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The Palatinate
Areas of Germany
(also called the German PFALZ) was, in German history, the land of the Count
Palatine, a title held by a leading secular prince of the Holy Roman Empire.
Geographically, the Palatinate was divided between two small territorial
clusters: the Rhenish, or Lower Palatinate, and the Upper Palatinate. The
Rhenish Palatinate included lands on both sides of the Middle Rhine River
between its Main and Neckar tributaries. Its capital until the 18th century was
Heidelberg. 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. The boundaries of the Palatinate varied with the political
and dynastic fortunes of the Counts Palatine. |