The state of North Rhine-Westphalia was established by the British military administration on 25 October 1946 from two culturally separate areas, Westphalia and the Rhineland.
Historically, the territory consisted of Westphalia and the northern parts of the Rhine Province, both formerly belonging to Prussia. In 1947 the former state of Lippe was merged with North Rhine-Westphalia, hence leading to the present borders of the state.
The North Rhine-Westphalia state election on May 22, 2005 granted the CDU a landslide victory. Their top candidate Jürgen Rüttgers built a new coalition government consisting of CDU and FDP that replaced the former government headed by Peer Steinbrück. Rüttgers was elected new Prime Minister (German: Ministerpräsident) of the federal state on June 22, 2005.
Coat of Arms and Flag
The flag of North Rhine-Westphalia is green-white-red with the combined coats of arms of the Prussian Rhine province (white line before green background), Westphalia (the white horse) and Lippe (the red rose).
According to legend the horse in the Westphalian coat of arms is the horse that the Saxon leader Widukind rode after his baptism. Other theories attribute the horse to Henry the Lion.
A regional anthem is the Lied für NRW (Song for NRW).
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The state of North Rhine-Westphalia was established by the British military administration on 25 October 1946 from two culturally separate areas, Westphalia and the Rhineland.