Rhein-Pfalz-Kreis

Rhein-Pfalz-Kreis
District
Coat of arms
Country	Germany
State	Rhineland-Palatinate
Capital	Ludwigshafen
Area
• Total	304.88 km2 (117.71 sq mi)
Population  (31 December 2022)
• Total	155,921
• Density	510/km2 (1,300/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
Vehicle registration	RP
Website	rhein-pfalz-kreis.de

The Rhein-Pfalz-Kreis is a district (Kreis) in the east of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.

Neighboring districts are (from north clockwise) the district-free city Worms, the district Bergstraße, district-free Mannheim, Frankenthal and Ludwigshafen, Rhein-Neckar, district-free Speyer, the districts Karlsruhe, Germersheim, Südliche Weinstraße and Bad Dürkheim.

History

The district was created in 1886 under the name Bezirksamt Ludwigshafen, one of the last acts of king Ludwig II of Bavaria. The population in the area around Speyer had grown significantly, which made the splitting of the Bezirksamt Speyer necessary. In 1969, the Speyer and Ludwigshafen districts and parts of the Frankenthal and Neustadt districts were merged again to form the new Ludwigshafen district.

On May 19, 2003 the district parliament passed a resolution to rename the district "Rhein-Pfalz-Kreis" starting in 2004.

Partnerships

The district started it first partnership in 1964 with the municipalities Schnals and Naturns in Italy. The Speyer district had a partnership with Schlanders and Martell, also in Italy, which were taken over after the merging of the district. As part of the partnership of Rhineland-Palatinate with Rwanda the district has a partnership with the municipality of Kinyami starting in 1983. After the German reunification the district supported the Saalkreis in Saxony-Anhalt in modernzing the administration to western standard, which resulted in a friendship between the two districts. In 1991 a partnership with the district Radviliskis in Lithuania was started, and in 2002 with the Polish district Opole in Silesia.

Geography

The district is located in the valley of the Rhine river, both the actual river valley and the Vorderpfälzer Tiefland, formed by the sediments of the rivers of the Palatinate hills. The district has a very warm climate, together with the fertile loess soil it makes the area favourable for growing vegetable. However the rainfall is comparatively low, thus irrigation is needed.

Coat of arms

Coat of arms

The wavy line from the bottom-right to the top-left symbolizes the Rhine river.

The lion in the left is the lion of the Electorate of the Palatinate, to which the largest part of the district belonged historically.

The silver cross in the right part is taken from the State of Speyer, taken from the coat of arms of the Speyer district.

The shield in the middle show water lily leaves, a typical symbol for the district, as this plant grows in the old arms of the Rhine river.

Towns and municipalities

Verband-free municipalities

		Bobenheim-Roxheim	9 967 inhabitants	20.5 km²
		Böhl-Iggelheim	10 533 inhabitants	32.8 km²
		Limburgerhof	10 834 inhabitants	9 km²
		Mutterstadt	12 576 inhabitants	20.5 km²
		Stadt Schifferstadt	19 392 inhabitants	28 km²

Verbandsgemeinden

		Verbandsgemeinde Dannstadt- Schauernheim		13 022 inhabitants	33.2 km²
			Dannstadt- Schauernheim *	7 033 inhabitants	15.3 km²
			Hochdorf- Assenheim	3 113 inhabitants	9.7 km²
			Rödersheim- Gronau	2 876 inhabitants	8.2 km²
		Verbandsgemeinde Lambsheim-Heßheim		15 987 inhabitants	37.68 km²
			Beindersheim	3 054 inhabitants	5.7 km²
			Großniedesheim	1 391 inhabitants	3.8 km²
			Heßheim	3 060 inhabitants	5.8 km²
			Heuchelheim bei Frankenthal	1 272 inhabitants	5.8 km²
			Kleinniedesheim	942 inhabitants	3.9 km²
			Lambsheim *	6 268 inhabitants	12.8 km²
		Verbandsgemeinde Maxdorf		12 687 inhabitants	16.9 km²
			Birkenheide	3 192 inhabitants	2.9 km²
			Fußgönheim	2 484 inhabitants	6.7 km²
			Maxdorf *	7 011 inhabitants	7.4 km²
		Verbandsgemeinde Rheinauen		23 706 inhabitants	51.28 km²
			Altrip	7 808 inhabitants	10.5 km²
			Neuhofen	7 207 inhabitants	12.3 km²
			Otterstadt	3 361 inhabitants	15.6 km²
			Waldsee *	5 330 inhabitants	12.9 km²
		Verbandsgemeinde Römerberg-Dudenhofen		20 498 inhabitants	54.98 km²
			Dudenhofen *	5.812 inhabitants	13 km²
			Hanhofen	2 410 inhabitants	5.8 km²
			Harthausen	3 082 inhabitants	8.4 km²
			Römerberg	9 194 inhabitants	27.9 km²

^*seat of the Verbandsgemeinde

External links

• Official website (German)