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.
Ahr Valley
The Ahr valley () is named after the Ahr, a left tributary of the Rhine in Germany. It begins at the Ahr spring ("Ahrquelle") in Blankenheim in the county of Euskirchen (North Rhine-Westphalia) and runs generally eastwards. At its southernmost point it enters the county of Ahrweiler, and hence the state of Rhineland-Palatinate. Running through the collective municipality of Adenau the valley bends northeast at its confluence with the Adenauer Bach and reaches the collective municipality of Altenahr, from where it resumes its characteristic west to east course, albeit interrupted by meanders. Here begins the section that is known as the Ahr valley ("Ahrtal") in a touristic sense. Here it is characterized by vineyards on the south-facing slopes and a picturesque rocky landscape, carved out by the river creating a 300 metre deep gorge in the Ahr Hills. In the next stage the Ahr reaches the area of the county town of Bad Neuenahr-Ahrweiler, before finally discharging into the Rhine south of Remagen in the borough of Sinzig.