Rhineland, Texas
Rhineland is located within the physiographic region known as the Texas Rolling Plains approximately south of the Brazos River at the intersection of farm-to-market roads 267 and 2534 in southeastern Knox County. It is situated to the southeast of the county seat of Benjamin, north of Munday and north of Abilene.
Upper Palatinate
From the mid 13th century much of the region was controlled by the Wittelsbach dynasty and until 1329 was ruled by the Wittelsbach Elector Palatine as part of the larger County Palatine of the Rhine (). By the 1329 Treaty of Pavia, the Wittelsbach territories were divided between two branches of the dynasty. The territory around the Rhine river in the west became known as the Rhenish Palatinate () or Lower Palatinate, and is today usually known simply as the Palatinate (); it is from this territory that the modern German state of Rhineland-Palatinate derives its name. By contrast, the territory to the east centred Amberg became known as the Upper Palatinate (), upper and lower in this case referring to the elevation of the territories (compare Low and High German, Upper and Lower Lusatia, Upper and Lower Lorraine, Low Countries, Lower Saxony).