Free State Bottleneck

As the Free State bottleneck a narrow area between the Rhine and the unoccupied part of the Prussian province of Hesse -Nassau was called, which remained after the end of World War I January 10, 1919 and February 25, 1923 at the Allied occupation of the Rhineland unoccupied.

Formation

After the war, the occupation of the left bank of the Rhine area by the Allies and additional bridgeheads at Cologne ( British), Koblenz (US- American) and Mainz was arranged (in French) in the Armistice of Compiègne. Between the U.S. bridgehead of Coblenz and the French bridgehead at Mainz, each having a radius of 30 km, a narrow strip remained unfilled due to a calculation error of the Allies. This strip was between the Rhine Valley and Limburg an der Lahn. The area was subject up to that time the county governments of the Rheingau district, the sub -Taunus Nature Park and the county of St. Goar, whose jurisdiction ended now on the borders of the occupied bridge heads, so that in the intermediate bottleneck at this level of administration entered a state of emergency. With the adoption of the upper Bureau Kassel on 3 January 1919, the local government was on the District Administrator of Limburg, Robert Büchting transferred. Limburg an der Lahn was the nearest unoccupied county and city court.

The Free State bottleneck

The region was home to 17,363 residents in the towns of Lorch, Kaub, Lorchhausen, Sauer valley, Ransel, Wollmerschied, Welterod, anger, Strüth, Egenroth and Laufenselden.

The supply of the region was difficult. All existing roads and railway connections resulted in the U.S. or French zone. The by -propelled trains no longer stopped in the region, and also a supply of the Rhine or the air was not possible. Goods could therefore be released into and from the region only by smuggling in the region. Once a loaded coal train French was abducted from Rüdesheim and taken to the bottle neck, where the coal was distributed for heating among the population.

The Mayor of Lorch, Edmund Anton Pnischeck († 1954), was commissioned as a representative of the district administrator Büchting with the local administration. Because of the difficult connection to the unoccupied Germany threatened to collapse the economy, so prompted Pnischeck the pressure of its own emergency money.

The end

After four years of its existence the " Free State bottleneck" was occupied on February 25, 1923, a few days after the occupation of the Ruhr, of Moroccan auxiliary troops of the French army. Pnischeck was captured. With the end of the occupation by the French on 15 November 1924 the existence of the end " the Free State bottleneck".

Presence

Today, the name of the Free State bottleneck to promote tourism in the region will be used. For this purpose, the " Free State bottleneck Initiative" of winemakers and restaurateurs was founded in 1994. Its members since then provided wines, sparkling wines and brandies bearing the seal of the initiative.

Banknotes of the " Free State bottleneck" are now sought-after collectibles.