Rhineland
In 1946, the Rhineland was divided into the newly founded states of Hesse, North Rhine-Westphalia, and Rhineland-Palatinate. North Rhine-Westphalia is one of the prime German industrial areas, containing significant mineral deposits, (coal, lead, lignite, magnesium, oil, and uranium) and water transport. In Rhineland-Palatinate agriculture is more important, including the vineyards in the Ahr, Mittelrhein, and Mosel regions.
Schmittweiler
After the Congress of Vienna (1815), Schmittweiler belonged to the Rheinkreis, an exclave of the Kingdom of Bavaria, in which it remained through Bavarian times, Imperial times, Weimar times and the time of the Third Reich, becoming part of the newly founded state of Rhineland-Palatinate only after the Second World War. To distinguish itself from the outlying centre of Schönenberg-Kübelberg also known as Schmittweiler, the village once bore the official tag “Amtsgericht Lauterecken”. In the course of administrative restructuring in Rhineland-Palatinate in 1969, Schmittweiler was transferred from the Kusel district to the Bad Kreuznach district. From an ecclesiastical standpoint, Schmittweiler still belongs to the Evangelical Church of the Palatinate (Evangelical) and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Speyer.