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Bavaria

Bavaria (/bəˈvɛəriə/ bə-VAIR-ee-ə; German: Bayern [ˈbaɪɐn] (listen)), officially the Free State of Bavaria (German: Freistaat Bayern [ˈfʁaɪʃtaːt ˈbaɪɐn] (listen)), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of 70,550.19 km2 (27,239.58 sq mi), Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total land area of Germany. With over 13 million inhabitants, it is second in population only to North Rhine-Westphalia, but due to its large size its population density is below the German average. Bavaria's main cities are Munich (its capital and largest city and also the third largest city in Germany),[4] Nuremberg, and Augsburg.

Free State of Bavaria
Freistaat Bayern (German)
Freistoot Bayern (Bavarian)
Anthem: Bayernhymne (German)
"Hymn of Bavaria"
Coordinates: 49°04′43″N 11°23′08″E / 49.07861°N 11.38556°E / 49.07861; 11.38556Coordinates: 49°04′43″N 11°23′08″E / 49.07861°N 11.38556°E / 49.07861; 11.38556
CountryGermany
CapitalMunich
Government
 • BodyLandtag of Bavaria
 • Minister-PresidentMarkus Söder (CSU)
 • Governing partiesCSU / FW
 • Bundesrat votes6 (of 69)
 • Bundestag seats117 (of 736)
Area
 • Total70,550.19 km2 (27,239.58 sq mi)
Population
 (2019-12-31)[1]
 • Total13,124,737
 • Density186/km2 (480/sq mi)
DemonymBavarian
Time zoneUTC+1 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+2 (CEST)
ISO 3166 codeDE-BY
GRP (nominal)€633 billion (2019)[2]
GRP per capita€48,000 (2019)
NUTS RegionDE2
HDI (2018)0.956[3]
very high · 5th of 16
Websitewww.bayern.de

The history of Bavaria includes its earliest settlement by Iron Age Celtic tribes, followed by the conquests of the Roman Empire in the 1st century BC, when the territory was incorporated into the provinces of Raetia and Noricum. It became the Duchy of Bavaria (a stem duchy) in the 6th century AD following the collapse of the Western Roman Empire. It was later incorporated into the Holy Roman Empire, became an independent kingdom after 1806, joined the Prussian-led German Empire in 1871 while retaining its title of kingdom, and finally became a state of the Federal Republic of Germany in 1949.[5]

Bavaria has a unique culture, largely because of the state's Catholic heritage and conservative traditions.[6] Bavarians have traditionally been proud of their culture, which includes a language, cuisine, architecture, festivals and elements of Alpine symbolism.[7] The state also has the second largest economy among the German states by GDP figures, giving it a status as a wealthy German region.[8]

Contemporary Bavaria also includes parts of the historical regions of Franconia and Swabia.

History

Antiquity

 
Prehistoric Heunischenburg, in the vicinity of Kronach

The Bavarians emerged in a region north of the Alps, previously inhabited by Celts, which had been part of the Roman provinces of Raetia and Noricum.

The Bavarians spoke a Germanic dialect which developed into Old High German during the early Middle Ages, however, unlike other Germanic groups, they probably did not migrate from elsewhere when Western Roman influence collapsed.

Rather, they seem to have coalesced out of other groups left behind by the Roman withdrawal late in the 5th century. These peoples may have included the Celtic Boii, some remaining Romans, Marcomanni, Allemanni, Quadi, Thuringians, Goths, Scirians, Rugians, Heruli. The name "Bavarian" ("Baiuvarii") means "Men of Baia" which may indicate Bohemia, the homeland of the Celtic Boii and later of the Marcomanni. They first appear in written sources circa 520.

A 17th century Jewish chronicler David Solomon Ganz, citing Cyriacus Spangenberg, claimed that the diocese was named after an ancient Bohemian king, Boiia, in the 14th century BC.[9]

Middle Ages

From about 554 to 788, the house of Agilolfing ruled the Duchy of Bavaria, ending with Tassilo III who was deposed by Charlemagne.[10]

Three early dukes are named in Frankish sources: Garibald I may have been appointed to the office by the Merovingian kings and married the Lombard princess Walderada when the church forbade her to King Chlothar I in 555. Their daughter, Theodelinde, became Queen of the Lombards in northern Italy and Garibald was forced to flee to her when he fell out with his Frankish overlords.

Garibald's successor, Tassilo I, tried unsuccessfully to hold the eastern frontier against the expansion of Slavs and Avars around 600. Tassilo's son Garibald II seems to have achieved a balance of power between 610 and 616.[11]

After Garibald II, little is known of the Bavarians until Duke Theodo I, whose reign may have begun as early as 680. From 696 onward, he invited churchmen from the west to organize churches and strengthen Christianity in his duchy. (It is unclear what Bavarian religious life consisted of before this time.)

His son, Theudebert, led a decisive Bavarian campaign to intervene in a succession dispute in the Lombard Kingdom in 714, and married his sister Guntrud to the Lombard King Liutprand. At Theodo's death the duchy was divided among his sons, but reunited under his grandson Hugbert.

 
Bavaria in the 10th century

At Hugbert's death (735) the duchy passed to a distant relative named Odilo, from neighboring Alemannia (modern southwest Germany and northern Switzerland). Odilo issued a law code for Bavaria, completed the process of church organization in partnership with St. Boniface (739), and tried to intervene in Frankish succession disputes by fighting for the claims of the Carolingian Grifo. He was defeated near Augsburg in 743 but continued to rule until his death in 748.[12][13]

Saint Boniface completed the people's conversion to Christianity in the early 8th century. Tassilo III (b. 741 – d. after 796) succeeded his father at the age of eight after an unsuccessful attempt by Grifo to rule Bavaria. He initially ruled under Frankish oversight but began to function independently from 763 onward. He was particularly noted for founding new monasteries and for expanding eastwards, fighting Slavs in the eastern Alps and along the Danube and colonizing these lands.

After 781, however, his cousin Charlemagne began to pressure Tassilo to submit and finally deposed him in 788. The deposition was not entirely legitimate.

Dissenters attempted a coup against Charlemagne at Tassilo's old capital of Regensburg in 792, led by his own son Pépin the Hunchback. The king had to drag Tassilo out of imprisonment to formally renounce his rights and titles at the Assembly of Frankfurt in 794. This is the last appearance of Tassilo in the sources, and he probably died a monk. As all of his family were also forced into monasteries, this was the end of the Agilolfing dynasty.

 
The Bavarian duchies after the partition of 1392

For the next 400 years numerous families held the duchy, rarely for more than three generations. With the revolt of duke Henry the Quarrelsome in 976, Bavaria lost large territories in the south and south east.

The territory of Ostarrichi was elevated to a duchy in its own right and given to the Babenberger family. This event marks the founding of Austria. Later the counts of Tyrol next to other princes began to act more independently from the dukes of Bavaria, and the new Duchy of Merania was created from lordships once under the jurisdiction of the Duchy of Bavaria.

The last, and one of the most important, of the dukes of Bavaria was Henry the Lion of the house of Welf, founder of Munich, and de facto the second most powerful man in the empire as the ruler of two duchies. When in 1180, Henry the Lion was deposed as Duke of Saxony and Bavaria by his cousin, Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor (a.k.a. "Barbarossa" for his red beard), Bavaria was awarded as fief to the Wittelsbach family, counts palatinate of Schyren ("Scheyern" in modern German). They ruled for 738 years, from 1180 to 1918. In 1180 however also Styria was separated from Bavaria. The Electorate of the Palatinate by Rhine (Kurpfalz in German) was also acquired by the House of Wittelsbach in 1214, which they would subsequently hold for six centuries.[14]

The first of several divisions of the duchy of Bavaria occurred in 1255. With the extinction of the Hohenstaufen in 1268, Swabian territories were acquired by the Wittelsbach dukes. Emperor Louis the Bavarian acquired Brandenburg, Tyrol, Holland and Hainaut for his House but released the Upper Palatinate for the Palatinate branch of the Wittelsbach in 1329. That time also Salzburg finally became independent from the Duchy of Bavaria.

In the 14th and 15th centuries, upper and lower Bavaria were repeatedly subdivided. Four Duchies existed after the division of 1392: Bavaria-Straubing, Bavaria-Landshut, Bavaria-Ingolstadt and Bavaria-Munich. In 1506 with the Landshut War of Succession, the other parts of Bavaria were reunited, and Munich became the sole capital. The country became a center of the Jesuit-inspired Counter-Reformation.

 
Bavarian herald Joerg Rugenn wearing a tabard of the arms around 1510

Electorate of Bavaria

In 1623 the Bavarian duke replaced his relative of the Palatinate branch, the Electorate of the Palatinate in the early days of the Thirty Years' War and acquired the powerful prince-electoral dignity in the Holy Roman Empire, determining its Emperor thence forward, as well as special legal status under the empire's laws.

During the early and mid-18th century the ambitions of the Bavarian prince electors led to several wars with Austria as well as occupations by Austria (War of the Spanish Succession, War of the Austrian Succession with the election of a Wittelsbach emperor instead of a Habsburg).

From 1777 onward, and after the younger Bavarian branch of the family had died out with elector Max III Joseph, Bavaria and the Electorate of the Palatinate were governed once again in personal union, now by the Palatinian lines.

The new state also comprised the Duchies of Jülich and Berg as these on their part were in personal union with the Palatinate.

Kingdom of Bavaria

 
Bavaria in the 19th century and beyond

When Napoleon abolished the Holy Roman Empire, Bavaria became – by grace of Napoleon – a kingdom in 1806 due, in part, to the Confederation of the Rhine.[15]

Its area doubled after the Duchy of Jülich was ceded to France, as the Electoral Palatinate was divided between France and the Grand Duchy of Baden. The Duchy of Berg was given to Jerome Bonaparte. Tyrol and Salzburg were temporarily reunited with Bavaria but finally ceded to Austria by the Congress of Vienna.

In return Bavaria was allowed to annex the modern-day region of Palatinate to the west of the Rhine and Franconia in 1815. Between 1799 and 1817, the leading minister, Count Montgelas, followed a strict policy of modernisation copying Napoleonic France; he laid the foundations of centralized administrative structures that survived the monarchy and, in part, have retained core validity through the 20st century.

In May 1808, a first constitution was passed by Maximilian I,[16] being modernized in 1818. This second version established a bicameral Parliament with a House of Lords (Kammer der Reichsräte) and a House of Commons (Kammer der Abgeordneten). That constitution was followed until the collapse of the monarchy at the end of World War I.

After the rise of Prussia to power in the early 18th century, Bavaria preserved its independence by playing off the rivalry of Prussia and Austria. Allied to Austria, it was defeated along with Austria in the 1866 Austro-Prussian War and was not incorporated into the North German Confederation of 1867, but the question of German unity was still alive. When France declared war on Prussia in 1870, all the south German states (Baden, Württemberg, Hessen-Darmstadt and Bavaria) aside from Austria, joined the Prussian forces and ultimately joined the Federation, which was renamed Deutsches Reich (German Empire) in 1871.

Bavaria continued formally as a monarchy, and it had some special rights within the federation (such as an army, railways, postal service and a diplomatic body of its own) but the diplomatic body were later undone by Wilhelm II who declared them illegal and got rid of the diplomatic service.[citation needed]

Part of the German Empire

 
Bavaria within the German Empire

When Bavaria became part of the newly formed German Empire, this action was considered controversial by Bavarian nationalists who had wanted to retain independence from the rest of Germany, as had Austria.

As Bavaria had a heavily Catholic majority population, many people resented being ruled by the mostly Protestant northerners of Prussia. As a direct result of the Bavarian-Prussian feud, political parties formed to encourage Bavaria to break away and regain its independence.[17]

In the early 20th century, Wassily Kandinsky, Paul Klee, Henrik Ibsen, and other artists were drawn to Bavaria, especially to the Schwabing district of Munich, a center of international artistic activity.

Free State of Bavaria

 
A memorial to soldiers who died in the two World Wars in Dietelskirchen (Kröning), Bavaria

Free State has been an adopted designation after the abolition of monarchy in the aftermath of World War I in several German states.

On 12 November 1918, Ludwig III signed a document, the Anif declaration, releasing both civil and military officers from their oaths; the newly formed republican government, or "People's State" of Socialist premier Kurt Eisner,[18] interpreted this as an abdication. To date, however, no member of the House of Wittelsbach has ever formally declared renunciation of the throne.[19]

On the other hand, none has ever since officially called upon their Bavarian or Stuart claims. Family members are active in cultural and social life, including the head of the house, Franz, Duke of Bavaria. They step back from any announcements on public affairs, showing approval or disapproval solely by Franz's presence or absence.

Eisner was assassinated in February 1919, ultimately leading to a Communist revolt and the short-lived Bavarian Soviet Republic being proclaimed 6 April 1919. After violent suppression by elements of the German Army and notably the Freikorps, the Bavarian Soviet Republic fell in May 1919. The Bamberg Constitution (Bamberger Verfassung) was enacted on 12 or 14 August 1919 and came into force on 15 September 1919 creating the Free State of Bavaria within the Weimar Republic.

Extremist activity further increased, notably the 1923 Beer Hall Putsch led by the National Socialists, and Munich and Nuremberg became seen as Nazi strongholds during the Weimar Republic and Nazi dictatorship. However, in the crucial German federal election, March 1933, the Nazis received less than 50% of the votes cast in Bavaria.

As a manufacturing centre, Munich was heavily bombed during World War II and was occupied by U.S. troops, becoming a major part of the American Zone of Allied-occupied Germany (1945–47) and then of "Bizonia".

The Rhenish Palatinate was detached from Bavaria in 1946 and made part of the new state Rhineland-Palatinate. During the Cold War, Bavaria was part of West Germany. In 1949, the Free State of Bavaria chose not to sign the Founding Treaty (Gründungsvertrag) for the formation of the Federal Republic of Germany, opposing the division of Germany into two countries after World War II.

The Bavarian Parliament did not sign the Basic Law of Germany, mainly because it was seen as not granting sufficient powers to the individual Länder (states), but at the same time decided that it would still come into force in Bavaria if two-thirds of the other Länder ratified it. All of the other Länder ratified it, however, so it became law.[20]

Bavarian identity

 
Expression of Bavarian (linguistic) identity in a shop window in the town of Regensburg, Upper Palatinate

Bavarians have often emphasized a separate national identity and considered themselves as "Bavarians" first, "Germans" second.[21]

In the 19th-century sense, an independent Bavarian State only existed from 1806 to 1871. This feeling started to come about more strongly among Bavarians when the Kingdom of Bavaria was forced by Bismarck to join the Protestant Prussian-dominated German Empire in 1871, while the Bavarian nationalists wanted to keep Bavaria as Catholic and an independent state. Aside from the minority Bavaria Party, most Bavarians now accept Bavaria is part of Germany.[22]

Another consideration is that Bavarians foster different cultural identities: Franconia in the north, speaking East Franconian German; Bavarian Swabia in the south west, speaking Swabian German; and Altbayern (so-called "Old Bavaria", the regions forming the "historic", pentagon-shaped Bavaria before the acquisitions through the Vienna Congress, at present the districts of the Upper Palatinate, Lower and Upper Bavaria) speaking Austro-Bavarian.[citation needed]

In Munich, the Old Bavarian dialect was widely spread, but nowadays High German is predominantly spoken there.

Flags and coat of arms

Flags

Uniquely among German states, Bavaria has two official flags of equal status, one with a white and blue stripe, the other with white and blue lozenges. Either may be used by civilians and government offices, who are free to choose between them.[23] Unofficial versions of the flag, especially a lozenge style with coat of arms, are sometimes used by civilians.

Coat of arms

The modern coat of arms of Bavaria was designed by Eduard Ege in 1946, following heraldic traditions.

  • The Golden Lion: At the dexter chief, sable, a lion rampant Or, armed and langued gules. This represents the administrative region of Upper Palatinate.
  • The "Franconian Rake": At the sinister chief, per fess dancetty, gules, and argent. This represents the administrative regions of Upper, Middle and Lower Franconia.
  • The Blue "Pantier" (mythical creature from French heraldry, sporting a flame instead of a tongue): At the dexter base, argent, a Pantier rampant azure, armed Or and langued gules. This represents the regions of Lower and Upper Bavaria.
  • The Three Lions: At the sinister base, Or, three lions passant guardant sable, armed and langued gules. This represents Swabia.
  • The White-And-Blue inescutcheon: The inescutcheon of white and blue fusils askance was originally the coat of arms of the Counts of Bogen, adopted in 1247 by the House of Wittelsbach. The white-and-blue fusils are indisputably the emblem of Bavaria and these arms today symbolize Bavaria as a whole. Along with the People's Crown, it is officially used as the Minor Coat of Arms.
  • The People's Crown (Volkskrone): The coat of arms is surmounted by a crown with a golden band inset with precious stones and decorated with five ornamental leaves. This crown first appeared in the coat of arms to symbolize sovereignty of the people after the royal crown was eschewed in 1923.

Geography

 
View of the Bavarian Alps (foreground); in the background Austria (specifically Tyrol): Inn valley (center) with (left) Kaisergebirge and (right) Pendling mountain. In the extreme background (center-left) the snow-capped High Tauern

Bavaria shares international borders with Austria (Salzburg, Tyrol, Upper Austria and Vorarlberg) and the Czech Republic (Karlovy Vary, Plzeň and South Bohemian Regions), as well as with Switzerland (across Lake Constance to the Canton of St. Gallen). All of these countries are part of the Schengen Area, so the borders are completely open (except during COVID-19).

Neighboring states within Germany are Baden-Württemberg, Hesse, Thuringia, and Saxony. Two major rivers flow through the state: the Danube (Donau) and the Main. The Bavarian Forest and the Bohemian Forest form the vast majority of the frontier with the Czech Republic and Bohemia.

The major cities in Bavaria are Munich (München), Nuremberg (Nürnberg), Augsburg, Regensburg, Würzburg, Ingolstadt, Fürth, and Erlangen.

The geographic center of the European Union is located in the northwestern corner of Bavaria.

Mountains

The Bavarian Alps define the border with Austria (including the Austrian federal-states of Vorarlberg, Tyrol and Salzburg), and within the range is the highest peak in Germany: the Zugspitze.

Climate

At lower elevations the climate is classified according to Köppen's guide as “Cfb” or “Dfb” at lower altitudes, then at higher altitudes the climate becomes “Dfc” and “ET”.

The summer months have been getting hotter in recent years.[24] For example, June 2019 was the warmest June in Bavaria since weather observations have been recorded[24] and the winter 2019/2020 was 3 degrees Celsius warmer than the average temperature for many years all over Bavaria. On 20 December 2019 a record temperature of 20.2 °C (68.4 °F) was recorded in Piding.[25] In general winter months are seeing more precipitation which is taking the form of rain more often than that of snow compared to the past.[24] Extreme weather like the 2013 European floods or the 2019 European heavy snowfalls is occurring more and more often. One effect of the continuing warming is the melting of almost all Bavarian Alpine glaciers: Of the five glaciers of Bavaria only the Höllentalferner is predicted to exist over a longer time perspective. The Südliche Schneeferner has almost vanished since the 1980s.[24]

Administrative divisions

Administrative regions

 
Administrative regions (Regierungsbezirke and Bezirke) of Bavaria

Bavaria is divided into seven administrative regions called Regierungsbezirke (singular Regierungsbezirk). Each of these regions has a state agency called the Bezirksregierung (district government).

  1. Upper Palatinate (German: Oberpfalz)
  2. Upper Bavaria (Oberbayern)
  3. Lower Bavaria (Niederbayern)
  1. Upper Franconia (Oberfranken)
  2. Middle Franconia (Mittelfranken)
  3. Lower Franconia (Unterfranken)
  1. Swabia (Schwaben)

Bezirke

Bezirke (districts) are the third communal layer in Bavaria; the others are the Landkreise and the Gemeinden or Städte. The Bezirke in Bavaria are territorially identical with the Regierungsbezirke, but they are self-governing regional corporation, having their own parliaments. In the other larger states of Germany, there are only Regierungsbezirke as administrative divisions and no self-governing entities at the level of the Regierungsbezirke as the Bezirke in Bavaria.

Population and area

Bezirk Coat of arms Capital Population (2019)[26] Area (km2) No. municipalities
Lower Bavaria   Landshut 1,244,169 9.48% 10,330 14.6% 258 12.5%
Lower Franconia   Würzburg 1,317,619 10.46% 8,531 12.1% 308 15.0%
Upper Franconia   Bayreuth 1,065,371 8.49% 7,231 10.2% 214 10.4%
Middle Franconia   Ansbach 1,775,169 13.65% 7,245 10.3% 210 10.2%
Upper Palatinate   Regensburg 1,112,102 8.60% 9,691 13.7% 226 11.0%
Swabia   Augsburg 1,899,442 14.21% 9,992 14.2% 340 16.5%
Upper Bavaria   Munich 4,710,865 35.12% 17,530 24.8% 500 24.3%
Total 13,124,737 100.0% 70,549 100.0% 2,056 100.0%

Districts

The second communal layer is made up of 71 rural districts (called Landkreise, singular Landkreis) that are comparable to counties, as well as the 25 independent cities (Kreisfreie Städte, singular Kreisfreie Stadt), both of which share the same administrative responsibilities.

 
Map of the Landkreise of Bavaria

Rural districts:

  1. Aichach-Friedberg
  2. Altötting
  3. Amberg-Sulzbach
  4. Ansbach
  5. Aschaffenburg
  6. Augsburg
  7. Bad Kissingen
  8. Bad Tölz-Wolfratshausen
  9. Bamberg
  10. Bayreuth
  11. Berchtesgadener Land
  12. Cham
  13. Coburg
  14. Dachau
  15. Deggendorf
  16. Dillingen
  17. Dingolfing-Landau
  18. Donau-Ries
  19. Ebersberg
  20. Eichstätt
  21. Erding
  22. Erlangen-Höchstadt
  23. Forchheim
  24. Freising
  25. Freyung-Grafenau
  26. Fürstenfeldbruck
  27. Fürth
  28. Garmisch-Partenkirchen
  29. Günzburg
  30. Hassberge
  31. Hof
  32. Kelheim
  33. Kitzingen
  34. Kronach
  35. Kulmbach
  36. Landsberg
  1. Landshut
  2. Lichtenfels
  3. Lindau
  4. Main-Spessart
  5. Miesbach
  6. Miltenberg
  7. Mühldorf
  8. München (Landkreis München)
  9. Neuburg-Schrobenhausen
  10. Neumarkt
  11. Neustadt (Aisch)-Bad Windsheim
  12. Neustadt an der Waldnaab
  13. Neu-Ulm
  14. Nürnberger Land
  15. Oberallgäu
  16. Ostallgäu
  17. Passau
  18. Pfaffenhofen
  19. Regen
  20. Regensburg
  21. Rhön-Grabfeld
  22. Rosenheim
  23. Roth
  24. Rottal-Inn
  25. Schwandorf
  26. Schweinfurt
  27. Starnberg
  28. Straubing-Bogen
  29. Tirschenreuth
  30. Traunstein
  31. Unterallgäu
  32. Weilheim-Schongau
  33. Weissenburg-Gunzenhausen
  34. Wunsiedel
  35. Würzburg

Independent cities:

Municipalities

The 71 rural districts are on the lowest level divided into 2,031 regular municipalities (called Gemeinden, singular Gemeinde). Together with the 25 independent cities (kreisfreie Städte, which are in effect municipalities independent of Landkreis administrations), there are a total of 2,056 municipalities in Bavaria.

 
Munich city center with Frauenkirche (left) and Rathaus (town hall)
 
Regensburg with the Danube (foreground) and Regensburg Cathedral

In 44 of the 71 rural districts, there are a total of 215 unincorporated areas (as of 1 January 2005, called gemeindefreie Gebiete, singular gemeindefreies Gebiet), not belonging to any municipality, all uninhabited, mostly forested areas, but also four lakes (Chiemsee-without islands, Starnberger See-without island Roseninsel, Ammersee, which are the three largest lakes of Bavaria, and Waginger See).

Major cities and towns

City Region Inhabitants
(2000)
Inhabitants
(2005)
Inhabitants
(2010)
Inhabitants
(2015)
Change
(%)
Munich Upper Bavaria 1,210,223 1,259,677 1,353,186 1,450,381 +11.81
Nuremberg Middle Franconia 488,400 499,237 505,664 509,975 +3.53
Augsburg Swabia 254,982 262,676 264,708 286,374 +3.81
Regensburg Upper Palatinate 125,676 129,859 135,520 145,465 +7.83
Ingolstadt Upper Bavaria 115,722 121,314 125,088 132,438 +8.09
Würzburg Lower Franconia 127,966 133,906 133,799 124,873 +4.56
Fürth Middle Franconia 110,477 113,422 114,628 124,171 +3.76
Erlangen Middle Franconia 100,778 103,197 105,629 108,336 +4.81
Bayreuth Upper Franconia 74,153 73,997 72,683 72,148 −1.98
Bamberg Upper Franconia 69,036 70,081 70,004 73,331 +1.40
Aschaffenburg Lower Franconia 67,592 68,642 68,678 68,986 +1.61
Landshut Lower Bavaria 58,746 61,368 63,258 69,211 +7.68
Kempten Swabia 61,389 61,360 62,060 66,947 +1.09
Rosenheim Upper Bavaria 58,908 60,226 61,299 61,844 +4.06
Neu-Ulm Swabia 50,188 51,410 53,504 57,237 +6.61
Schweinfurt Lower Franconia 54,325 54,273 53,415 51,969 −1.68
Passau Lower Bavaria 50,536 50,651 50,594 50,566 +0.11
Freising Upper Bavaria 40,890 42,854 45,223 46,963 +10.60
Straubing Lower Bavaria 44,014 44,633 44,450 46,806 +0.99
Dachau Upper Bavaria 38,398 39,922 42,954 46,705 +11.87

Source: Bayerisches Landesamt für Statistik und Datenverarbeitung[27][28]

Politics

Bavaria has a multiparty system dominated by the conservative Christian Social Union (CSU), which has won every election since 1945 with the exception of the 1950 ballot. Other important parties are The Greens, which became the second biggest political party in the 2018 local parliament elections and the center-left Social Democrats (SPD), who have dominated the city of Munich until 2020. Hitherto, Wilhelm Hoegner has been the only SPD candidate to ever become Minister-President; notable successors in office include multi-term Federal Minister Franz Josef Strauss, a key figure among West German conservatives during the Cold War years, and Edmund Stoiber, who both failed with their bids for Chancellorship.

The German Greens and the center-right Free Voters have been represented in the state parliament since 1986 and 2008 respectively.

In the 2003 elections the CSU won a ⅔ supermajority – something no party had ever achieved in postwar Germany. However, in the subsequent 2008 elections the CSU lost the absolute majority for the first time in 46 years.[29]

The losses were partly attributed by some to the CSU's stance for an anti-smoking bill.[further explanation needed] (A first anti-smoking law had been proposed by the CSU and passed but was watered down after the election, after which a referendum enforced a strict antismoking bill with a large majority).

Current Landtag

 
Current composition of the Landtag:
  SPD: 22 seats
  The Greens: 38 seats
  FDP: 11 seats
  Free Voters: 27 seats
  CSU: 85 seats
  AfD: 22 seats

The last state elections were held on 14 October 2018 in which the CSU lost its absolute majority in the state parliament in part due to the party's stances as part of the federal government, winning 37.2% of the vote; the party's second worst local election outcome in its history after 1950. The Greens who had surged in the polls leading up to the election have replaced the social-democratic SPD as the second biggest force in the Landtag with 17.6% of the vote. The SPD lost over half of its previous share compared to 2013 with a mere 9.7% in 2018. The liberals of the FDP were again able to reach the five-percent-threshold in order to receive mandates in parliament after they were not part of the Landtag after the 2013 elections. Also entering the new parliament were the right-wing populist Alternative for Germany (AfD), with 10.2% of the vote.[30]

The center-right Free Voters party gained 11.6% of the vote and formed a government coalition with the CSU which led to the subsequent reelection of Markus Söder as Minister-President of Bavaria.[31]

Government

The Constitution of Bavaria of the Free State of Bavaria was enacted on 8 December 1946. The new Bavarian Constitution became the basis for the Bavarian State after the Second World War.

Bavaria has a unicameral Landtag (English: State Parliament), elected by universal suffrage. Until December 1999, there was also a Senat, or Senate, whose members were chosen by social and economic groups in Bavaria, but following a referendum in 1998, this institution was abolished.[citation needed]

The Bavarian State Government consists of the Minister-President of Bavaria, eleven Ministers and six Secretaries of State. The Minister-President is elected for a period of five years by the State Parliament and is head of state. With the approval of the State Parliament he appoints the members of the State Government. The State Government is composed of the:

  • State Chancellery (Staatskanzlei)
  • Ministry of the Interior, for Sport and Integration (Staatsministerium des Innern, für Sport und Integration)
  • Ministry for Housing, Construction and Transport (Staatsministerium für Wohnen, Bau und Verkehr)
  • Ministry of Justice (Staatsministerium der Justiz)
  • Ministry for Education and Culture (Staatsministerium für Bildung und Kultus)
  • Ministry for Science and Art (Staatsministerium für Wissenschaft und Kunst)
  • Ministry of Finance and for Home Affairs (Staatsministerium der Finanzen und für Heimat)
  • Ministry for Economic Affairs, Regional Development and Energy (Staatsministerium für Wirtschaft, Landesentwicklung und Energie)
  • Ministry for Environment and Consumer Protection (Staatsministerium für Umwelt und Verbraucherschutz)
  • Ministry for Food, Agriculture and Forestry (Staatsministerium für Ernährung, Landwirtschaft und Forsten)
  • Ministry for Family, Labour and Social Affairs (Staatsministerium für Familie, Arbeit und Soziales)
  • Ministry for Health and Care (Staatsministerium für Gesundheit und Pflege)
  • Ministry for Digital Affairs (Staatsministerium für Digitales)[32]

Political processes also take place in the seven regions (Regierungsbezirke or Bezirke) in Bavaria, in the 71 rural districts (Landkreise) and the 25 towns and cities forming their own districts (kreisfreie Städte), and in the 2,031 local authorities (Gemeinden).

In 1995 Bavaria introduced direct democracy on the local level in a referendum. This was initiated bottom-up by an association called Mehr Demokratie (English: More Democracy). This is a grass-roots organization which campaigns for the right to citizen-initiated referendums. In 1997 the Bavarian Supreme Court tightened the regulations considerably (including by introducing a turn-out quorum). Nevertheless, Bavaria has the most advanced regulations on local direct democracy in Germany. This has led to a spirited citizens' participation in communal and municipal affairs—835 referendums took place from 1995 through 2005.

Minister-presidents of Bavaria since 1945

 
Markus Söder, the current prime minister ("Ministerpräsident") of Bavaria
Ministers-President of Bavaria
No. Name Born and died Party affiliation Begin of tenure End of tenure
1 Fritz Schäffer 1888–1967 CSU 1945 1945
2 Wilhelm Hoegner 1887–1980 SPD 1945 1946
3 Hans Ehard 1887–1980 CSU 1946 1954
4 Wilhelm Hoegner 1887–1980 SPD 1954 1957
5 Hanns Seidel 1901–1961 CSU 1957 1960
6 Hans Ehard 1887–1980 CSU 1960 1962
7 Alfons Goppel 1905–1991 CSU 1962 1978
8 Franz Josef Strauß 1915–1988 CSU 1978 1988
9 Max Streibl 1932–1998 CSU 1988 1993
10 Edmund Stoiber *1941 CSU 1993 2007
11 Günther Beckstein *1943 CSU 2007 2008
12 Horst Seehofer *1949 CSU 2008 2018
13 Markus Söder *1967 CSU 2018 Incumbent

Designation as a "free state"

Unlike most German states (Länder), which simply designate themselves as "State of" (Land [...]), Bavaria uses the style of "Free State of Bavaria" (Freistaat Bayern). The difference from other states is purely terminological, as German constitutional law does not draw a distinction between "States" and "Free States". The situation is thus analogous to the United States, where some states use the style "Commonwealth" rather than "State". The term "Free State", a creation of the 19th century and intended to be a German alternative to (or translation of) the Latin-derived republic was common among the states of the Weimar Republic, after German monarchies had been abolished. Unlike most other states – many of which were new creations – Bavaria has resumed this terminology after World War II. Two other states, Saxony and Thuringia, also call themselves "Free State".

Arbitrary arrest and human rights

In July 2017, Bavaria's parliament enacted a new revision of the "Gefährdergesetz", allowing the authorities to imprison a person for a three months term, renewable indefinitely, when they haven't committed a crime but it is assumed that they might commit a crime "in the near future".[33] Critics like the prominent journalist Heribert Prantl have called the law "shameful" and compared it to Guantanamo Bay detention camp,[34] assessed it to be in violation of the European Convention on Human Rights,[35] and also compared it to the legal situation in Russia, where a similar law allows for imprisonment for a maximum term of two years (i.e., not indefinitely).[36]

Economy

 

Bavaria has long had one of the largest economies of any region in Germany, and in Europe.[37] Its gross domestic product (GDP) in 2007 exceeded €434 billion (about U.S. $600 billion).[38] This makes Bavaria itself one of the largest economies in Europe, and only 20 countries in the world have a higher GDP.[39] The GDP of the region increased to €617.1 billion in 2018, accounting for 18.5% of German economic output. GDP per capita adjusted for purchasing power was €43,500 or 145% of the EU27 average in the same year. The GDP per employee was 114% of the EU average. This makes Bavaria one of the wealthiest regions in Europe.[40] Bavaria has strong economic ties with Austria, Czech Republic, Switzerland, and Northern Italy.[41] In 2019 GDP was €832.4 ($905.7) billion, €48,323 ($52,577.3) per capita.[42]

Agriculture

The most distinctive high points of Bavarian agriculture are:

  • Hop growing in region Hallertau, which is up to 80% of German production and exported worldwide.
  • Inland aquaculture of carps and trout.
  • The well-hydrated alpine meadows are used to produce large quantities of quality milk, which is used to make a variety of cheese (including blue-veined cheese), yogurt and butter (Meggle).
  • The cultivation of asparagus is widespread, which is a very popular new season vegetable. In season ("Spargelzeit") restaurants offer special separated asparagus menu . There is an asparagus museum in Schrobenhausen.
  • There are farms producing venison from deer and roe.
  • Viticulture is widespread in Lower Franconia.
  • Good ecology and strict control allow produce a large amount of organic products ("bio") and baby food.

Industries

Bavaria has the best developed industry in Germany[43] and the lowest unemployment rate with 2.9% as of October 2021.[44]

Branches:

  • Oil refining. Although there is oil production in Bavaria, it does not meet domestic needs. Most of the oil is imported via pipelines from the Czech Republic (Russian oil) and from the Italian port of Trieste (Near East oil). Three refineries are situated near Ingolstadt and another one in Burghausen. Last one is a part of Bavarian chemical triangle and delivery row materials to other chemical plants.
  • Automotive is the most important and best developed Bavarian industry, which included manufacture of luxury cars (4 BMW and 2 Audi plants, R&D centers, test tracks), trucks (Traton MAN), special vehicles (Tadano Faun), buses (Evobus/Setra) and automotive parts (engines, electronics, cables, seats, interiors, cabrio roofs, heating and brake systems, software). Bavaria has the second-most employees (207,829) in the automotive industry of all German states after Baden-Württemberg as of 2018.[45]
  • Aerospace and defense, which manufacture multi-role attack jet Eurofighter Typhoon, missiles from MBDA and Diehl Defence, parts of rocket Ariane, regional jet Dornier 728, ultra-light planes from Grob Aerospace, turbo jet engines for civil and military applications from MTU Aero Engines, helicopters Airbus, main battle tank Leopard 2, drones, composite parts, avionics, radars, propellants, initiators, powder, munitions. In Munich suburban Oberpfaffenhofen situated control center of European satellite navigation system Galileo, German Space Operations Center, Microwaves and Radar Institute, Institute of Communications and Navigation, Remote Sensing Technology Institute, Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Institute of Robotics and Mechatronics, Institute for Software Technology, Institute of System Dynamics and Control.
  • Other transport manufacturing also represents in Bavaria. Even exists ship yards, for example Bavaria Yachtbau, despite location many hundreds kilometers from sea away; manufacturing of 4-stroke marine diesel engine, which using in cruise liners, ferries and warships. Rail technique produce in Munich-Allach (locomotive Siemens Vectron) and rail maintenance vehicle in Freilassing.
  • Brewery. Bavaria has long tradition of brewery, near a half of all German breweries are located here (645 of 1300). All possible types of breweries exist: home brewery of hotel or restaurant, belong to big international concern, state-owned, castle or monastery breweries. The perfect quality of beer is guaranteed by 500-years law ("Reinheitsgebot"), which allow as beer ingredients only water, hops, yeast and malt of barley, wheat or rye. But difference of roasting, fermentation or mixing allow to produce many different types of beers (not brand). Vladimir Putin at 2009 tasted beer from Brauerei Aying, Barack Obama at 2015 also tasted Bavarian beer of Karg Brauerei in Murnau. In Freising situated research center Weihenstephan for brewing and food quality.

Companies

Many large companies are headquartered in Bavaria, including Adidas, Allianz, Airbus, Audi, BMW, Brose, BSH Hausgeräte, HypoVereinsbank, Infineon, KUKA, Traton, MTU Aero Engines, Munich Re, Osram, Puma, Rohde & Schwarz, Schaeffler, Siemens, Wacker Chemie, Linde, Vitesco Technologies, Webasto, Grob, Heidenhain, Koenig & Bauer, Kaeser Compressors, Krones, Knorr-Bremse, Wacker Neuson, Krauss-Maffei Wegmann, Siltronic, Leoni, Fielmann, MediaMarkt, Conrad Electronic, BayWa, ProSiebenSat.1 Media, Telefónica Germany, Knauf, Rehau, Giesecke+Devrient.

Also American companies open a lot of research and development centers in Munich region: Apple (chip design), Google (data security), IBM (Watson technology), Intel (drones and telecommunication chips), General Electric (3D-printers and additive manufacturing), Gleason (gears manufacturing), Texas Instruments (chip design and manufacturing), Coherent (lasers).

Tourism

With 40 million tourists in 2019, Bavaria is the most visited German state and one of Europe's leading tourist destinations.[46]

Attractions include:

Unemployment

The unemployment rate stood at 2.6% in October 2018, the lowest in Germany and one of the lowest in the European Union.[47]

Year[48] 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021
Unemployment rate in % 5.5 5.3 6.0 6.9 6.9 7.8 6.8 5.3 4.2 4.8 4.5 3.8 3.7 3.8 3.8 3.6 3.5 3.2 2.9 2.8 3.6 3.5

Demographics

 
Bavaria is one of Germany's least densely populated states.

Bavaria has a population of approximately 13.1 million inhabitants (2020). 8 of the 80 largest cities in Germany are located within Bavaria with Munich being the largest (1,484,226 inhabitants, approximately 6.1 million when including the broader metropolitan area), followed by Nuremberg (518,370 inhabitants, approximately 3.6 million when including the broader metropolitan area), Augsburg (296,582 inhabitants) and Regensburg (153,094 inhabitants). All other cities in Bavaria had less than 150,000 inhabitants each in 2020. Population density in Bavaria was 186/km2 (480/sq mi), below the national average of 233/km2 (600/sq mi). Foreign nationals resident in Bavaria (both immigrants and refugees/asylum seekers) were principally from other EU countries and Turkey.

Top-ten foreign resident populations[49]
Nationality Population (31 December 2020)
1   Romania 191,410
2   Turkey 190,730
3   Croatia 126,090
4   Poland 116,320
5   Italy 105,930
6   Austria 85,050
7   Syria 77,445
8   Greece 76,875
9   Hungary 75,705
10   Bosnia and Herzegovina 60,415

Vital statistics

Vital statistics[50]
Comparison period Births Deaths Natural growth
January – November 2016   115,032   116,915   -1,883
January – November 2017   115,690   122,247   -6,557

Culture

Some features of the Bavarian culture and mentality are remarkably distinct from the rest of Germany. Noteworthy differences (especially in rural areas, less significant in the major cities) can be found with respect to religion, traditions, and language.

Religion

Religion in Bavaria – 2020[51]
Religion Percent
Catholics
46.9%
EKD Protestants
17.2%
Muslims
4.0%
Other or none
31.9%
 
A Catholic church near Füssen with the Alps in the background

Bavarian culture (Altbayern) has a long and predominant tradition of Roman Catholic faith. Pope Benedict XVI (Joseph Alois Ratzinger) was born in Marktl am Inn in Upper Bavaria and was Cardinal-Archbishop of Munich and Freising. Otherwise, the culturally Franconian and Swabian regions of the modern State of Bavaria are historically more diverse in religiosity, with both Catholic and Protestant traditions. In 1925, 70.0% of the Bavarian population was Catholic, 28.8% was Protestant, 0.7% was Jewish, and 0.5% was placed in other religious categories.[52]

As of 2020 46.9% of Bavarians adhered to Catholicism (a decline from 70.4% in 1970).[53][51] 17.2 percent of the population adheres to the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bavaria, which has also declined since 1970.[53][51] Three percent was Orthodox, Muslims make up 4.0% of the population of Bavaria. 31.9 percent of Bavarians are irreligious or adhere to other religions.

Traditions

Bavarians commonly emphasize pride in their traditions. Traditional costumes collectively known as Tracht are worn on special occasions and include in Altbayern Lederhosen for males and Dirndl for females. Centuries-old folk music is performed. The Maibaum, or Maypole (which in the Middle Ages served as the community's business directory, as figures on the pole represented the trades of the village), and the bagpipes of the Upper Palatinate region bear witness to the ancient Celtic and Germanic remnants of cultural heritage of the region. There are many traditional Bavarian sports disciplines, e.g. the Aperschnalzen, competitive whipcracking.

Whether in Bavaria, overseas or with citizens from other nations Bavarians continue to cultivate their traditions. They hold festivals and dances to keep their heritage alive.

Food and drink

Bavarians tend to place a great value on food and drink. In addition to their renowned dishes, Bavarians also consume many items of food and drink which are unusual elsewhere in Germany; for example Weißwurst ("white sausage") or in some instances a variety of entrails. At folk festivals and in many beer gardens, beer is traditionally served by the litre (in a Maß). Bavarians are particularly proud[54] of the traditional Reinheitsgebot, or beer purity law, initially established by the Duke of Bavaria for the City of Munich (i.e. the court) in 1487 and the duchy in 1516. According to this law, only three ingredients were allowed in beer: water, barley, and hops. In 1906 the Reinheitsgebot made its way to all-German law, and remained a law in Germany until the EU partly struck it down in 1987 as incompatible with the European common market.[55] German breweries, however, cling to the principle, and Bavarian breweries still comply with it in order to distinguish their beer brands.[56] Bavarians are also known as some of the world's most prolific beer drinkers, with an average annual consumption of 170 liters per person.[citation needed]

Bavaria is also home to the Franconia wine region, which is situated along the river Main in Franconia. The region has produced wine (Frankenwein) for over 1,000 years and is famous for its use of the Bocksbeutel wine bottle. The production of wine forms an integral part of the regional culture, and many of its villages and cities hold their own wine festivals (Weinfeste) throughout the year.

Language and dialects

A native Bavarian language speaker, recorded in Germany
 
Upper German and the southern counterpart to Central German both form the High German languages, while the Austro-Bavarian dialects are in blue

Three German dialects are most commonly spoken in Bavaria: Austro-Bavarian in Old Bavaria (Upper Bavaria, Lower Bavaria and the Upper Palatinate), Swabian German (an Alemannic German dialect) in the Bavarian part of Swabia (south west) and East Franconian German in Franconia (North). In the small town Ludwigsstadt in the north, district Kronach in Upper Franconia, Thuringian dialect is spoken. During the 20th century an increasing part of the population began to speak Standard German (Hochdeutsch), mainly in the cities.

Ethnography

Bavarians consider themselves to be egalitarian and informal.[57] Their sociability can be experienced at the annual Oktoberfest, the world's largest beer festival, which welcomes around six million visitors every year, or in the famous beer gardens. In traditional Bavarian beer gardens, patrons may bring their own food but buy beer only from the brewery that runs the beer garden.[58]

Sports

Football

 
The Allianz Arena, one of the world's most famous football stadiums

Bavaria is home to several football clubs including FC Bayern Munich, 1. FC Nürnberg, FC Augsburg, TSV 1860 Munich, FC Ingolstadt 04 and SpVgg Greuther Fürth. Bayern Munich is the most successful football team in Germany having won a record 32 German titles and 6 UEFA Champions League titles. They are followed by 1. FC Nürnberg who have won 9 titles. SpVgg Greuther Fürth have won 3 championships while TSV 1860 Munich have been champions once.

Basketball

Bavaria is also home to several professional basketball teams, including FC Bayern Munich, Brose Baskets Bamberg, s.Oliver Würzburg, Nürnberg Falcons BC and TSV Oberhaching Tropics.

Ice hockey

There are five Bavarian ice hockey teams playing in the German top-tier league DEL: EHC Red Bull München, Nürnberg Ice Tigers, Augsburger Panther, ERC Ingolstadt, and Straubing Tigers.

Notable people

Many famous people have been born or lived in present-day Bavaria:

See also

References

Citations

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General and cited sources

External links

  • Official government website
  • Official website of Bayern Tourismus Marketing GmbH
  • Bavarian Studies in History and Culture
  • Außenwirtschaftsportal Bayern
  • Statistics
  •   Geographic data related to Bavaria at OpenStreetMap

bavaria, other, uses, disambiguation, bayern, disambiguation, ɛər, vair, german, bayern, ˈbaɪɐn, listen, officially, free, state, german, freistaat, bayern, ˈfʁaɪʃtaːt, ˈbaɪɐn, listen, state, south, east, germany, with, area, largest, german, state, land, area. For other uses see Bavaria disambiguation And and Bayern disambiguation Bavaria b e ˈ v ɛer i e be VAIR ee e German Bayern ˈbaɪɐn listen officially the Free State of Bavaria German Freistaat Bayern ˈfʁaɪʃtaːt ˈbaɪɐn listen is a state in the south east of Germany With an area of 70 550 19 km2 27 239 58 sq mi Bavaria is the largest German state by land area comprising roughly a fifth of the total land area of Germany With over 13 million inhabitants it is second in population only to North Rhine Westphalia but due to its large size its population density is below the German average Bavaria s main cities are Munich its capital and largest city and also the third largest city in Germany 4 Nuremberg and Augsburg Free State of Bavaria Freistaat Bayern German Freistoot Bayern Bavarian StateFlagCoat of armsAnthem Bayernhymne German Hymn of Bavaria source source track track Coordinates 49 04 43 N 11 23 08 E 49 07861 N 11 38556 E 49 07861 11 38556 Coordinates 49 04 43 N 11 23 08 E 49 07861 N 11 38556 E 49 07861 11 38556CountryGermanyCapitalMunichGovernment BodyLandtag of Bavaria Minister PresidentMarkus Soder CSU Governing partiesCSU FW Bundesrat votes6 of 69 Bundestag seats117 of 736 Area Total70 550 19 km2 27 239 58 sq mi Population 2019 12 31 1 Total13 124 737 Density186 km2 480 sq mi DemonymBavarianTime zoneUTC 1 CET Summer DST UTC 2 CEST ISO 3166 codeDE BYGRP nominal 633 billion 2019 2 GRP per capita 48 000 2019 NUTS RegionDE2HDI 2018 0 956 3 very high 5th of 16Websitewww wbr bayern wbr deThe history of Bavaria includes its earliest settlement by Iron Age Celtic tribes followed by the conquests of the Roman Empire in the 1st century BC when the territory was incorporated into the provinces of Raetia and Noricum It became the Duchy of Bavaria a stem duchy in the 6th century AD following the collapse of the Western Roman Empire It was later incorporated into the Holy Roman Empire became an independent kingdom after 1806 joined the Prussian led German Empire in 1871 while retaining its title of kingdom and finally became a state of the Federal Republic of Germany in 1949 5 Bavaria has a unique culture largely because of the state s Catholic heritage and conservative traditions 6 Bavarians have traditionally been proud of their culture which includes a language cuisine architecture festivals and elements of Alpine symbolism 7 The state also has the second largest economy among the German states by GDP figures giving it a status as a wealthy German region 8 Contemporary Bavaria also includes parts of the historical regions of Franconia and Swabia Contents 1 History 1 1 Antiquity 1 2 Middle Ages 1 3 Electorate of Bavaria 1 4 Kingdom of Bavaria 1 5 Part of the German Empire 1 6 Free State of Bavaria 1 7 Bavarian identity 2 Flags and coat of arms 2 1 Flags 2 2 Coat of arms 3 Geography 3 1 Mountains 3 2 Climate 4 Administrative divisions 4 1 Administrative regions 4 2 Bezirke 4 2 1 Population and area 4 3 Districts 4 4 Municipalities 4 4 1 Major cities and towns 5 Politics 5 1 Current Landtag 5 2 Government 5 2 1 Minister presidents of Bavaria since 1945 5 3 Designation as a free state 5 4 Arbitrary arrest and human rights 6 Economy 6 1 Agriculture 6 2 Industries 6 3 Companies 6 4 Tourism 6 5 Unemployment 7 Demographics 7 1 Vital statistics 8 Culture 8 1 Religion 8 2 Traditions 8 3 Food and drink 8 4 Language and dialects 8 5 Ethnography 9 Sports 9 1 Football 9 2 Basketball 9 3 Ice hockey 10 Notable people 11 See also 12 References 12 1 Citations 12 2 General and cited sources 13 External linksHistory EditMain article History of Bavaria Antiquity Edit Prehistoric Heunischenburg in the vicinity of Kronach The Bavarians emerged in a region north of the Alps previously inhabited by Celts which had been part of the Roman provinces of Raetia and Noricum The Bavarians spoke a Germanic dialect which developed into Old High German during the early Middle Ages however unlike other Germanic groups they probably did not migrate from elsewhere when Western Roman influence collapsed Rather they seem to have coalesced out of other groups left behind by the Roman withdrawal late in the 5th century These peoples may have included the Celtic Boii some remaining Romans Marcomanni Allemanni Quadi Thuringians Goths Scirians Rugians Heruli The name Bavarian Baiuvarii means Men of Baia which may indicate Bohemia the homeland of the Celtic Boii and later of the Marcomanni They first appear in written sources circa 520 A 17th century Jewish chronicler David Solomon Ganz citing Cyriacus Spangenberg claimed that the diocese was named after an ancient Bohemian king Boiia in the 14th century BC 9 Middle Ages Edit Further information Duchy of Bavaria From about 554 to 788 the house of Agilolfing ruled the Duchy of Bavaria ending with Tassilo III who was deposed by Charlemagne 10 Three early dukes are named in Frankish sources Garibald I may have been appointed to the office by the Merovingian kings and married the Lombard princess Walderada when the church forbade her to King Chlothar I in 555 Their daughter Theodelinde became Queen of the Lombards in northern Italy and Garibald was forced to flee to her when he fell out with his Frankish overlords Garibald s successor Tassilo I tried unsuccessfully to hold the eastern frontier against the expansion of Slavs and Avars around 600 Tassilo s son Garibald II seems to have achieved a balance of power between 610 and 616 11 After Garibald II little is known of the Bavarians until Duke Theodo I whose reign may have begun as early as 680 From 696 onward he invited churchmen from the west to organize churches and strengthen Christianity in his duchy It is unclear what Bavarian religious life consisted of before this time His son Theudebert led a decisive Bavarian campaign to intervene in a succession dispute in the Lombard Kingdom in 714 and married his sister Guntrud to the Lombard King Liutprand At Theodo s death the duchy was divided among his sons but reunited under his grandson Hugbert Bavaria in the 10th century At Hugbert s death 735 the duchy passed to a distant relative named Odilo from neighboring Alemannia modern southwest Germany and northern Switzerland Odilo issued a law code for Bavaria completed the process of church organization in partnership with St Boniface 739 and tried to intervene in Frankish succession disputes by fighting for the claims of the Carolingian Grifo He was defeated near Augsburg in 743 but continued to rule until his death in 748 12 13 Saint Boniface completed the people s conversion to Christianity in the early 8th century Tassilo III b 741 d after 796 succeeded his father at the age of eight after an unsuccessful attempt by Grifo to rule Bavaria He initially ruled under Frankish oversight but began to function independently from 763 onward He was particularly noted for founding new monasteries and for expanding eastwards fighting Slavs in the eastern Alps and along the Danube and colonizing these lands After 781 however his cousin Charlemagne began to pressure Tassilo to submit and finally deposed him in 788 The deposition was not entirely legitimate Dissenters attempted a coup against Charlemagne at Tassilo s old capital of Regensburg in 792 led by his own son Pepin the Hunchback The king had to drag Tassilo out of imprisonment to formally renounce his rights and titles at the Assembly of Frankfurt in 794 This is the last appearance of Tassilo in the sources and he probably died a monk As all of his family were also forced into monasteries this was the end of the Agilolfing dynasty The Bavarian duchies after the partition of 1392 For the next 400 years numerous families held the duchy rarely for more than three generations With the revolt of duke Henry the Quarrelsome in 976 Bavaria lost large territories in the south and south east The territory of Ostarrichi was elevated to a duchy in its own right and given to the Babenberger family This event marks the founding of Austria Later the counts of Tyrol next to other princes began to act more independently from the dukes of Bavaria and the new Duchy of Merania was created from lordships once under the jurisdiction of the Duchy of Bavaria The last and one of the most important of the dukes of Bavaria was Henry the Lion of the house of Welf founder of Munich and de facto the second most powerful man in the empire as the ruler of two duchies When in 1180 Henry the Lion was deposed as Duke of Saxony and Bavaria by his cousin Frederick I Holy Roman Emperor a k a Barbarossa for his red beard Bavaria was awarded as fief to the Wittelsbach family counts palatinate of Schyren Scheyern in modern German They ruled for 738 years from 1180 to 1918 In 1180 however also Styria was separated from Bavaria The Electorate of the Palatinate by Rhine Kurpfalz in German was also acquired by the House of Wittelsbach in 1214 which they would subsequently hold for six centuries 14 The first of several divisions of the duchy of Bavaria occurred in 1255 With the extinction of the Hohenstaufen in 1268 Swabian territories were acquired by the Wittelsbach dukes Emperor Louis the Bavarian acquired Brandenburg Tyrol Holland and Hainaut for his House but released the Upper Palatinate for the Palatinate branch of the Wittelsbach in 1329 That time also Salzburg finally became independent from the Duchy of Bavaria In the 14th and 15th centuries upper and lower Bavaria were repeatedly subdivided Four Duchies existed after the division of 1392 Bavaria Straubing Bavaria Landshut Bavaria Ingolstadt and Bavaria Munich In 1506 with the Landshut War of Succession the other parts of Bavaria were reunited and Munich became the sole capital The country became a center of the Jesuit inspired Counter Reformation Bavarian herald Joerg Rugenn wearing a tabard of the arms around 1510 Electorate of Bavaria Edit Further information Electorate of Bavaria In 1623 the Bavarian duke replaced his relative of the Palatinate branch the Electorate of the Palatinate in the early days of the Thirty Years War and acquired the powerful prince electoral dignity in the Holy Roman Empire determining its Emperor thence forward as well as special legal status under the empire s laws During the early and mid 18th century the ambitions of the Bavarian prince electors led to several wars with Austria as well as occupations by Austria War of the Spanish Succession War of the Austrian Succession with the election of a Wittelsbach emperor instead of a Habsburg From 1777 onward and after the younger Bavarian branch of the family had died out with elector Max III Joseph Bavaria and the Electorate of the Palatinate were governed once again in personal union now by the Palatinian lines The new state also comprised the Duchies of Julich and Berg as these on their part were in personal union with the Palatinate Kingdom of Bavaria Edit Main article Kingdom of Bavaria Bavaria in the 19th century and beyond When Napoleon abolished the Holy Roman Empire Bavaria became by grace of Napoleon a kingdom in 1806 due in part to the Confederation of the Rhine 15 Its area doubled after the Duchy of Julich was ceded to France as the Electoral Palatinate was divided between France and the Grand Duchy of Baden The Duchy of Berg was given to Jerome Bonaparte Tyrol and Salzburg were temporarily reunited with Bavaria but finally ceded to Austria by the Congress of Vienna In return Bavaria was allowed to annex the modern day region of Palatinate to the west of the Rhine and Franconia in 1815 Between 1799 and 1817 the leading minister Count Montgelas followed a strict policy of modernisation copying Napoleonic France he laid the foundations of centralized administrative structures that survived the monarchy and in part have retained core validity through the 20st century In May 1808 a first constitution was passed by Maximilian I 16 being modernized in 1818 This second version established a bicameral Parliament with a House of Lords Kammer der Reichsrate and a House of Commons Kammer der Abgeordneten That constitution was followed until the collapse of the monarchy at the end of World War I After the rise of Prussia to power in the early 18th century Bavaria preserved its independence by playing off the rivalry of Prussia and Austria Allied to Austria it was defeated along with Austria in the 1866 Austro Prussian War and was not incorporated into the North German Confederation of 1867 but the question of German unity was still alive When France declared war on Prussia in 1870 all the south German states Baden Wurttemberg Hessen Darmstadt and Bavaria aside from Austria joined the Prussian forces and ultimately joined the Federation which was renamed Deutsches Reich German Empire in 1871 Bavaria continued formally as a monarchy and it had some special rights within the federation such as an army railways postal service and a diplomatic body of its own but the diplomatic body were later undone by Wilhelm II who declared them illegal and got rid of the diplomatic service citation needed Part of the German Empire Edit Bavaria within the German Empire When Bavaria became part of the newly formed German Empire this action was considered controversial by Bavarian nationalists who had wanted to retain independence from the rest of Germany as had Austria As Bavaria had a heavily Catholic majority population many people resented being ruled by the mostly Protestant northerners of Prussia As a direct result of the Bavarian Prussian feud political parties formed to encourage Bavaria to break away and regain its independence 17 In the early 20th century Wassily Kandinsky Paul Klee Henrik Ibsen and other artists were drawn to Bavaria especially to the Schwabing district of Munich a center of international artistic activity Free State of Bavaria Edit A memorial to soldiers who died in the two World Wars in Dietelskirchen Kroning Bavaria Free State has been an adopted designation after the abolition of monarchy in the aftermath of World War I in several German states On 12 November 1918 Ludwig III signed a document the Anif declaration releasing both civil and military officers from their oaths the newly formed republican government or People s State of Socialist premier Kurt Eisner 18 interpreted this as an abdication To date however no member of the House of Wittelsbach has ever formally declared renunciation of the throne 19 On the other hand none has ever since officially called upon their Bavarian or Stuart claims Family members are active in cultural and social life including the head of the house Franz Duke of Bavaria They step back from any announcements on public affairs showing approval or disapproval solely by Franz s presence or absence Eisner was assassinated in February 1919 ultimately leading to a Communist revolt and the short lived Bavarian Soviet Republic being proclaimed 6 April 1919 After violent suppression by elements of the German Army and notably the Freikorps the Bavarian Soviet Republic fell in May 1919 The Bamberg Constitution Bamberger Verfassung was enacted on 12 or 14 August 1919 and came into force on 15 September 1919 creating the Free State of Bavaria within the Weimar Republic Extremist activity further increased notably the 1923 Beer Hall Putsch led by the National Socialists and Munich and Nuremberg became seen as Nazi strongholds during the Weimar Republic and Nazi dictatorship However in the crucial German federal election March 1933 the Nazis received less than 50 of the votes cast in Bavaria As a manufacturing centre Munich was heavily bombed during World War II and was occupied by U S troops becoming a major part of the American Zone of Allied occupied Germany 1945 47 and then of Bizonia The Rhenish Palatinate was detached from Bavaria in 1946 and made part of the new state Rhineland Palatinate During the Cold War Bavaria was part of West Germany In 1949 the Free State of Bavaria chose not to sign the Founding Treaty Grundungsvertrag for the formation of the Federal Republic of Germany opposing the division of Germany into two countries after World War II The Bavarian Parliament did not sign the Basic Law of Germany mainly because it was seen as not granting sufficient powers to the individual Lander states but at the same time decided that it would still come into force in Bavaria if two thirds of the other Lander ratified it All of the other Lander ratified it however so it became law 20 Bavarian identity Edit Expression of Bavarian linguistic identity in a shop window in the town of Regensburg Upper Palatinate Bavarians have often emphasized a separate national identity and considered themselves as Bavarians first Germans second 21 In the 19th century sense an independent Bavarian State only existed from 1806 to 1871 This feeling started to come about more strongly among Bavarians when the Kingdom of Bavaria was forced by Bismarck to join the Protestant Prussian dominated German Empire in 1871 while the Bavarian nationalists wanted to keep Bavaria as Catholic and an independent state Aside from the minority Bavaria Party most Bavarians now accept Bavaria is part of Germany 22 Another consideration is that Bavarians foster different cultural identities Franconia in the north speaking East Franconian German Bavarian Swabia in the south west speaking Swabian German and Altbayern so called Old Bavaria the regions forming the historic pentagon shaped Bavaria before the acquisitions through the Vienna Congress at present the districts of the Upper Palatinate Lower and Upper Bavaria speaking Austro Bavarian citation needed In Munich the Old Bavarian dialect was widely spread but nowadays High German is predominantly spoken there Flags and coat of arms EditMain articles Flag of Bavaria and Coat of arms of Bavaria Flags Edit Uniquely among German states Bavaria has two official flags of equal status one with a white and blue stripe the other with white and blue lozenges Either may be used by civilians and government offices who are free to choose between them 23 Unofficial versions of the flag especially a lozenge style with coat of arms are sometimes used by civilians Coat of arms Edit The modern coat of arms of Bavaria was designed by Eduard Ege in 1946 following heraldic traditions The Golden Lion At the dexter chief sable a lion rampant Or armed and langued gules This represents the administrative region of Upper Palatinate The Franconian Rake At the sinister chief per fess dancetty gules and argent This represents the administrative regions of Upper Middle and Lower Franconia The Blue Pantier mythical creature from French heraldry sporting a flame instead of a tongue At the dexter base argent a Pantier rampant azure armed Or and langued gules This represents the regions of Lower and Upper Bavaria The Three Lions At the sinister base Or three lions passant guardant sable armed and langued gules This represents Swabia The White And Blue inescutcheon The inescutcheon of white and blue fusils askance was originally the coat of arms of the Counts of Bogen adopted in 1247 by the House of Wittelsbach The white and blue fusils are indisputably the emblem of Bavaria and these arms today symbolize Bavaria as a whole Along with the People s Crown it is officially used as the Minor Coat of Arms The People s Crown Volkskrone The coat of arms is surmounted by a crown with a golden band inset with precious stones and decorated with five ornamental leaves This crown first appeared in the coat of arms to symbolize sovereignty of the people after the royal crown was eschewed in 1923 Geography Edit View of the Bavarian Alps foreground in the background Austria specifically Tyrol Inn valley center with left Kaisergebirge and right Pendling mountain In the extreme background center left the snow capped High Tauern Bavaria shares international borders with Austria Salzburg Tyrol Upper Austria and Vorarlberg and the Czech Republic Karlovy Vary Plzen and South Bohemian Regions as well as with Switzerland across Lake Constance to the Canton of St Gallen All of these countries are part of the Schengen Area so the borders are completely open except during COVID 19 Neighboring states within Germany are Baden Wurttemberg Hesse Thuringia and Saxony Two major rivers flow through the state the Danube Donau and the Main The Bavarian Forest and the Bohemian Forest form the vast majority of the frontier with the Czech Republic and Bohemia The major cities in Bavaria are Munich Munchen Nuremberg Nurnberg Augsburg Regensburg Wurzburg Ingolstadt Furth and Erlangen The geographic center of the European Union is located in the northwestern corner of Bavaria Mountains Edit The Bavarian Alps define the border with Austria including the Austrian federal states of Vorarlberg Tyrol and Salzburg and within the range is the highest peak in Germany the Zugspitze OspisFurther information Parsberg hill and Reisberg Schesslitz Climate Edit At lower elevations the climate is classified according to Koppen s guide as Cfb or Dfb at lower altitudes then at higher altitudes the climate becomes Dfc and ET The summer months have been getting hotter in recent years 24 For example June 2019 was the warmest June in Bavaria since weather observations have been recorded 24 and the winter 2019 2020 was 3 degrees Celsius warmer than the average temperature for many years all over Bavaria On 20 December 2019 a record temperature of 20 2 C 68 4 F was recorded in Piding 25 In general winter months are seeing more precipitation which is taking the form of rain more often than that of snow compared to the past 24 Extreme weather like the 2013 European floods or the 2019 European heavy snowfalls is occurring more and more often One effect of the continuing warming is the melting of almost all Bavarian Alpine glaciers Of the five glaciers of Bavaria only the Hollentalferner is predicted to exist over a longer time perspective The Sudliche Schneeferner has almost vanished since the 1980s 24 Administrative divisions EditAdministrative regions Edit Administrative regions Regierungsbezirke and Bezirke of Bavaria Bavaria is divided into seven administrative regions called Regierungsbezirke singular Regierungsbezirk Each of these regions has a state agency called the Bezirksregierung district government Altbayern Upper Palatinate German Oberpfalz Upper Bavaria Oberbayern Lower Bavaria Niederbayern Franconia Upper Franconia Oberfranken Middle Franconia Mittelfranken Lower Franconia Unterfranken Swabia Swabia Schwaben Bezirke Edit Bezirke districts are the third communal layer in Bavaria the others are the Landkreise and the Gemeinden or Stadte The Bezirke in Bavaria are territorially identical with the Regierungsbezirke but they are self governing regional corporation having their own parliaments In the other larger states of Germany there are only Regierungsbezirke as administrative divisions and no self governing entities at the level of the Regierungsbezirke as the Bezirke in Bavaria Population and area Edit Bezirk Coat of arms Capital Population 2019 26 Area km2 No municipalitiesLower Bavaria Landshut 1 244 169 9 48 10 330 14 6 258 12 5 Lower Franconia Wurzburg 1 317 619 10 46 8 531 12 1 308 15 0 Upper Franconia Bayreuth 1 065 371 8 49 7 231 10 2 214 10 4 Middle Franconia Ansbach 1 775 169 13 65 7 245 10 3 210 10 2 Upper Palatinate Regensburg 1 112 102 8 60 9 691 13 7 226 11 0 Swabia Augsburg 1 899 442 14 21 9 992 14 2 340 16 5 Upper Bavaria Munich 4 710 865 35 12 17 530 24 8 500 24 3 Total 13 124 737 100 0 70 549 100 0 2 056 100 0 Districts Edit The second communal layer is made up of 71 rural districts called Landkreise singular Landkreis that are comparable to counties as well as the 25 independent cities Kreisfreie Stadte singular Kreisfreie Stadt both of which share the same administrative responsibilities Map of the Landkreise of Bavaria Rural districts Aichach Friedberg Altotting Amberg Sulzbach Ansbach Aschaffenburg Augsburg Bad Kissingen Bad Tolz Wolfratshausen Bamberg Bayreuth Berchtesgadener Land Cham Coburg Dachau Deggendorf Dillingen Dingolfing Landau Donau Ries Ebersberg Eichstatt Erding Erlangen Hochstadt Forchheim Freising Freyung Grafenau Furstenfeldbruck Furth Garmisch Partenkirchen Gunzburg Hassberge Hof Kelheim Kitzingen Kronach Kulmbach Landsberg Landshut Lichtenfels Lindau Main Spessart Miesbach Miltenberg Muhldorf Munchen Landkreis Munchen Neuburg Schrobenhausen Neumarkt Neustadt Aisch Bad Windsheim Neustadt an der Waldnaab Neu Ulm Nurnberger Land Oberallgau Ostallgau Passau Pfaffenhofen Regen Regensburg Rhon Grabfeld Rosenheim Roth Rottal Inn Schwandorf Schweinfurt Starnberg Straubing Bogen Tirschenreuth Traunstein Unterallgau Weilheim Schongau Weissenburg Gunzenhausen Wunsiedel WurzburgIndependent cities Amberg Ansbach Aschaffenburg Augsburg Bamberg Bayreuth Coburg Erlangen Furth Hof Ingolstadt Kaufbeuren Kempten Landshut Memmingen Munich Munchen Nuremberg Nurnberg Passau Regensburg Rosenheim Schwabach Schweinfurt Straubing Weiden WurzburgMunicipalities Edit The 71 rural districts are on the lowest level divided into 2 031 regular municipalities called Gemeinden singular Gemeinde Together with the 25 independent cities kreisfreie Stadte which are in effect municipalities independent of Landkreis administrations there are a total of 2 056 municipalities in Bavaria Munich city center with Frauenkirche left and Rathaus town hall Nuremberg Augsburg Regensburg with the Danube foreground and Regensburg Cathedral In 44 of the 71 rural districts there are a total of 215 unincorporated areas as of 1 January 2005 called gemeindefreie Gebiete singular gemeindefreies Gebiet not belonging to any municipality all uninhabited mostly forested areas but also four lakes Chiemsee without islands Starnberger See without island Roseninsel Ammersee which are the three largest lakes of Bavaria and Waginger See Major cities and towns Edit City Region Inhabitants 2000 Inhabitants 2005 Inhabitants 2010 Inhabitants 2015 Change Munich Upper Bavaria 1 210 223 1 259 677 1 353 186 1 450 381 11 81Nuremberg Middle Franconia 488 400 499 237 505 664 509 975 3 53Augsburg Swabia 254 982 262 676 264 708 286 374 3 81Regensburg Upper Palatinate 125 676 129 859 135 520 145 465 7 83Ingolstadt Upper Bavaria 115 722 121 314 125 088 132 438 8 09Wurzburg Lower Franconia 127 966 133 906 133 799 124 873 4 56Furth Middle Franconia 110 477 113 422 114 628 124 171 3 76Erlangen Middle Franconia 100 778 103 197 105 629 108 336 4 81Bayreuth Upper Franconia 74 153 73 997 72 683 72 148 1 98Bamberg Upper Franconia 69 036 70 081 70 004 73 331 1 40Aschaffenburg Lower Franconia 67 592 68 642 68 678 68 986 1 61Landshut Lower Bavaria 58 746 61 368 63 258 69 211 7 68Kempten Swabia 61 389 61 360 62 060 66 947 1 09Rosenheim Upper Bavaria 58 908 60 226 61 299 61 844 4 06Neu Ulm Swabia 50 188 51 410 53 504 57 237 6 61Schweinfurt Lower Franconia 54 325 54 273 53 415 51 969 1 68Passau Lower Bavaria 50 536 50 651 50 594 50 566 0 11Freising Upper Bavaria 40 890 42 854 45 223 46 963 10 60Straubing Lower Bavaria 44 014 44 633 44 450 46 806 0 99Dachau Upper Bavaria 38 398 39 922 42 954 46 705 11 87Source Bayerisches Landesamt fur Statistik und Datenverarbeitung 27 28 See also List of places in Bavaria and List of cities in Bavaria by populationPolitics Edit The Bavarian State Chancellery in Munich Main article Politics of Bavaria Bavaria has a multiparty system dominated by the conservative Christian Social Union CSU which has won every election since 1945 with the exception of the 1950 ballot Other important parties are The Greens which became the second biggest political party in the 2018 local parliament elections and the center left Social Democrats SPD who have dominated the city of Munich until 2020 Hitherto Wilhelm Hoegner has been the only SPD candidate to ever become Minister President notable successors in office include multi term Federal Minister Franz Josef Strauss a key figure among West German conservatives during the Cold War years and Edmund Stoiber who both failed with their bids for Chancellorship The German Greens and the center right Free Voters have been represented in the state parliament since 1986 and 2008 respectively In the 2003 elections the CSU won a supermajority something no party had ever achieved in postwar Germany However in the subsequent 2008 elections the CSU lost the absolute majority for the first time in 46 years 29 The losses were partly attributed by some to the CSU s stance for an anti smoking bill further explanation needed A first anti smoking law had been proposed by the CSU and passed but was watered down after the election after which a referendum enforced a strict antismoking bill with a large majority Current Landtag Edit Current composition of the Landtag SPD 22 seats The Greens 38 seats FDP 11 seats Free Voters 27 seats CSU 85 seats AfD 22 seats The last state elections were held on 14 October 2018 in which the CSU lost its absolute majority in the state parliament in part due to the party s stances as part of the federal government winning 37 2 of the vote the party s second worst local election outcome in its history after 1950 The Greens who had surged in the polls leading up to the election have replaced the social democratic SPD as the second biggest force in the Landtag with 17 6 of the vote The SPD lost over half of its previous share compared to 2013 with a mere 9 7 in 2018 The liberals of the FDP were again able to reach the five percent threshold in order to receive mandates in parliament after they were not part of the Landtag after the 2013 elections Also entering the new parliament were the right wing populist Alternative for Germany AfD with 10 2 of the vote 30 The center right Free Voters party gained 11 6 of the vote and formed a government coalition with the CSU which led to the subsequent reelection of Markus Soder as Minister President of Bavaria 31 Government Edit Bavarian Cabinet since 12 November 2018The Constitution of Bavaria of the Free State of Bavaria was enacted on 8 December 1946 The new Bavarian Constitution became the basis for the Bavarian State after the Second World War Bavaria has a unicameral Landtag English State Parliament elected by universal suffrage Until December 1999 there was also a Senat or Senate whose members were chosen by social and economic groups in Bavaria but following a referendum in 1998 this institution was abolished citation needed The Bavarian State Government consists of the Minister President of Bavaria eleven Ministers and six Secretaries of State The Minister President is elected for a period of five years by the State Parliament and is head of state With the approval of the State Parliament he appoints the members of the State Government The State Government is composed of the State Chancellery Staatskanzlei Ministry of the Interior for Sport and Integration Staatsministerium des Innern fur Sport und Integration Ministry for Housing Construction and Transport Staatsministerium fur Wohnen Bau und Verkehr Ministry of Justice Staatsministerium der Justiz Ministry for Education and Culture Staatsministerium fur Bildung und Kultus Ministry for Science and Art Staatsministerium fur Wissenschaft und Kunst Ministry of Finance and for Home Affairs Staatsministerium der Finanzen und fur Heimat Ministry for Economic Affairs Regional Development and Energy Staatsministerium fur Wirtschaft Landesentwicklung und Energie Ministry for Environment and Consumer Protection Staatsministerium fur Umwelt und Verbraucherschutz Ministry for Food Agriculture and Forestry Staatsministerium fur Ernahrung Landwirtschaft und Forsten Ministry for Family Labour and Social Affairs Staatsministerium fur Familie Arbeit und Soziales Ministry for Health and Care Staatsministerium fur Gesundheit und Pflege Ministry for Digital Affairs Staatsministerium fur Digitales 32 Political processes also take place in the seven regions Regierungsbezirke or Bezirke in Bavaria in the 71 rural districts Landkreise and the 25 towns and cities forming their own districts kreisfreie Stadte and in the 2 031 local authorities Gemeinden In 1995 Bavaria introduced direct democracy on the local level in a referendum This was initiated bottom up by an association called Mehr Demokratie English More Democracy This is a grass roots organization which campaigns for the right to citizen initiated referendums In 1997 the Bavarian Supreme Court tightened the regulations considerably including by introducing a turn out quorum Nevertheless Bavaria has the most advanced regulations on local direct democracy in Germany This has led to a spirited citizens participation in communal and municipal affairs 835 referendums took place from 1995 through 2005 Minister presidents of Bavaria since 1945 Edit See also List of Ministers President of Bavaria Markus Soder the current prime minister Ministerprasident of Bavaria Ministers President of BavariaNo Name Born and died Party affiliation Begin of tenure End of tenure1 Fritz Schaffer 1888 1967 CSU 1945 19452 Wilhelm Hoegner 1887 1980 SPD 1945 19463 Hans Ehard 1887 1980 CSU 1946 19544 Wilhelm Hoegner 1887 1980 SPD 1954 19575 Hanns Seidel 1901 1961 CSU 1957 19606 Hans Ehard 1887 1980 CSU 1960 19627 Alfons Goppel 1905 1991 CSU 1962 19788 Franz Josef Strauss 1915 1988 CSU 1978 19889 Max Streibl 1932 1998 CSU 1988 199310 Edmund Stoiber 1941 CSU 1993 200711 Gunther Beckstein 1943 CSU 2007 200812 Horst Seehofer 1949 CSU 2008 201813 Markus Soder 1967 CSU 2018 IncumbentDesignation as a free state Edit Unlike most German states Lander which simply designate themselves as State of Land Bavaria uses the style of Free State of Bavaria Freistaat Bayern The difference from other states is purely terminological as German constitutional law does not draw a distinction between States and Free States The situation is thus analogous to the United States where some states use the style Commonwealth rather than State The term Free State a creation of the 19th century and intended to be a German alternative to or translation of the Latin derived republic was common among the states of the Weimar Republic after German monarchies had been abolished Unlike most other states many of which were new creations Bavaria has resumed this terminology after World War II Two other states Saxony and Thuringia also call themselves Free State Arbitrary arrest and human rights Edit In July 2017 Bavaria s parliament enacted a new revision of the Gefahrdergesetz allowing the authorities to imprison a person for a three months term renewable indefinitely when they haven t committed a crime but it is assumed that they might commit a crime in the near future 33 Critics like the prominent journalist Heribert Prantl have called the law shameful and compared it to Guantanamo Bay detention camp 34 assessed it to be in violation of the European Convention on Human Rights 35 and also compared it to the legal situation in Russia where a similar law allows for imprisonment for a maximum term of two years i e not indefinitely 36 Economy Edit BMW Welt and BMW Headquarters in Munich Bavaria has long had one of the largest economies of any region in Germany and in Europe 37 Its gross domestic product GDP in 2007 exceeded 434 billion about U S 600 billion 38 This makes Bavaria itself one of the largest economies in Europe and only 20 countries in the world have a higher GDP 39 The GDP of the region increased to 617 1 billion in 2018 accounting for 18 5 of German economic output GDP per capita adjusted for purchasing power was 43 500 or 145 of the EU27 average in the same year The GDP per employee was 114 of the EU average This makes Bavaria one of the wealthiest regions in Europe 40 Bavaria has strong economic ties with Austria Czech Republic Switzerland and Northern Italy 41 In 2019 GDP was 832 4 905 7 billion 48 323 52 577 3 per capita 42 Agriculture Edit The most distinctive high points of Bavarian agriculture are Hop growing in region Hallertau which is up to 80 of German production and exported worldwide Inland aquaculture of carps and trout The well hydrated alpine meadows are used to produce large quantities of quality milk which is used to make a variety of cheese including blue veined cheese yogurt and butter Meggle The cultivation of asparagus is widespread which is a very popular new season vegetable In season Spargelzeit restaurants offer special separated asparagus menu There is an asparagus museum in Schrobenhausen There are farms producing venison from deer and roe Viticulture is widespread in Lower Franconia Good ecology and strict control allow produce a large amount of organic products bio and baby food Hop garten Allgauer meadows Asparagus with sauce hollandaise Vineyards in Klingenberg am MainIndustries Edit Bavaria has the best developed industry in Germany 43 and the lowest unemployment rate with 2 9 as of October 2021 44 Branches Oil refining Although there is oil production in Bavaria it does not meet domestic needs Most of the oil is imported via pipelines from the Czech Republic Russian oil and from the Italian port of Trieste Near East oil Three refineries are situated near Ingolstadt and another one in Burghausen Last one is a part of Bavarian chemical triangle and delivery row materials to other chemical plants Refinery Ingolstadt transalpine pipelineAutomotive is the most important and best developed Bavarian industry which included manufacture of luxury cars 4 BMW and 2 Audi plants R amp D centers test tracks trucks Traton MAN special vehicles Tadano Faun buses Evobus Setra and automotive parts engines electronics cables seats interiors cabrio roofs heating and brake systems software Bavaria has the second most employees 207 829 in the automotive industry of all German states after Baden Wurttemberg as of 2018 45 BMW 7 Series Audi A5 MAN TGX Faun HK 100 Setra S515HDHAerospace and defense which manufacture multi role attack jet Eurofighter Typhoon missiles from MBDA and Diehl Defence parts of rocket Ariane regional jet Dornier 728 ultra light planes from Grob Aerospace turbo jet engines for civil and military applications from MTU Aero Engines helicopters Airbus main battle tank Leopard 2 drones composite parts avionics radars propellants initiators powder munitions In Munich suburban Oberpfaffenhofen situated control center of European satellite navigation system Galileo German Space Operations Center Microwaves and Radar Institute Institute of Communications and Navigation Remote Sensing Technology Institute Institute of Atmospheric Physics Institute of Robotics and Mechatronics Institute for Software Technology Institute of System Dynamics and Control Eurofighter Typhoon Grob G 120TP Airbus EC 665 Tiger PARS 3 LR Leopard 2Other transport manufacturing also represents in Bavaria Even exists ship yards for example Bavaria Yachtbau despite location many hundreds kilometers from sea away manufacturing of 4 stroke marine diesel engine which using in cruise liners ferries and warships Rail technique produce in Munich Allach locomotive Siemens Vectron and rail maintenance vehicle in Freilassing Bavaria R40 MAN marine diesel Siemens Vectron Robel BR 711 2Electronics Chip design centers situated in Munich area Infineon Intel Apple There are 3 FABs Infineon in Regensburg Texas Instruments in Freising and Osram Optosemiconductors also in Regensburg Power semiconductors are manufactured by Semikron CNC controls are produced by Heidenhain Traunreut and Siemens Amberg Silicon wafer for electronic manufacturing are delivered from Siltronic plant in Burghausen Campeon Infineon and Intel R amp D centers CNC controls Heidehain iTNC 530 Programmable logic controller Siemens Simatic S7 1500 Silicon wafersMedical equipment In Erlangen is a headquarters of Siemens Healthineers which produce devices for computer tomography interventional X ray systems radiation therapy molecular and magnetic resonance imaging software Brainlab creates software and hardware for image guided surgery Roche Diagnostics in Penzberg manufactures therapeutic proteins diagnostic tests reagents analyze system and biopharma products Siemens E Cam DuetBrewery Bavaria has long tradition of brewery near a half of all German breweries are located here 645 of 1300 All possible types of breweries exist home brewery of hotel or restaurant belong to big international concern state owned castle or monastery breweries The perfect quality of beer is guaranteed by 500 years law Reinheitsgebot which allow as beer ingredients only water hops yeast and malt of barley wheat or rye But difference of roasting fermentation or mixing allow to produce many different types of beers not brand Vladimir Putin at 2009 tasted beer from Brauerei Aying Barack Obama at 2015 also tasted Bavarian beer of Karg Brauerei in Murnau In Freising situated research center Weihenstephan for brewing and food quality Brauerei Aying Murnau am Staffelsee Cold reservoirs TanksCompanies Edit Many large companies are headquartered in Bavaria including Adidas Allianz Airbus Audi BMW Brose BSH Hausgerate HypoVereinsbank Infineon KUKA Traton MTU Aero Engines Munich Re Osram Puma Rohde amp Schwarz Schaeffler Siemens Wacker Chemie Linde Vitesco Technologies Webasto Grob Heidenhain Koenig amp Bauer Kaeser Compressors Krones Knorr Bremse Wacker Neuson Krauss Maffei Wegmann Siltronic Leoni Fielmann MediaMarkt Conrad Electronic BayWa ProSiebenSat 1 Media Telefonica Germany Knauf Rehau Giesecke Devrient Also American companies open a lot of research and development centers in Munich region Apple chip design Google data security IBM Watson technology Intel drones and telecommunication chips General Electric 3D printers and additive manufacturing Gleason gears manufacturing Texas Instruments chip design and manufacturing Coherent lasers Tourism Edit With 40 million tourists in 2019 Bavaria is the most visited German state and one of Europe s leading tourist destinations 46 Attractions include Amusement parks Legoland in Gunzburg Bayern Park in Reisbach Vils Playmobil in Zirndorf Skyline Park in Bad Worishofen and Bavaria Filmstadt in Grunwald Christmas markets in Rothenburg ob der Tauber Nuremberg and Munich Factory Outlet Centers Ingolstadt Village and Wertheim Village Festivals Oktoberfest Nurnberger Fruhlingsfest and Nurnberger Herbstfest Schloss Neuschwanstein Wurzburg Residence Schloss Johannisburg in Aschaffenburg Bamberger Dom Schloss Ehrenburg in Coburg Hofer Theresienstein Nurnberger Kaiserburg Steinerne Brucke and Dom in Regensburg Walhalla Donaustauf near Regensburg Befreiungshalle Kelheim Augsburger Rathaus and Perlachturm St Bartholoma Church at Lake Konigssee Hintersee in Ramsau bei Berchtesgaden Preserved blast furnace 3 of Maxhutte in Sulzbach Rosenberg Stadtbrille Amberg St Martin Church Landshut Dom St Stephan in Passau congress hall with Doku Zentrum in Nurnberg Rothenburg ob der Tauber MarienplatzUnemployment Edit The unemployment rate stood at 2 6 in October 2018 the lowest in Germany and one of the lowest in the European Union 47 Year 48 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021Unemployment rate in 5 5 5 3 6 0 6 9 6 9 7 8 6 8 5 3 4 2 4 8 4 5 3 8 3 7 3 8 3 8 3 6 3 5 3 2 2 9 2 8 3 6 3 5Demographics Edit Bavaria is one of Germany s least densely populated states Bavaria has a population of approximately 13 1 million inhabitants 2020 8 of the 80 largest cities in Germany are located within Bavaria with Munich being the largest 1 484 226 inhabitants approximately 6 1 million when including the broader metropolitan area followed by Nuremberg 518 370 inhabitants approximately 3 6 million when including the broader metropolitan area Augsburg 296 582 inhabitants and Regensburg 153 094 inhabitants All other cities in Bavaria had less than 150 000 inhabitants each in 2020 Population density in Bavaria was 186 km2 480 sq mi below the national average of 233 km2 600 sq mi Foreign nationals resident in Bavaria both immigrants and refugees asylum seekers were principally from other EU countries and Turkey Top ten foreign resident populations 49 Nationality Population 31 December 2020 1 Romania 191 4102 Turkey 190 7303 Croatia 126 0904 Poland 116 3205 Italy 105 9306 Austria 85 0507 Syria 77 4458 Greece 76 8759 Hungary 75 70510 Bosnia and Herzegovina 60 415Vital statistics Edit Vital statistics 50 Comparison period Births Deaths Natural growthJanuary November 2016 115 032 116 915 1 883January November 2017 115 690 122 247 6 557Culture EditSome features of the Bavarian culture and mentality are remarkably distinct from the rest of Germany Noteworthy differences especially in rural areas less significant in the major cities can be found with respect to religion traditions and language Religion Edit Religion in Bavaria 2020 51 Religion PercentCatholics 46 9 EKD Protestants 17 2 Muslims 4 0 Other or none 31 9 A Catholic church near Fussen with the Alps in the background Bavarian culture Altbayern has a long and predominant tradition of Roman Catholic faith Pope Benedict XVI Joseph Alois Ratzinger was born in Marktl am Inn in Upper Bavaria and was Cardinal Archbishop of Munich and Freising Otherwise the culturally Franconian and Swabian regions of the modern State of Bavaria are historically more diverse in religiosity with both Catholic and Protestant traditions In 1925 70 0 of the Bavarian population was Catholic 28 8 was Protestant 0 7 was Jewish and 0 5 was placed in other religious categories 52 As of 2020 update 46 9 of Bavarians adhered to Catholicism a decline from 70 4 in 1970 53 51 17 2 percent of the population adheres to the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bavaria which has also declined since 1970 53 51 Three percent was Orthodox Muslims make up 4 0 of the population of Bavaria 31 9 percent of Bavarians are irreligious or adhere to other religions Traditions Edit Bavarians commonly emphasize pride in their traditions Traditional costumes collectively known as Tracht are worn on special occasions and include in Altbayern Lederhosen for males and Dirndl for females Centuries old folk music is performed The Maibaum or Maypole which in the Middle Ages served as the community s business directory as figures on the pole represented the trades of the village and the bagpipes of the Upper Palatinate region bear witness to the ancient Celtic and Germanic remnants of cultural heritage of the region There are many traditional Bavarian sports disciplines e g the Aperschnalzen competitive whipcracking Whether in Bavaria overseas or with citizens from other nations Bavarians continue to cultivate their traditions They hold festivals and dances to keep their heritage alive Food and drink Edit Main article Bavarian cuisine Bavarians tend to place a great value on food and drink In addition to their renowned dishes Bavarians also consume many items of food and drink which are unusual elsewhere in Germany for example Weisswurst white sausage or in some instances a variety of entrails At folk festivals and in many beer gardens beer is traditionally served by the litre in a Mass Bavarians are particularly proud 54 of the traditional Reinheitsgebot or beer purity law initially established by the Duke of Bavaria for the City of Munich i e the court in 1487 and the duchy in 1516 According to this law only three ingredients were allowed in beer water barley and hops In 1906 the Reinheitsgebot made its way to all German law and remained a law in Germany until the EU partly struck it down in 1987 as incompatible with the European common market 55 German breweries however cling to the principle and Bavarian breweries still comply with it in order to distinguish their beer brands 56 Bavarians are also known as some of the world s most prolific beer drinkers with an average annual consumption of 170 liters per person citation needed Bavaria is also home to the Franconia wine region which is situated along the river Main in Franconia The region has produced wine Frankenwein for over 1 000 years and is famous for its use of the Bocksbeutel wine bottle The production of wine forms an integral part of the regional culture and many of its villages and cities hold their own wine festivals Weinfeste throughout the year Schweinsbraten Nurnberger RostbratwursteLanguage and dialects Edit source source source source source source source source source source source source track A native Bavarian language speaker recorded in Germany Upper German and the southern counterpart to Central German both form the High German languages while the Austro Bavarian dialects are in blue Three German dialects are most commonly spoken in Bavaria Austro Bavarian in Old Bavaria Upper Bavaria Lower Bavaria and the Upper Palatinate Swabian German an Alemannic German dialect in the Bavarian part of Swabia south west and East Franconian German in Franconia North In the small town Ludwigsstadt in the north district Kronach in Upper Franconia Thuringian dialect is spoken During the 20th century an increasing part of the population began to speak Standard German Hochdeutsch mainly in the cities Ethnography Edit Bavarians consider themselves to be egalitarian and informal 57 Their sociability can be experienced at the annual Oktoberfest the world s largest beer festival which welcomes around six million visitors every year or in the famous beer gardens In traditional Bavarian beer gardens patrons may bring their own food but buy beer only from the brewery that runs the beer garden 58 Sports EditFootball Edit The Allianz Arena one of the world s most famous football stadiums Bavaria is home to several football clubs including FC Bayern Munich 1 FC Nurnberg FC Augsburg TSV 1860 Munich FC Ingolstadt 04 and SpVgg Greuther Furth Bayern Munich is the most successful football team in Germany having won a record 32 German titles and 6 UEFA Champions League titles They are followed by 1 FC Nurnberg who have won 9 titles SpVgg Greuther Furth have won 3 championships while TSV 1860 Munich have been champions once Basketball Edit Bavaria is also home to several professional basketball teams including FC Bayern Munich Brose Baskets Bamberg s Oliver Wurzburg Nurnberg Falcons BC and TSV Oberhaching Tropics Ice hockey Edit There are five Bavarian ice hockey teams playing in the German top tier league DEL EHC Red Bull Munchen Nurnberg Ice Tigers Augsburger Panther ERC Ingolstadt and Straubing Tigers Notable people EditMany famous people have been born or lived in present day Bavaria Kings Arnulf of Carinthia Carloman of Bavaria Charles the Fat Lothair I Louis the Child Louis the German Louis the Younger Ludwig I of Bavaria Ludwig II of Bavaria Ludwig III of Bavaria Maximilian I Joseph of Bavaria Maximilian II of Bavaria Otto King of Bavaria Religious leaders Pope Benedict XVI Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger Pope Damasus II Pope Victor II Painters Albrecht Durer Albrecht Altdorfer Carl Spitzweg Erwin Eisch Franz von Lenbach Franz von Stuck Franz Marc Gabriele Munter Hans Holbein the Elder Johann Christian Reinhart Lucas Cranach Paul Klee Classical musicians Orlando di Lasso Christoph Willibald Gluck Leopold Mozart Max Reger Richard Wagner Richard Strauss Carl Orff Johann Pachelbel Theobald Boehm Klaus Nomi Other musicians Hans Jurgen Buchner Barbara Dennerlein Klaus Doldinger Franzl Lang Bands Spider Murphy Gang Sportfreunde Stiller Obscura Michael Bredl Opera singers Jonas Kaufmann Diana Damrau Writers poets and playwrights Hans Sachs Jean Paul Friedrich Ruckert August von Platen Hallermunde Frank Wedekind Christian Morgenstern Oskar Maria Graf Bertolt Brecht Lion Feuchtwanger Thomas Mann Klaus Mann Golo Mann Ludwig Thoma Michael Ende Ludwig Aurbacher Scientists Max Planck Wilhelm Conrad Rontgen Werner Heisenberg Adam Ries Joseph von Fraunhofer Georg Ohm Johannes Stark Carl von Linde Ludwig Prandtl Rudolf Mossbauer Lothar Rohde Hermann Schwarz Robert Huber Martin Behaim Levi Strauss Rudolf Diesel Feodor Lynen Georges J F Kohler Erwin Neher Ernst Otto Fischer Johann Deisenhofer Physicians Alois Alzheimer Max Joseph von Pettenkofer Sebastian Kneipp Politicians Ludwig Erhard Horst Seehofer Christian Ude Kurt Eisner Franz Josef Strauss Roman Herzog Leonard John Rose Henry Kissinger Football players Max Morlock Karl Mai Franz Beckenbauer Sepp Maier Gerd Muller Paul Breitner Bernd Schuster Klaus Augenthaler Lothar Matthaus Philipp Lahm Bastian Schweinsteiger Holger Badstuber Thomas Muller Mario Gotze Dietmar Hamann Stefan Reuter Other sportspeople Bernhard Langer Dirk Nowitzki Actors Michael Herbig Werner Stocker Helmut Fischer Walter Sedlmayr Gustl Bayrhammer Ottfried Fischer Ruth Drexel Elmar Wepper Fritz Wepper Uschi Glas Yank Azman Entertainers Siegfried Fischbacher Film directors Helmut Dietl Rainer Werner Fassbinder Bernd Eichinger Joseph Vilsmaier Hans Steinhoff Heinz Badewitz and Werner Herzog Designers Peter Schreyer Damir Doma Entrepreneurs Charles Diebold Adi Dassler Rudolf Dassler Levi Strauss Military Claus von Stauffenberg Nazis Sepp Dietrich Karl Fiehler Karl Gebhardt Hermann Goring Heinrich Himmler Alfred Jodl Josef Kollmer Josef Mengele Ernst Rohm Franz Ritter von Epp Julius Streicher Others Kaspar Hauser The Smith of Kochel Mathias Kneissl Matthias Klostermayr Anneliese Michel Herluka von BernriedSee also Edit Geography portal Europe portal European Union portal Germany portalOutline of Germany Former countries in Europe after 1815 List of Bavaria related topics List of Premiers of Bavaria List of rulers of BavariaReferences EditCitations Edit Bevolkerung Gemeinden Geschlecht Quartale Jahr Bayerisches Landesamt fur Statistik und Datenverarbeitung in German August 2020 Archived from the original on 18 December 2020 Retrieved 29 April 2021 GDP NRW official statistics Archived from the original on 25 June 2020 Retrieved 17 February 2019 Sub national HDI Area Database Global Data Lab hdi globaldatalab org Archived from the original on 23 September 2018 Retrieved 13 September 2018 Bavaria Lonely Planet Archived from the original on 7 September 2015 Retrieved 31 August 2015 Bavaria Britannica Archived from the original on 5 September 2015 Retrieved 31 August 2015 Kirchenmitgliederzahlen Stand 31 12 2016 PDF ekd de Archived from the original PDF on 12 April 2018 Retrieved 25 April 2018 Local The 4 February 2010 Bavaria The Local The Local Archived from the original on 22 December 2015 Retrieved 31 August 2015 Campbell Eric 14 February 2012 Germany A Bavarian Fairy Tale ABC Archived from the original on 27 August 2015 Retrieved 31 August 2015 Dovid Solomon Ganz Tzemach Dovid 3rd edition part 2 Warsaw 1878 pp 71 85 online Archived 14 April 2016 at the Wayback Machine Brown Warren 2001 Unjust Seizure 1st ed p 63 ISBN 9780801437908 Archived from the original on 20 May 2021 Retrieved 31 August 2015 History of Bavaria Guide to Bavaria Archived from the original on 6 September 2015 Retrieved 31 August 2015 Frassetto Michael 2013 The Early Medieval World From the Fall of Rome to the Time of Charlemagne 2 Volumes ABC CLIO p 145 ISBN 978 1598849967 Archived from the original on 20 May 2021 Retrieved 13 August 2020 Collins Roger 2010 Early Medieval Europe 300 1000 Palgrave Macmillan p 273 ISBN 978 1137014283 Archived from the original on 17 March 2016 Retrieved 19 September 2017 Harrington Joel F 1995 Reordering Marriage and Society in Reformation Germany Cambridge Cambridge University Press p 17 ISBN 978 0521464833 Archived from the original on 20 May 2021 Retrieved 13 August 2020 Hanson Paul R 2015 Historical Dictionary of the French Revolution 2 ed Rowman amp Littlefield ISBN 978 0810878921 bavaria kingdom 1806 napoleon Sheehan James J 1993 German History 1770 1866 Clarendon Press p 265 ISBN 978 0198204329 Archived from the original on 20 May 2021 Retrieved 13 August 2020 Minahan James 2000 One Europe Many Nations A Historical Dictionary of European National Groups Greenwood Publishing Group pp 106 ISBN 978 0 313 30984 7 Archived from the original on 30 September 2015 Retrieved 13 August 2015 William L Shirer The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich A History of Nazi Germany New York NY Simon amp Schuster 2011 p 33 Karacs Imre 13 July 1996 Bavaria buries the royal dream Funeral of Prince Albrechty The Independent Archived from the original on 12 April 2019 Retrieved 19 September 2017 Free State of Bavaria Freistaat Bayern Historisches Lexikon Bayerns www historisches lexikon bayerns de Archived from the original on 14 May 2021 Retrieved 11 April 2021 Bavaria Guide Archived 4 February 2013 at the Wayback Machine European vacation planner com retrieved 16 July 2013 Lunau Kate 25 June 2009 No more Bavarian separatism World Archived 4 January 2014 at the Wayback Machine Macleans ca 25 June 2009 retrieved 16 July 2013 Flag Legislation Bavaria Germany Executive Order on Flags of 1954 Flags of the World Archived from the original on 11 March 2016 Retrieved 19 September 2011 a b c d Sebald Christian Bayern So sieht das Klima der Zukunft aus Suddeutsche de Archived from the original on 3 August 2020 Retrieved 22 April 2020 Bayerischer Rundfunk Klimawanddel bayern folgen erwaermung 100 html Statistics population Archived from the original on 18 December 2020 Bayerisches Landesamt fur Statistik Munchen 2015 30 August 2015 Bayerisches Landesamt fur Statistik GENESIS Online Bayern bayern de Archived from the original on 9 December 2012 Retrieved 9 May 2014 Bayerisches Landesamt fur Statistik Munchen 2017 23 April 2017 Bayerisches Landesamt fur Statistik GENESIS Online Bayern bayern de Archived from the original on 9 December 2012 Retrieved 9 May 2014 n tv Fiasko fur die CSU Archived from the original on 29 September 2008 tagesschau de tagesschau de wahl tagesschau de Archived from the original on 15 October 2018 Retrieved 15 October 2018 Bavaria s CSU Free Voters reach coalition deal DW 2 November 2018 Retrieved 25 October 2022 Staatsministerien Bayerisches Landesportal Archived from the original on 17 April 2021 Retrieved 11 April 2021 Gefahrder Gesetz verscharft Archived 20 July 2017 at the Wayback Machine Suddeutsche Zeitung 19 July 2017 Bayern fuhrt Unendlichkeitshaft ein Archived 21 July 2017 at the Wayback Machine Heribert Prantl 20 July 2017 Reisewarnung fur Bayern Archived 27 August 2017 at the Wayback Machine Udo Vetter 20 July 2017 Erinnert ihr euch noch daran als Bayern als Rechtsstaat galt Archived 22 July 2017 at the Wayback Machine Felix von Leitner 20 July 2017 Its GDP is 143 of the EU average as of 2005 update whilst the German average is 121 5 Source Eurostat permanent dead link Statistisches Landesamt Baden Wurttemberg Gemeinsames Datenangebot der Statistischen Amter des Bundes und der Lander baden wuerttemberg de Archived from the original on 4 March 2008 Retrieved 22 February 2008 See the list of countries by GDP Regional GDP per capita ranged from 30 to 263 of the EU average in 2018 Eurostat Archived from the original on 17 April 2020 Retrieved 8 March 2020 Germany Upper Bavaria Business Transfer Archived from the original on 23 February 2018 Retrieved 23 February 2018 Federal States of Germany Deutschland de 29 September 2020 Archived from the original on 19 December 2021 Retrieved 19 March 2022 Umsatze in der Industrie Deutschland in Zahlen in German Archived from the original on 20 May 2021 Retrieved 3 April 2021 Arbeitslosenquote in Deutschland nach Bundeslandern 2020 Statista in German Archived from the original on 27 June 2021 Retrieved 1 January 2021 Schafer Kristina Antonia Blick hinter die Zahlen 5 Wo in Deutschland die meisten Jobs an der Autobranche hangen www wiwo de in German Archived from the original on 31 October 2020 Retrieved 27 March 2021 Daten amp Fakten Bavarian Ministry of Economic Affairs Regional Development and Energy in German Archived from the original on 22 June 2020 Retrieved 11 June 2020 Arbeitslosenquote nach Bundeslandern in Deutschland 2018 Statista Statista in German Archived from the original on 27 June 2021 Retrieved 13 November 2018 Destatis Statistisches Bundesamt 13 November 2018 Federal Statistical Office Germany GENESIS Online www genesis destatis de Archived from the original on 13 November 2018 Retrieved 13 November 2018 German Statistical Office Archived from the original on 12 February 2018 Retrieved 12 February 2018 Statistik Portal Statische Amter Archived from the original on 25 December 2017 Retrieved 3 July 2018 a b c Kirchenmitgliederzahlen Stand 31 12 2020 PDF ekd de Archived PDF from the original on 21 December 2021 Retrieved 13 January 2022 Grundriss der Statistik II Gesellschaftsstatistik by Wilhelm Winkler p 36 a b Bayerischer Rundfunk Massive Kirchenaustritte Das Ende der Kirche wie wir sie kennen Religion Themen BR de br de Archived from the original on 22 July 2015 The Bavarian way of life Bavarian Africa Retrieved 1 September 2022 30 04 2005 EU Recht 30 April 2005 Archived from the original on 30 April 2005 To Bier or not to Bier vom 22 10 2015 Das Reinheitsgebot und seine Tucken BR Mediathek VIDEO br de Archived from the original on 27 October 2015 Bavaria Travel to Germany Travel to Germany 24 August 2018 Archived from the original on 28 September 2020 Retrieved 29 September 2020 Koniglicher Hirschgarten Ein paar Worte zu unserem Biergarten in Munchen in German Archived from the original on 18 May 2012 Retrieved 12 February 2012 General and cited sources Edit Phillips Walter Alison Ashworth Philip Arthur 1911 Bavaria Encyclopaedia Britannica Vol 3 11th ed pp 543 551 External links Edit Wikimedia Commons has media related to Bavaria Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Bavaria Official government website Official website of Bayern Tourismus Marketing GmbH Bavarian Studies in History and Culture Aussenwirtschaftsportal Bayern Statistics Geographic data related to Bavaria at OpenStreetMap Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Bavaria amp oldid 1135581027, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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