ABSTRACT
Southern Germany may be defined in broad terms as the section south of the Rhine Plateau, the Vogelsberg and the Thuringian highlands, including the political units of Baden, Wurtemberg, Bavaria, Rhenish Palatinate, Saar and Hesse-Nassau. It also has close relations, historically, culturally and economically, with Alsace and Lorraine on the west of the Rhine. Politically and economically, this whole area falls into several distinct cultural entities, that, especially in the Rhinelands, were obscured by political disintegration until the formation of the existing political units at the beginning of the nineteenth century. It lacks coal and iron but its industrial development in the nineteenth century was favoured by the support of the small independent States within their own restricted frontiers. Agriculturally also it falls into several distinct regions. These facts of regional integration are further emphasized by the welding of their interests and associations in the cities. These are all historic cities, that have always centralized and organized, in large measure, the cultural, political and economic life of the land without any shifts of population or of city centres. This applies in particular to Frankfurt and Mainz that for centuries have extended their influence across the medieval political divisions, thus giving unity to the whole region around them. Thus, we may recognize a broad similarity of economic function and development in much of southern Germany with several distinct regions based upon separate regional associations. These are the South-west, Rhine-Main and Bavaria. Alsace and Lorraine west of the Rhine form separate regions with close international relations with the Romance and Germanic spheres, but are intimately tied up with the whole question of the navigation of the Rhine. Alsace, in particular, has close regional associations with south-western Germany.
