Municipality of Rhineland
The Municipality of Rhineland is a rural municipality (RM) in the Canadian province of Manitoba that incorporated on January 1, 2015 via the amalgamation of the Rural Municipality of Rhineland and the towns of Gretna and Plum Coulee. It was formed as a requirement of "The Municipal Amalgamations Act", which required municipalities with a population less than 1,000 to amalgamate with one or more neighbouring municipalities by 2015. The Government of Manitoba initiated the amalgamations for municipalities to meet the 1997 minimum population requirement of 1,000 to incorporate a municipality.
Die Wacht am Rhein
Today, the lands along the western bank of the Rhine between Switzerland and the Netherlands are mainly part of Germany. The Saarland, Rhineland-Palatinate and North Rhine-Westphalia are German federal states; Alsace and northern Lorraine are parts of France with a German cultural element to them. The French–German enmity was ended in 1963 with the Élysée Treaty and the implementation of the Franco–German friendship, so that the danger of an invasion that loomed for centuries over both nations no longer exists. Today, the song has only historical significance in Germany and is rarely sung or played. However, singer Heino has performed it on a record.
The song has figured in stage works and films.