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Palatines to America - German Genealogy Society
Researching German Speaking Ancestors

In German history, the Palatinate, or Pfalz in German, was the lands of the count palatine, a title held by a leading secular prince of the Holy Roman Empire. (The counts palatine were also known as the electors palatine after 1356.)

Geographically, the Palatinate consisted of two small areas in the southern part of present-day Germany:

The Lower or Rhenish Palatinate was in southwest Germany between Luxembourg and the Rhine River. It included lands on both sides of the Middle Rhine River between two of its tributaries, the Main and the Neckar Rivers. Heidelberg was its capital until the 18th century. This region consists of approximately 2,100 sq. mi. (5,440 sq. km.). It is called Rheinpfalz or Niederpfalz in German.

The Upper Palatinate was located in northern Bavaria, on both sides of the Naab River as it flows south toward the Danube, and extended eastward to the Bohemian Forest. This region consists of approximately 3,700 sq. mi. (9,580 sq. km.). It is called Oberpfalz in German.

The boundaries of the Palatinate varied with the political and dynastic fortunes of the counts palatine.

During the War of the Grand Alliance (1689-1697), the troops of the French monarch Louis XIV ravaged the Rhenish Palatinate, causing many Germans to emigrate. Many of the early German settlers of America were refugees from the Palatinate. During the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, the Palatinate's lands on the west bank of the Rhine were incorporated into France, while its eastern lands were divided largely between neighboring Baden and Hesse.

After the defeat of Napoleon (1814-15), the Congress of Vienna gave the east-bank lands to Bavaria. These lands, together with some surrounding territories, again took the name of Palatinate in 1838.

After the end of World War II (1946), the Lower Palatinate became part of the German state of Rheinland-Pfalz (Rhineland-Palatinate). Neustadt an der Weinstrasse is its capital city; and Ludwigshafen, Kaiserslautern, Pirmasens, and Speyer are major cities. This region is well known for the wines it produces. The Upper Palatinate became part of the German state of Bayern (Bavaria). It is an agricultural region well known for cattle raising.

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