Editing Rhineland-Palatinate (section)

=== Early years ===
Adolf Süsterhenn submitted to the Advisory State Assembly a draft constitution, which was passed after several rounds of negotiation on 25 April 1947 in a final vote, with the absolute majority of the [[Christian Democratic Union of Germany|CDU]] voting for and the [[Social Democratic Party of Germany|SPD]] and [[Communist Party of Germany|KPD]] voting against. A point of contention involved the draft constitution providing for separate schools based on Christian denomination. On 18 May 1947, 53% of the electorate adopted the Constitution for Rhineland-Palatinate in a [[referendum]]. While the Catholic north and west of the new state adopted the constitution by a majority, the majority in Rhenish Hesse and the Palatinate voted against it. On the same date the first elections took place for the state parliament, the [[Landtag of Rhineland-Palatinate]]. The inaugural assembly of parliament took place on 4 June 1947 in the large city hall at [[Koblenz]]. Wilhelm Boden was elected the first minister-president of Rhineland-Palatinate. Just one month later, [[Peter Altmeier]] succeeded him.

The constitutional bodies – the Government ({{lang|de| Landesregierung}}), the Parliament ({{lang|de| [[Landtag of Rhineland-Palatinate|Landtag]]}}) and the Constitutional Court ({{lang|de| Verfassungsgerichtshof}}) – established their provisional seat in Koblenz. In the following period, Koblenz and Mainz each emphasized their suitability as the state capital in a public debate. From the beginning, Minister-President Altmeier pressed for Mainz as the capital because he knew that the south of the country, especially the Palatinate, would not accept Koblenz, which was far to the north and formerly Prussian. On 16 May 1950, the {{lang|de| Landtag}} decided to relocate itself and the {{lang|de| Landesregierung}} from Koblenz to Mainz.<ref>[http://www.landeshauptarchiv.de/index.php?id=482 16 May 1950. Mainz wird Regierungssitz von Rheinland-Pfalz.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110524082521/http://www.landeshauptarchiv.de/index.php?id=482|date=24 May 2011|quote=Die eindeutige Mehrheit der Abgeordneten stimmte für die Verlegung des Zentrums nach Süden, um dadurch ein Zusammenwachsen der einzelnen Landesteile zu begünstigen.}} in: [[Landeshauptarchiv Koblenz]]
</ref><ref>{{cite web|title= Mainz statt Koblenz: 60 Jahre Hauptstadt|periodical= Fr-online.de|url= http://www.fr-online.de/spezials/mainz-statt-koblenz-60-jahre-hauptstadt,1472874,4433202.html|access-date= 14 December 2014|date= 17 May 2010|language= de|archive-date= 27 September 2015|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150927094459/http://www.fr-online.de/spezials/mainz-statt-koblenz-60-jahre-hauptstadt,1472874,4433202.html|url-status= live}}</ref>{{failed verification|date=March 2020}}
After the government and parliament moved to Mainz, many state authorities and courts remained in Koblenz, including the Constitutional Court and the State Archives. In addition, the [[German Federal Archives]] and Federal Office of Hydrology were established in Koblenz in 1952.