----- Original Message -----
Sent: Thursday, November 04, 2004 10:12
PM
Subject: [BoundaryPoint] Freistaat
Flaschenhals
Hello all,
it appears to me I "misuse" you in the
attempt to solve all my problems.
Here I have a new question: look at
www.freistaat-flaschenhals.de
and you
will find a short (German) description of the fantasy "Free
State
Bottleneck" that "existed" 1919 - 1923 as the result of the
Versailles
treaty after WWI.
All Germany left of the Rhine was
occupied by French and American forces; a
zone of 50 km right of the Rhine
was to be de-militarized. Bridgeheads were
formed opposite of Koblenz and
Mainz, and in circles of 30 km around Koblenz
and Mainz the areas within
the circles were occupied by the American
(Koblenz) and French armies
(Mainz), respectively.
Both circles touched each other at the village
of Laufenselden as shown in
the appended sketch.
This left a
considerable area in "the limbo" between the Rhine, the two
circles and
Laufenselden. This area could not be reached anymore from the
remaining
Germany without permission of the American or French army.
In an
anarchic move the then mayor created the "Free State" and called
it
"Flaschenhals" = Bottleneck. Like all towns and cities in Germany in
the
ensuing inflation and paper money scarcity period it issued its own
paper
money and coins.
So far the history. Now my
question:
Did the circles REALLY touch each other at Laufenselden, or
did they even
overlap, or did they only ALMOST touch each other? Does
anyone have a map
where the circles are marked clearly?
Thank you
for all your efforts,
Wolfgang