Main line (politics)

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Germany from 1866 to 1871. The red line marks the southern border of the North German Confederation.

In the historical-political sense, the Main Line denotes the delimitation of the spheres of influence of the two German great powers Austria and Prussia within the German Confederation in the 19th century. The seat of the German Confederation, Frankfurt am Main , was on this line.

Later the Main line became the southern border of the North German Confederation . As such, the Main Line did not run exactly along the Main , but from east to west, first along the northern border of the Kingdom of Bavaria , then along the Main to its confluence near Mainz and finally along the western borders of the Grand Duchy of Hesse and the Bavarian Palatinate to the French border . The Grand Duchy of Hesse was on both sides of the line. The city of Frankfurt am Main, which had belonged to Prussia since 1866, was also on both sides of the Main, but the entire city belonged to the North German Confederation.

The historical-political Main Line is still often seen today as the northern border of southern Germany . Alternatively, the linguistic main line or the (though not clearly defined) so-called white sausage equator are given .