The story of the Electoral Palatinate starts with a leading role as the heartland of the medieval Holy Roman Empire. The Salian and Hohenstaufen Dynasties founded cities and raised monuments to cement their rule. As their glories faded into the past, their monuments fell victim to those seeking to erase their legacy. The story we see today is about reconstruction from the ashes of war.
For a region so central to German geography, the Electoral Palatinate is a region far off the radar for most tourists. Heidelberg, of course, features prominently in travel guides to Germany, but few guides give cities like Speyer or Mainz similar weight. Three German states now divide the ancient region of the Palatinate, and these modern borders prevent easy travel across the old territory. This guide reconnects the divided pieces of the Palatinate and retraces the forgotten connections that once defined one of the most powerful states of the Holy Roman Empire.
The Electoral Palatinate is a forgotten land within the borders of modern-day Germany. As the name implies, my region of the Electoral Palatinate roughly corresponds to the Rhenish lands controlled by the Prince-Elector of the Palatinate. He shared the region with several other power states, namely the Prince-Archbishops of Mainz, the Prince-Bishops of Speyer, and the Emperor himself.
In the wake of Germanic migrations, the Burgundians initially settled the region of the Palatinate in the 4th century and built their capital around the ancient Roman city of Worms. In this time and place, the legends of the Ring Cycle and the Nibelungenlied take place. The more powerful Frankish Kingdom displaced them by the end of the 5th century.
The fertile plains of the Rhine valley formed the core of the early Medieval Empire. Both the powerful Salian and Hohenstaufen Dynasties of the Holy Roman Empire emerged out of the region. The cities of Mainz, Worms, and Speyer were significant legal and administrative centers, as evidenced today by the massive Romanesque Cathedrals that grace their skylines.
Unfortunately, the wealth and power of the region attracted unwanted attention. With the Empire in terminal decline following the Thirty Years’ War, King Louis XIV launched several wars to annex the territory to France, starting with the War of Palatine Succession in 1697. His campaign of scorched earth sought to reduce all threats to French sovereignty, and he put the cities of Heidelberg, Speyer, and Worms to the torch, along with every castle, fortress, and palace.
Though the allies of the Empire eventually prevailed, the Palatinate was permanently devastated. For the following centuries, the focus would be on reconstruction and redevelopment. Again, the old Palatine capital of Heidelberg is the best example, with its early Baroque city planning and austere reconstruction architecture. The simplicity of the designs would go on to influence architectural styles throughout southern Germany.
This conflict would not be the only war to devastate the region, and during the Second World War, virtually everything in the Palatinate was reduced to ash and rubble. The cities of Mannheim, Mainz, Worms, and Kaiserslautern, along with almost every significant town and village, were utterly annihilated by allied bombing raids. Again the focus returns to the reconstruction and preservation of what survives. Fortune spared Heidelberg’s old town, and Speyer was so impoverished before the war that the allies never deemed it worthy of destruction.
The region’s beauty lies in its cultural landscapes, the rolling hills, vineyards, and forests sprinkled with charming towns and mysterious castle ruins. From the secluded village of Meisenheim to the ancient fortresses of the Neckar Valley, wartime losses in the cities only make you look out into nature for the next travel destination.
