The Free State of Bottleneck () was a short-lived

quasi-state A quasi-state (sometimes referred to as a state-like entity or formatively a proto-state) is a political entity that does not represent a fully autonomous sovereign state with its own institutions. The precise definition of ''quasi-state'' in po ...

that existed from 10 January 1919 until 25 February 1923. It was formed from part of the

Prussia Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...

n province of

Hesse-Nassau The Province of Hesse-Nassau () was a Provinces of Prussia, province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1868 to 1918, then a province of the Free State of Prussia until 1944. Hesse-Nassau was created as a consequence of the Austro-Prussian War of ...

as a consequence of the

occupation of the Rhineland The Occupation of the Rhineland placed the region of Germany west of the Rhine river and four bridgeheads to its east under the control of the victorious Allies of World War I from 1December 1918 until 30June 1930. The occupation was imposed a ...

following

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. The Bottleneck is now part of the German

states State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

Hesse Hesse or Hessen ( ), officially the State of Hesse (), is a States of Germany, state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt, which is also the country's principal financial centre. Two other major hist ...

and

Rhineland-Palatinate Rhineland-Palatinate ( , ; ; ; ) is a western state of Germany. It covers and has about 4.05 million residents. It is the ninth largest and sixth most populous of the sixteen states. Mainz is the capital and largest city. Other cities are ...

Creation

Following the Armistice of 1918, Allied forces occupied the German territory west of the

Rhine The Rhine ( ) is one of the List of rivers of Europe, major rivers in Europe. The river begins in the Swiss canton of Graubünden in the southeastern Swiss Alps. It forms part of the Swiss-Liechtenstein border, then part of the Austria–Swit ...

. To maintain a military presence on the eastern side, the Allied powers extended their zones of occupation by creating three semi-circular bridgeheads of radius, radiating from

Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...

(British zone),

Koblenz Koblenz ( , , ; Moselle Franconian language, Moselle Franconian: ''Kowelenz'') is a German city on the banks of the Rhine (Middle Rhine) and the Moselle, a multinational tributary. Koblenz was established as a Roman Empire, Roman military p ...

(American zone), and

Mainz Mainz (; #Names and etymology, see below) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, and with around 223,000 inhabitants, it is List of cities in Germany by population, Germany's 35th-largest city. It lies in ...

(French zone). The French and American zones did not meet entirely, leaving a narrow gap on the eastern side of the Rhine containing the Wisper valley, the towns of Lorch and Kaub, and villages of Lorchhausen, Sauerthal, Ransel, Wollmerschied, Welterod, Zorn, Strüth and Egenrod. Surrounded by the two Allied bridgeheads, the Rhine to the south-west and no roads nor railways to speak of towards the north-east, this tiny region was effectively cut off from the rest of Germany and subsequently separated from the administration of the

Weimar Republic The Weimar Republic, officially known as the German Reich, was the German Reich, German state from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a constitutional republic for the first time in history; hence it is also referred to, and unofficially proclai ...

. Owing to the circular nature of the Allied bridgeheads, this enclosed territory took on the shape of a bottleneck, hence the name that was given to the microstate, when it was declared on 10 January 1919.

Life in the Bottleneck

The region contained approximately 17,000 people and its largest town, Lorch, was established as the capital. The Mayor of Lorch, Edmund Pnischeck, was subsequently elected president of the small territory. Pnischeck headed the Bottleneck's administration for all of its existence, which even oversaw the production of its own stamps and currency. There were no roads connecting the Bottleneck to unoccupied Germany, trains were not permitted to stop there, and air or river transportation was impossible. The movement of goods and post to and from the state was only made possible by

smuggling Smuggling is the illegal transportation of objects, substances, information or people, such as out of a house or buildings, into a prison, or across an international border, in violation of applicable laws or other regulations. More broadly, soc ...

. Once, a French train loaded with coal from the Ruhr valley was hijacked from neighbouring

Rüdesheim am Rhein Rüdesheim am Rhein is a German winemaking town in the Rhine Gorge, and part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site in this region. It lies in the Rheingau-Taunus-Kreis district in the ''Regierungsbezirk'' of Darmstadt (region), Darmstadt, Hessen. Know ...

and taken to the Bottleneck, where the coal was distributed among the populace for heating purposes.

Foreign relations

The state issued passports to its citizens, and had plans to establish an embassy in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

. Furthermore, it was intended to establish diplomatic relations with other countries, but the state was dissolved before these plans were realised.Lebendige Geschichte: Vor 80 Jahren: der Freistaat Flaschenhals
Hessischer Rundfunk

Abolition

After four years of existence, the Free State of Bottleneck was abolished on 23 February 1923 following the French Occupation of the Ruhr. The Bottleneck was eventually reincorporated with the

n province of

The Bottleneck today

The former territory of the Bottleneck is now part of the Rhine Gorge

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

World Heritage Site World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...

. The history of the Bottleneck is now a tourist attraction in the area, particularly in the former Free State's major towns of Kaub and Lorch. Bottleneck stamps and currency are now sought-after rarities. Wine that was smuggled in from occupied Germany and stored in Lorch and Kaub can also fetch high prices.

References

External links

Official website of the Free State of Bottleneck
(German language) {{coord, 50, 09, 43, N, 7, 55, 16, E, region:DE_type:landmark_source:kolossus-dewiki, display=title 1919 establishments in Germany 1923 disestablishments in Germany Rheingau-Taunus-Kreis Middle Rhine

Bottleneck Bottleneck may refer to: * the narrowed portion (neck) of a bottle Science and technology * Bottleneck (engineering), where the performance of an entire system is limited by a single component * Bottleneck (network), in a communication network * ...

Rheingau Former republics