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Rhine Province
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The Rhine Province , also known as Rhenish Prussia (Rheinpreußen) and the Rhineland (Rheinland), was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia and the Free State of Prussia from 1822-1946.
as created from the provinces of the Lower Rhine and Jülich-Cleves-Berg. Its capital was Koblenz and in 1939 it had 8.0 million inhabitants. The Province of Hohenzollern was militarily associated with the Oberpräsident of the Rhine Province.
It was the most westerly
province of the kingdom of Prussia, bounded on the north by
Holland, on the east by the Prussian provinces of Westphalia and
Hesse-Nassau, and the grand duchy of Hesse-Darmstadt, on
the southeast by the Bavarian Palatinate, on the south and southwest by
Lorraine, and on the west by Luxemburg, Belgium and Holland.
The small district of Wetzlar in the midst of the province of
Hesse also belonged to the Rhine Province, which, on the other
hand, surrounded the Oldenburg principality of Birkenfeld.
In 1911, the extent of the province was 10,423 sq.
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Encyclopedia
The Rhine Province , also known as Rhenish Prussia (Rheinpreußen) and the Rhineland (Rheinland), was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia and the Free State of Prussia from 1822-1946.
Origins and boundaries
It was created from the provinces of the Lower Rhine and Jülich-Cleves-Berg. Its capital was Koblenz and in 1939 it had 8.0 million inhabitants. The Province of Hohenzollern was militarily associated with the Oberpräsident of the Rhine Province.
It was the most westerly
province of the kingdom of Prussia, bounded on the north by
Holland, on the east by the Prussian provinces of Westphalia and
Hesse-Nassau, and the grand duchy of Hesse-Darmstadt, on
the southeast by the Bavarian Palatinate, on the south and southwest by
Lorraine, and on the west by Luxemburg, Belgium and Holland.
The small district of Wetzlar in the midst of the province of
Hesse also belonged to the Rhine Province, which, on the other
hand, surrounded the Oldenburg principality of Birkenfeld.
In 1911, the extent of the province was 10,423 sq. m.; its extreme length,
from north to south, was nearly 200 m., and its greatest breadth
was just under 90 m. It included about 200 m. of the course of
the Rhine, which formed the eastern frontier of the province
from Bingen to Coblenz, and then flowed through it in a north-westerly
direction.
Agriculture
Of this total area of the Rhine province about 45% was occupied by arable land, 16% by meadows and pastures, and 31% by forests. Little except oats and potatoes could be raised on the high-lying plateaus in the south of the province, but the river-valleys and the northern lowlands were extremely fertile. The great bulk of the soil was in the hands of small proprietors, and this is alleged to have had the effect of somewhat retarding the progress of scientific agriculture. The usual cereal crops were, however, all grown with success, and tobacco, hops, flax, rape, hemp and beetroot (for sugar) were cultivated for commercial purposes. Large quantities of fruit were also produced. The vine-culture occupied a space of about 30,000 acres, about half of which was in the valley of the Mosel, a third in that of the Rhine itself, and the rest mainly on the Nahe and the Ahr. In the hilly districts more than half the surface was sometimes occupied by forests, and large plantations of oak are formed for the use of the bark in tanning. Considerable herds of cattle were reared on the rich pastures of the lower Rhine, but the number of sheep in the province was comparatively small, and was, indeed, not greatly in excess of that of the goats. The wooded hills were well stocked with deer, and a stray wolf occasionally found its way from the forests of the Ardennes into those of the Hunsrück. The salmon fishery of the Rhine was very productive, and trout abound in the mountain streams.
Mineral resources
The great mineral wealth of the Rhine province probably furnished its most substantial claim to the title of the “richest jewel in the crown of Prussia.” Besides parts of the carboniferous measures of the Saar and the Ruhr, it also contains important deposits of coal near Aix-la-Chapelle. Iron ore was found in abundance near Coblenz, the Bleiberg in the Eifel possessed an apparently inexhaustible supply of lead, and zinc was found near Cologne and Aix-la-Chapelle. The mineral products of the district also included lignite, copper, manganese, vitriol, lime, gypsum, volcanic stones (used for millstones) and slates. By far the most important item was coal. Of the numerous mineral springs the best known were those of Aix-la-Chapelle and Kreuznach.
Industries
The mineral resources of the Prussian Rhine province, coupled with its favourable situation and the facilities of transit afforded by its great waterway, made it the most important manufacturing district in Germany. The industry was mainly concentrated round two chief centres, Aix-la-Chapelle and Düsseldorf (with the valley of the Wupper), while there were naturally few manufactures in the hilly districts of the south or the marshy flats of the north. The largest iron and steel works were at Essen, Oberhausen, Duisburg, Düsseldorf and Cologne, while cutlery and other small metallic wares were extensively made at Solingen, Remscheid and Aix-la-Chapelle. The cloth of Aix-la-Chapelle and the silk of Crefeld formed important articles of export. The chief industries of Elberfeld-Barmen and the valley of the Wupper were cotton-weaving, calico-printing and the manufacture of turkey red and other dyes. Linen was largely made at Gladbach, leather at Malmedy, glass in the Saar district and beetroot sugar near Cologne. Though the Rhineland was par excellence the country of the vine, beer was produced in quantities, distilleries were also numerous, and large quantities of sparkling Moselle were made at Coblenz, chiefly for exportation to England. Commerce was greatly aided by the navigable rivers, a very extensive network of railways, and the excellent roads constructed during the French régime. The imports consist mainly of raw material for working up in the factories of the district, while the principal exports are coal, fruit, wine, dyes, cloth, silk and other manufactured articles of various descriptions.
People
The population of the Rhine province in 1905 was 6,435,778, including 4,472,058 Roman Catholics, 1,877,582 Protestants and 55,408 Jews. The Roman Catholics muster strongest on the left bank, while on the right bank about half the population is Protestant. The great bulk of the population was of Teutonic stock, and about a quarter of a million were of Flemish blood. On the north-west frontier resided about 10,000 Walloons, who spoke French or Walloon as their native tongue. The Rhine province was the most thickly populated part of Prussia, the general average being 617 persons per sq. m. The province contains a greater number of large towns than any other province in Prussia. Upwards of half the population are supported by industrial and commercial pursuits, and barely a quarter by agriculture. There was the university at Bonn, and elementary education was especially successful.
Government
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