Bezirk Lothringen


Bezirk Lothringen, also called German Lorraine, was the name for a Department in the western part of Alsace-Lorraine when it was part of the German Empire from 1871 to 1918.

History

The District of Lorraine was unlike Prussian government regions no simple governorate but a corporation of self-rule of the pertaining rural and urbans subdistricts and cantons, similar to regions in the then neighbouring Bavaria. Thus the district parliaments delegated deputies to the General Council, the Bezirkstag von Lothringen. The capital of the District of Lorraine was Metz.

Territorial composition

The department comprised the districts of :
  1. Metz, independent city
  2. "Kreis Bolchen", seated in Bolchen
  3. "Kreis Château-Salins", seated in Château-Salins
  4. "Kreis Diedenhofen-Ost", seated in Diedenhofen
  5. "Kreis Diedenhofen-West", seated in Diedenhofen
  6. "Kreis Forbach", seated in Forbach
  7. "Kreis Metz-Land", seated in Metz
  8. "Kreis Saarburg", seated in Saarburg
  9. "Kreis Saargemünd", seated in Saargemünd
The district of Lorraine corresponds exactly to the current département 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, was added to the Gau Westmark on 30 November 1940.

District Presidents