introduced an administrative system in 1798. The subsequent Circle of the Rhine included considerable portions of thedépartement ofMont-Tonnerre as well as smaller parts of thedépartement of theSarre andBas-Rhin.
Following the defeat ofNapoleon at theBattle of Leipzig 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 theImperial-Royal Austrian and Royal Bavarian Joint Land Administration Commission (k. k. östreichischen und k. bairischen gemeinschaftliche Landes-Administrations-Kommission).[6]
In the main treaty agreed at theCongress of Vienna in 1815, and dated 9 June 1815, Article 51 stated that (inter alia) on the Left Bank of the Rhine the formerdépartements of theSarre andMont-Tonnere, except where stated in the same treaty, were to go "with full sovereignty" and ownership rights under the overlordship of the Emperor of Austria (Herrschaft Sr. Maj. des Kaisers von Oesterreich).[7] The joint Austro-Bavarian administration was initially retained, however.
On 14 April 1816, atreaty was signed betweenAustria andBavaria, in which the various territorial changes were agreed. According to Article 2 of the treaty, EmperorFrancis I of Austria ceded various regions toMaximilian I of Bavaria. These included, in addition to various regions east of the Rhine, the following regions west of the Rhine:[8]
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" (Rheinkreis) withSpeyer 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, KingMaximilian selected the Privy Councillor (Hofrat)Franz Xaver von Zwackh [de], whose name is responsible for the popular Palatinate nickname for Bavarian officials,Zwockel [de].
