Bezirk Lothringen (today's french: link=no, Présidence de la Lorraine, at the time translated into french: link=no, Département de la Lorraine i.e. Department of Lorraine), also called

German Lorraine The region of German Lorraine (german: Deutsch-Lothringen or ''Deutschlothringen'') was the German-speaking part of Lorraine, now in France, that existed for centuries until into the 20th century. The name is also used more specifically in to ref ...

(''Deutsch Lothringen''), was a government region ("Bezirk") in the western part of Alsace-Lorraine when it was part of the German Empire from 1871 to 1918.

History

The Department of Lorraine was unlike Prussian government regions no simple governorate but a corporation of self-rule of the pertaining rural and urban districts and cantons, similar to regions in the then neighbouring Bavaria ( Palatinate), which had been formed after the French model départements into which that region had been divided under French annexation. Thus the district parliaments delegated deputies to the General Council (parliament), the ''Bezirkstag von Lothringen'' (french: link=no, Conseil Général de la Lorraine). The capital of the ''Department of Lorraine'' was

Metz Metz ( , , lat, Divodurum Mediomatricorum, then ) is a city in northeast France located at the confluence of the Moselle and the Seille rivers. Metz is the prefecture of the Moselle department and the seat of the parliament of the Grand ...

Territorial composition

The department comprised the districts ("Kreise") of : #

, independent city (

Stadtkreis In all German states, except for the three city states, the primary administrative subdivision higher than a ''Gemeinde'' (municipality) is the (official term in all but two states) or (official term in the states of North Rhine-Westphalia a ...

) # "Kreis Bolchen", seated in Bolchen (Boulay) # "Kreis Château-Salins", seated in

Château-Salins Château-Salins (; , from 1941–44 ''Salzburgen'') is a commune in the Moselle department in Grand Est in north-eastern France. Until 2015, Château-Salins was a subprefecture of the Moselle department. History The town is relatively recent. ...

# "Kreis Diedenhofen-Ost", seated in Diedenhofen (Thionville) # "Kreis Diedenhofen-West", seated in Diedenhofen (Thionville) # "Kreis Forbach", seated in

Forbach Forbach ( , , ; gsw, Fuerboch) is a commune in the French department of Moselle, northeastern French region of Grand Est. It is located on the German border approximately 15 minutes from the center of Saarbrücken, Germany, with which it co ...

# "Kreis Metz-Land", seated in Metz # "Kreis Saarburg", seated in Saarburg (Sarrebourg) # "Kreis Saargemünd", seated in Saargemünd (Sarreguemines) The department of Lorraine corresponds exactly to the current ''

département In the administrative divisions of France, the department (french: département, ) is one of the three levels of government under the national level (" territorial collectivities"), between the administrative regions and the communes. Ninety ...

'' of Moselle. After the outbreak of the Second World War and the defeat of France in 1940, the ''département'' of Moselle, renamed

CdZ-Gebiet Lothringen The Civil Administration Area of Lorraine (CdZ=Chef der Zivilverwaltung) () was an administrative division of the Gau Westmark from 1940 to 1945. History After the outbreak of the Second World War and the defeat of France in 1940, the ''départe ...

, was added to the

Gau Westmark The Gau Westmark (English: ''Western March'') was an administrative division of Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945. From 1925 to 1933, it was a regional subdivision of the Nazi Party. History The Nazi Gau (plural Gaue) system was established at a part ...

on 30 November 1940.Jacques Lorraine (Edmond Huntzbuchler): ''Les Allemands en France. Origines, Bretagne, Zone interdite Est, Bourgogne, Alsace et Lorraine'', Alger-Oran: editions du Désert, 1945, pp. 121–124.

Department presidents

(german: Bezirkspräsident/today's french: Président de district) * 1871-1872 :

Guido Henckel von Donnersmarck Guido Georg Friedrich Erdmann Heinrich Adalbert Graf Henckel von Donnersmarck, from 1901 Prince (''Fürst'') Henckel von Donnersmarck (born 10 August 1830 in Breslau, died 19 December 1916 in Berlin) was a German nobleman, industrial magnate, mem ...

, as préfet/Präfekt * 1872-1873 :

Botho zu Eulenburg Botho Wendt August Graf zu Eulenburg (31 July 1831 – 5 February 1912) was a Kingdom of Prussia, Prussian politician, statesman. Early life and career Eulenburg was born in Wicken near Bartoszyce, Bartenstein Adolf von Arnim-Boitzenburg Adolf von Arnim-Boitzenburg (born 12 December 1832 at Boitzenburg; died 15 December 1887 at Boitzenburg) was a German landowner and politician for Free Conservative Party. Life His parents were politician Adolf Heinrich von Arnim-Boitzenbur ...

* 1875-1876 : Robert von Puttkamer * 1877-1880 : Friedrich Albrecht Karl Johann von Reitzenstein * 1881-1882 : Adalbert von Flottwell * 1883-1900 : Hans von Hammerstein-Loxten * 1901-1912 : Johann Friedrich Alexander von Zeppelin-Aschhausen * 1913-1918 : Karl von Gemmingen-Hornberg

Bibliography

* ''Amtsblatt für den Bezirk Lothringen / Recueil officiel des actes administratifs du Département de la Lorraine'' (departmental legal gazette; appeared December 1870 to 1918) * Ernst Bruck, ''Das Verfassungs- und Verwaltungsrecht von Elsaß-Lothringen'': 3 vols., Straßburg im Elsass: Trübner, 1908–1910. * Stefan Fisch, „Das Elsaß im deutschen Kaiserreich (1870/71–1918)“, in: ''Das Elsass: Historische Landschaft im Wandel der Zeit'', Michael Erbe (ed.), Stuttgart:

Kohlhammer Verlag W. Kohlhammer Verlag GmbH, or Kohlhammer Verlag, is a German publishing house headquartered in Stuttgart. History Kohlhammer Verlag was founded in Stuttgart on 30 April 1866 by . Kohlhammer had taken over the businesses of his late father-in-l ...

, 2003, pp. 123–146. . * Georg Lang, ''Der Regierungs-Bezirk Lothringen: statistisch-topographisches Handbuch, Verwaltung-Schematismus und Adressbuch'', Metz: Lang, 1874 * ''Verhandlungen des Bezirkstages von Lothringen / Procès-verbaux des délibérations du Conseil Général de la Lorraine'', Metz (proceedings of the departmental parliament sessions, appeared from 1874 to 1918)

External links

* "Bezirk Lothringen" o
territorial.de

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lothringen

Bezirk The German term ''Bezirk'' (plural ''Bezirke'', derived from la, circulus, "circle") translated as "district" can refer to the following types of administrative divisions: * ''Stadtbezirk'', a subdivision of a city in the sense of a borough (e. ...

Former government regions of Germany