RHEINLAND-PFALZ
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Former
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Rheinland-Pfalz
(Rhineland-Palatinate) was created by the government of the French zone from
the Bavarian Palatinate, the southern part of the Prussian Province of the
Rhine (the districts Koblenz and Trier), the province/administrative region
Rhine-Hessen-Palatinate, formerly belonging to Hessen-Darmstadt, parts of the
Prussian province Hessen-Nassau and the region around Birkenfeld, formerly
belonging to Oldenburg. From 1934
until 1945 there were the NSDAP-districts of the Westmark and Moselland,
after WWII succeeded by the territories of Rhénanie and Palatinat occupied by France, on its territory. |
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Heraldry |
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The
country of Rheinland-Pfalz was founded
on 30 August 1946 by decree (nr. 57) of general Pierre Koening, head of the
french military government. A coat of
arms for the country was adopted by law of 10 May 1948. It is: Arms: Tierced per pile embowed, the first
Argent, a cross Gules (Trier); the second Gules a six-spoked wheel Argent
(Mainz); the third Sable, a lion rampant Or crowned, langued and unguled
Gules. Crown:
A crown of five
leaves and four pearls. Æ See illustration in the head of this essay The Law reads:
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Larger Seal Ø 55 mm |
Smaller Seal Ø 35 mm |
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Arms: Vert, a bend wavy Argent and a chief
Argent an eagle regardant Sable, billed and clawed Or. adopted 22.6.1926 |
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Arms of the Gau Moselland A.:
Argent, a cross Gules
charged with a crown Or (Koblenz) |
Arms of the Gau Westmark A.:
Azure, alion rampant Argent, crowned Or. |
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Emblem of the Third American Army In the
Battle of the Bulge from September 1944 until 28 January 1945 the Third American Army under the command of general Patton defeated the German forces in
Germany. On 9 May
1945, a few hours after the end of WWII, the former mayor of Mannheim Hermann
Heimerich was summoned to Neustadt and appointed administrator of the
provincial government of Saarland, Palatinate and Southern Hessen. The
territories of the Southern Palatinate, Germersheim, Speyer, Landau and
Bergzabern, then occupied by France, were excluded because France wanted to
keep these as a pawn. On 24 May
1945, a few days after the establishment of the Saar, Palatinate and
Rheinhessen government Heimerich was informed by the Americans that the
districts of Trier and Koblenz would be added to the district. This new
administrative unit was named “Mittelrhein-Saar” after the former General
Governement of Mittelrhein founded in 1801 by France, which had comprised about
the same territory. According to the act the name of Saar was added on
purpose to underline the fact that the territory of the Saar was an
inseparable part of Germany. On 21
June 1945 it was decided that the north of
the Province of the Rhine would be occupied by the United Kingdom and
the territory of Mittelrhein-Saar by France. As a result on 10 July 1945 the American General Gaffey of the Third American Army transmitted the province of “Mittelrhein-Saar” in a military ceremony in Idar-Oberstein to the french general Montsabert. The french occupied the province effectively two days later. |
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Arms of Rhénanie 1945 |
Arms of Palatinat 1945 |
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The arms of
the two parts were: For the
former District of Moselland, now called Rhénanie, the arms of the Prussian
Rheinprovinz being Vert, a bend wavy Argent. And for
the former District of Westmark (without Lorraine but with a part of Hessen
Nassau) the arms of the Palatinate being Sable, a lion rampant Or, langued
and unguled Gules (the crown omitted). |
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Landeskommando Rheinland-Pfalz |
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Verteidigungsbezirke |
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VBK 42 HQ.: Trier |
VBK 46 HQ.: Saarbrücken |
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Star |
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Arms (ancient) |
Arms (present) |
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© Hubert de Vries 2012-01-13
Heraldry of the World