Palatine Zweibrücken

Palatine Zweibrücken, or the County Palatine of Zweibrücken, is a former state of the Holy Roman Empire. Its capital was Zweibrücken (Deux-Ponts). Its reigning house, a branch of the Wittelsbach dynasty, was also the Royal House of Sweden from 1654 to 1720.OverviewPalatine Zweibrücken was established as a separate principality in 1444, when Stefan, Count Palatine of Simmern-Zweibrücken divided his territory, Pfalz-Simmern and Zweibrücken, between his two sons. The younger son, Louis I, received the County of Zweibrücken and the County of Veldenz.Palatine Zweibrücken ceased to exist in 1801, when it was annexed by France. After the Congress of Vienna in 1815, some parts of it were returned to the last Duke, King Maximilian I Joseph of Bavaria, who joined them with other former territories on the left bank of the Rhine to form the Rheinkreis, later the Rhenish Palatinate.