Rhineland-Palatinate was created on 30 August 1947. It was formed from the northern part of the French Occupation Zone (the Rhenish Palatinate or which had been a part of Bavaria) as well as the southern parts of the Prussian Rhine Province, Birkenfeld which formerly belonged to Oldenburg, parts of the Prussian Province of Nassau (see Hesse-Nassau), and parts of Hesse-Darmstadt as well as Rheinhessen on the western banks of the Rhine. 