German Pfalz
Historical region, now part of Germany.
The region was once under the jurisdiction of the counts palatine (secular princes), who in the 14th century became elector s of the Holy Roman Empire . In the 16th and 17th centuries the Palatinate was a stronghold of Protestantism. It was divided into two parts: the Lower, or Rhenish, Palatinate, on both sides of the Rhine River in the area south of the Main River ; and the Upper Palatinate, in northern Bavaria around Amberg and Regensburg. The boundaries of the Palatinate varied with the political and dynastic fortunes of the counts palatine.