On 5 April 1815, Frederick William III proclaimed the incorporation of the two Rhenish provinces – the grand duchy of the Lower Rhine, and the duchies of Cleves, Berg and Geldern – into Prussia. Two million souls, including 1.5 million Catholics, were thereby added to his kingdom. Frederick William undertook to protect property, safeguard religious beliefs and ensure justice. Significantly, he promised the creation of a representative body. The vast majority of Rhinelanders became aware of the transfer of sovereignty with the appearance of Hohenzollern eagles in their towns instead of French symbols. On 30 April, Berlin decreed the future administrative structure for the enlarged Monarchy, and the King promised ‘respect for the constitution, uniformity of action, liberality and impartiality’, and the protection of ‘all advantages gained through the free employment of personal talent’. Prussia was divided into ten provinces, each headed by a governor (Oberpräsident), and twenty-five districts, administered by district governors (Regierungspräsidenten). The two Rhenish provinces were Jülich-Cleves-Berg, administered from Cologne, and the grand duchy of the Lower Rhine, governed from Koblenz. Each was sub-divided into three districts.At the local level, the French structure remained intact and, like other Napoleonic institutions, became the focus of dispute between reformers and conservatives. To complement the administrative reforms, Frederick William issued his fateful edict of 22 May, promising ‘representation of the people’ through an ‘assembly of representatives of the land’, a vague formulation that implied representation through estates. Nevertheless, the edict raised Rhenish expectations.