Published on 18 August 2026

CCNR member states over the years

The CCNR currently has five member states: Belgium, France, Germany, the Netherlands and Switzerland. However, this composition is the result of a long historical development, as the number of member states has changed several times since its establishment.

The current five Member States reflect more than 200 years of European history. — © Chat-GPT

Even before the official foundation of the CCNR in 1815, control over the Rhine was a key concern for the neighbouring regions. A significant example of this is the agreement between France and the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation, which regulated the levies on the Rhine through the agreement Octroi du Rhin.

The institutionalised cooperation finally began with the Commission’s first meeting on 5 August 1816: the founding members included France, the Netherlands, Prussia, Baden, Hesse, Bavaria and Nassau. In 1866, the first change to the composition of the member states took place: following the annexation of Nassau by Prussia, the number of member states decreased.

Only a few years later, a curious change took place: after Alsace-Lorraine became part of Germany in the Franco–Prussian War of 1871, France was no longer a Rhine-bordering state and left the CCNR, but since it was not Germany but the individual German states that were part of the CCNR, Alsace-Lorraine itself became a new member, which meant that the number of member states remained the same despite France's departure.

The Treaty of Versailles also led to a number of changes in the CCNR in the aftermath of the First World War. France became the permanent chair, while the German Reich replaced the German states and Belgium, the United Kingdom and Italy became members of the CCNR. At the same time, Switzerland became a member of the Central Commission for the Navigation of the Rhine without signing the Mannheim Convention, which it would only ratify later following its revision.

When Germany unilaterally announced in 1936 that it was no longer bound to the Rhine regime and Italy left in 1937, the membership of the CCNR suffered a setback that lasted for the duration of the Second World War.

After the Second World War, even the United States of America, as an occupying power of Germany, became a member of the CCNR. The Federal Republic of Germany was, in turn, admitted to the CCNR in 1950. At that time, the CCNR had seven member states. The number decreased over the years due to the withdrawal of the US in 1964 and the UK in 1993, until the CCNR reached its current membership of five.

Headquarter of the CCNR

The first meetings of the newly founded CCNR took place in Mainz. In 1860, it was decided to move the meetings to Mannheim. For this reason, the convention adopted in 1868 is also known as the Mannheim Convention. It was only after the First World War and a fundamental reorganisation that the CCNR's headquarters were moved to the Palais du Rhin in Strasbourg in 1920. With the exception of the Second World War period, when the CCNR's headquarters were moved to Grenoble, the CCNR has remained in Strasbourg to this day.