Southwest Germany
Southwest Germany describes a not clearly delimited area in southwest Germany .
Uses of the term
Politically
With the unification of Württemberg-Baden , Baden and Württemberg-Hohenzollern to form the state of Baden-Württemberg in 1952, the term "Southwest State" came up. Based on this, southwest Germany is sometimes used as a synonym for Baden-Württemberg.
In the historical context of the immediate post-war period between 1945 and 1949 that followed the end of the Second World War , southwest Germany is also understood to mean the area of the French occupation zone , which includes the region of what is now the state of Rhineland-Palatinate .
Geographically
In a geographical sense, south-west Germany usually refers to Baden-Württemberg in addition to the land triangle between the Upper Rhine (the regions of Rheinhessen and Palatinate in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland ) and the north-eastern stretch of the Upper Rhine Plain ( southern Hesse about south of the Hochtaunus ). The affiliation of the rest of Rhineland-Palatinate (such as the former administrative districts of Koblenz and Trier , which were dissolved in 1999 ) and the Hunsrück region are assigned to " West Germany " in the broader sense.
Linguistically
Southwest Germany is used less frequently for the West Upper German language area ( Alemannic dialects ) in Germany. This area roughly covers the southern two thirds of Baden-Württemberg and the south-west of Bavaria (mainly Bavarian Swabia ).
broadcast
The former Südwestfunk (SWF) and today's Südwestrundfunk (SWR) have the region in their name. The transmission area of the SWF was in Rhineland-Palatinate and southern Baden-Württemberg. In contrast, the SWR broadcasting area now includes the entire state of Baden-Württemberg in addition to Rhineland-Palatinate.
