History
The Palatinate was a center both of the Protestant Reformation (it was at the Palatine city of Worms that Luther refused to recant) and of the Catholic Counterreformation. The area was almost depopulated in the religious Thirty-Years War of 1618-1648. The Napoleonic wars brought further devastation to the region, and there was mass emigration in the 19th Century. The industrial towns of the Rheinpfalz were in ruins at the end of World War II.
Kurpfalz
Mannheimer Texte Online History of Mannheim and the Palatinate
Mannheimer Stadtgeschichte Mannheim city history
Mannheim 1750-1849 Mannheim University
Mannheim 1850-1919 Mannheim University

Division of the Palatinate
In 1801 the Palatinate was divided among three kingdoms: The Rheinpfalz west of the Rhine went to France. This area, which includes the cities of Lugwigshafen and Kaiserslautern, is today in the German province of Rheinland-Pfalz (capital at Mainz). The Rheinpfalz east of the Rhine went to Baden. This area, which includes the cities of Mannheim and Heidelberg, is now part of Germany's Baden-Wüttemberg province (capital at Stuttgart). The Oberpfalz went to Bayern/Bavaria (capital at München/Munich).

Agriculture and Industry
Vegetables are grown on the Rhein's floodplain, and to the west is a wine-growing region. A road running through the western Palatinate is called the Weinstraße, or Wine Road. One of Germany's largest wine festivals is held at Neustadt on the Wine Road. Mannheim played a major role in the industrial revolution: DaimlerChrysler began here in 1883 as Benz & Cie. Gasmotorenfabrik. Ludwigshafen is home to BASF, one of Germany's largest chemical companies, and Heidelberg is a technology center.

Cities and Sights
The Palatinate has two spectacular Romanesque cathedrals, at Worms and Speyer. There are baroque palaces at Bruchsal, Brühl, and Schwetzingen. Mannheim's palace, the largest in Germany, now houses the university.
Ludwigshafen
Mannheim
Heidelberg
Speyer German or English
Worms

Schools, Universities, Libraries
Germany's oldest and most famous university is at Heidelberg. Other universities are at Mannheim and Kaiserslautern.
Karolina-Burger- Realschule (middle school) Ludwigshafen
Heidelberg University English-language home page
Mannheim University English-language home page
Pfälzische Landesbibliothek Speyer Palatine State Library, Speyer. With links to other libraries.

Emigration from the Palatinate
German Genealogy: Rheinland-Pfalz German and English, with maps, notes on history, religion, emigration (to America, Galicia, and Russia), etc.
Hoover-Hover-Huber family website
Rhineland-Palatinate: Genealogy and Emigration English
Rheinland-Pfalz: Genealogie u Auswanderung German
Index to Palatinate Passenger Lists Olive Tree Genealogy
Homepage von Michael Ostien Includes information on emigration from the Palatinate