h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Well, as a Pfälzer I must say that you covered the topic very good! I only have one little thing to add: Trifels and Prinz Eisenherz.

Don't you mean Löwenherz?

Blow blow blow - I had meant to include that right from the beginning. I shall simply make an extra entry on it. With some research I could probably get a lot of info together. It is very unlikely that Richard and Blondel were ever actually there.

A well written entry on the subject. My family roots are in the Pfalz and I live nearby this region (in Mainz) Your research has been very thoroughly. Well done. tell me where you are from in my personal space will you?

Really in formative and well written!

Where you say it is surprisingly rare to find a French speaker here, is this an aspect of the way government of this area has gone backwards and forwards between Germany and France, seemingly depending on who won the last war?

If (for now) Germany holds a disputed border territory, then I'm assuming French speakers will have gone to ground or will be reluctant to admit to a knowledge of French, as language in these parts is so inextricably bound up with ownership or presumed ownership? (I'm assuming the opposite would apply if the French were in charge - German speaking would be somewhat discouraged, as in Alsace-Lorraine after 1918 or 1945?)

Is there a posibility areas like this could be flashpoints in the future between France and Germany, as they have been right back to 1870 and before?

I don't think so, as the entente cordiale has always been quite amicable since the war, or at least since the first seeds of the EU were sown - it depends on the people at the top.

The reason that so few people speak French on this side of the border is that on the other side in France plenty of people speak German. That is a whole nother story.