Province of Westphalia replaced by North Rhine-Westphalia
End of the province
After the Second World War, the Province of Westphalia was part of the British Occupation Zone. The border with Hesse was also the border between the British and American Occupation Zones, while the Westphalian districts of Siegen and Olpe bordered the French Occupation Zone. The headquarters of the British occupation authority, the "Control Commission for Germany – British Element," were at Bad Oeynhausen until after the Potsdam Conference in August 1945. In July 1945, they appointed Rudolf Amelunxen as the new Oberpräsident of the province. New heads of government were also appointed for Arnsberg (Fritz Fries), Minden und Münster. At the beginning of 1946, a new political assembly, the Provinzialrat ("Provincial Council") was established, to advise the military government and the Oberpräsident. Its members were drawn according to a fixed pattern from a set of parties that had been newly founded or refounded since the end of the war. The SPD had 35 members, the CDU 30, the KPD 20, the Centre 10, and the FDP 5.
The British abolished the Prussian provinces in their zone on 23 August 1946 in accordance with a decision made by the British cabinet in June 1946. Westphalia was merged with the northern portion of the former Rhine province to form North Rhine-Westphalia. In 1947, the Free State of Lippe was merged into North Rhine-Westphalia, becoming part of Detmold district. Even before the official Abolition of Prussia on 25 February 1947, the province had disappeared from the political stage. After the founding of the Federal Republic of Germany and the passage of the Basic Law on 23 May 1949, North-Rhine Westphalia became one of the states of the new federation.
substituted by superseded by succeeded by followed by replaced with