| Native Name: | German: Rheinkreis |
| Common Name: | Circle of the Rhine |
| Subdivision: | German: [[Regierungsbezirk]] |
| Nation: | the Kingdom of Bavaria and the Free State of Bavaria |
| Capital: | Speyer |
| Year Start: | 1816 |
| Year End: | 1946 |
| Event Start: | Treaty of Munich |
| Date Start: | 1 May |
| Event1: | Palatine uprising |
| Date Event1: | 1 May 1849 |
| Event2: | Occupation of the Rhineland |
| Date Event2: | 1 December 1918 |
| Event3: | Establishment of Territory of the Saar Basin |
| Date Event3: | 10 January 1920 |
| Event End: | Establishment of Rhineland-Palatinate |
| Date End: | 30 August |
| P1: | Austrian Empire |
| Flag P1: | Flag of the Habsburg Monarchy.svg |
| S1: | Rhineland-Palatinate |
| Flag S1: | Flag of Rhineland-Palatinate.svg |
| S2: | Saar Protectorate |
| Flag S2: | Flag of Saar (1947–1956).svg |
| Area Lost1: | Saarpfalz-Kreis |
| Lost To1: | Saar Basin |
| Area Lost Year1: | 1920 |
The Circle of the Rhine[1] or Rhine Circle (German: Rheinkreis), sometimes the Bavarian German: Rheinkreis (German: Bayerischer Rheinkreis or German: Baierischer Rheinkreis), was the name given to the territory on the west bank of the Rhine from 1816 to 1837 which was one of 15 (later 8) administrative districts of the Kingdom of Bavaria. Before the French revolutionary wars (1792) most of the land had belonged to the Electoral Palatinate. At the Congress of Vienna in 1815 it was initially promised to the Austrian 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 the Palatinate (German: Pfalz).[2] [3] It was also referred to as the Rhenish Palatinate (German: 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 day German: [[Saarpfalz-Kreis]]. It then became part of the newly formed federal state of Rhineland-Palatinate.
The Rhine Circle largely covered the same area as the present Palatinate region, which lies west of the Rhine in the south of the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate. Until 1919 it also included some territory around Homburg and Sankt Ingbert (parts of the German: Bezirksämter of and), which was incorporated into the Territory of the Saar Basin after the end of the First World War as the districts (German: Landkreise) of and . After the Second World War there were smaller losses of territory to the Saar Protectorate, especially in the area of Sankt Wendel. As part of the 1969 land reform the region designated as the Palatinate with Rhineland-Palatinate had its northern border changed somewhat; the Diocese of Speyer and the Evangelical 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 new German: [[Saarpfalz-Kreis]] (German: 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 ecclesiastical territories, some of which were very small. The largest were the Electoral Palatinate, the Duchy of German: Zweibrücken|nocat=y and the Prince-Bishopric of Speyer.[5] The Electoral Palatinate and the Electorate of Bavaria had dynastic links through the House of Wittelsbach for centuries and from 1777 were ruled in a personal union under Elector Charles Theodore. The House of Palatinate-Zweibrücken was also a Wittelsbach branch.
In 1794, the Left Bank of the Rhine, including the Palatinate, was occupied by French revolutionary troops. As a result of the Treaty of Campo Formio (1797) the First French Republic annexed the region and introduced an administrative system in 1798. The subsequent Circle of the Rhine included considerable portions of the French: département of French: [[Mont-Tonnerre]] as well as smaller parts of the French: département|nocat=y of the French: Sarre|nocat=y and French: [[Bas-Rhin]].
Following the defeat of Napoleon at the Battle 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 the Imperial-Royal Austrian and Royal Bavarian Joint Land Administration Commission (German: k. k. östreichischen und k. bairischen gemeinschaftliche Landes-Administrations-Kommission).[6]
In the main treaty agreed at the Congress of Vienna in 1815, and dated 9 June 1815, Article 51 stated that (Latin: inter alia) on the Left Bank of the Rhine the former French: départements of the French: Sarre and French: Mont-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 (German: Herrschaft Sr. Maj. des Kaisers von Oesterreich).[7] The joint Austro-Bavarian administration was initially retained, however.
On 14 April 1816, a treaty was signed between Austria and Bavaria, in which the various territorial changes were agreed. According to Article 2 of the treaty, Emperor Francis I of Austria ceded various regions to Maximilian I of Bavaria. These included, in addition to various regions east of the Rhine, the following regions west of the Rhine:[8]
In the French: Département of French: Mont-Tonnerre (German: Donnerberg):
In the French: Sarre French: Département:
In the French: Département of French: Bas-Rhin:
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" (German: Rheinkreis) with Speyer 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, King Maximilian selected the Privy Councillor (German: Hofrat) German: {{ill|Franz Xaver von Zwackh|de, whose name is responsible for the popular Palatinate nickname for Bavarian officials, German: {{ill|Zwockel|de.