Bavaria

Free State of Bavaria
Free State of Bavaria; Freistaat Bayern
	State of Germany
; Flag	; Coat of arms
	Anthem: Bayernhymne (German); "Hymn of Bavaria"
	Coordinates: 48°46′39″N 11°25′52″E / 48.77750°N 11.43111°E
Country	Germany
Capital	Munich
Government
• Minister-President	Horst Seehofer (CSU)
• Governing party	CSU
• Bundesrat votes	6 (of 69)
Area
• Total	70,549.44 km2 (27,239.29 sq mi)
Population (2015-12-31)
• Total	12,843,514
• Density	180/km2 (470/sq mi)
Demonym(s)	Bavarian
Time zone	CET (UTC+1)
• Summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+2)
ISO 3166 code	DE-BY
GDP/ Nominal	€550/ $610 billion (2015)
GDP per capita	€43,000/ $48,000 (2015)
NUTS Region	DE2
Website	bayern.de

Second official flag of Bavaria

Bavaria (/bəˈvɛəriə/; German: Freistaat Bayern [ˈfʁaɪʃtaːt ˈbaɪɐn]; Czech: Bavorsko) is a federal state of Germany. Located in the German southeast with an area of 70,548 square kilometres (27,200 sq mi), Bavaria is the largest German state. Its territory comprises roughly a fifth of the total land area of Germany, and, with 12.9 million inhabitants, it is Germany's second most populous state. Munich, Bavaria's capital and largest city, is the third largest city in Germany.^[4]

The history of Bavaria stretches from its earliest settlement and formation as a duchy in the 6th century CE (AD) through the Holy Roman Empire to becoming an independent kingdom and finally a state of the Federal Republic of Germany.^[5]

The Duchy of Bavaria dates back to the year 555. In the 17th century CE (AD), the Duke of Bavaria became a Prince-elector of the Holy Roman Empire. The Kingdom of Bavaria existed from 1806 to 1918, when Bavaria became a republic. In 1946, the Free State of Bavaria re-organised itself on democratic lines after the Second World War.

Bavaria has a unique culture, largely because of the state's Catholic majority (52%) and conservative traditions. Bavarians have traditionally been proud of their culture, which includes festivals such as Oktoberfest and elements of Alpine symbolism.^[6] The state also has the second largest economy among the German states by GDP figures, giving it a status as a rather wealthy German region.^[7]

Modern Bavaria also includes parts of the historical regions of Franconia, Upper Palatinate and Swabia.

History[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 Old High German but, unlike other Germanic groups, probably did not migrate from elsewhere. Rather, they seem to have coalesced out of other groups left behind by 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 BCE.^[8]

From about 554 to 788, the house of Agilolfing ruled the Duchy of Bavaria, ending with Tassilo III who was deposed by Charlemagne.^[9]

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.^[10]

After Garibald II little is known of the Bavarians until Duke Theodo I, whose reign may have begun as early as 680. From 696 onwards 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.

At Hugbert's death (735) the duchy passed to a distant relative named Odilo, from neighbouring Alemannia (modern southwest Germany and northern Switzerland). Odilo issued a law code for Bavaria, completed the process of church organisation 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.^[11]^[12] Saint Boniface completed the people's conversion to Christianity in the early 8th century. Bavaria was in many ways affected by the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century.

Middle Ages[edit]

Bavaria in the 10th century

"Beschreibvng des hochloblichen Fvrsten t.h v.b Obern vnd Nidern Bayrn" - (National Library of Sweden)

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 onwards. He was particularly noted for founding new monasteries and for expanding eastwards, fighting Slavs in the eastern Alps and along the River Danube and colonising 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.

Kingdom of Bavaria 900

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.

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. 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.^[13]

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. In 1506 with the Landshut War of Succession, the other parts of Bavaria were reunited, and Munich became the sole capital.

17th and 18th centuries[edit]

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. The country became one of the Jesuit supported counter-reformation centers. 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, election of a Wittelsbach emperor instead of a Habsburger). From 1777 onwards 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[edit]

Bavaria in the 19th century and beyond

When Napoleon abolished the Holy Roman Empire, Bavaria became a kingdom in 1806 due, in part, to the Confederation of the Rhine.^[14] 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. The 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 left of the Rhine and Franconia in 1815. Between 1799 and 1817, the leading minister, Count Montgelas, followed a strict policy of modernisation; he laid the foundations of administrative structures that survived the monarchy and retain core validity in the 21st century. In May 1808 a first constitution was passed by Maximilian I,^[15] 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.

As a part of the German Empire[edit]

Bavarian stamps during the German empire period

After the rise of Prussia to power, Bavaria preserved its independence by playing off the rivalries of Prussia and Austria. Allied to Austria, it was defeated in the 1866 Austro-Prussian War and did not belong to the North German Federation of 1867, but the question of German unity was still alive. When France declared war on Prussia in 1870, the south German states Baden, Württemberg, Hessen-Darmstadt and Bavaria joined the Prussian forces and ultimately joined the Federation, which was renamed Deutsches Reich (German Empire) in 1871. Bavaria continued as a monarchy, and it had some special rights within the federation (such as an army, railways and a postal service of its own).

When Bavaria became part of the newly formed German Empire, this action was considered controversial by Bavarian nationalists who had wanted to retain independence. As Bavaria had a majority-Catholic 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.^[16] Although the idea of Bavarian separatism was popular in the late 19th and early 20th century, apart from a small minority such as the Bavaria Party, most Bavarians have accepted that Bavaria is part of Germany.^[17]

In the early-20th century, Wassily Kandinsky, Paul Klee, Henrik Ibsen, and other notable artists were drawn to Bavaria, notably to the Schwabing district of Munich, a center of international artistic activity. This area was devastated by bombing and invasion during World War II.

20th century[edit]

A memorial to soldiers who died in the two world wars. Dietelskirchen, Bavaria.

Dachau concentration camp memorial sculpture erected in 1968

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 of Socialist premier Kurt Eisner interpreted this as an abdication. To date, however, no member of the house of Wittelsbach has ever formally declared renunciation of the throne. 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 Socialist 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 Nazi strongholds under the Third Reich via Adolf Hitler's command. As a manufacturing centre, Munich was heavily bombed during World War II and occupied by U.S. troops.

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 states, 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, 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, and so it became law.

Bavarian identity[edit]

Bavarians have often emphasized a separate national identity and considered themselves as "Bavarians" first, "Germans" second.^[18] This feeling started to come about more strongly among Bavarians when the Kingdom of Bavaria joined the Protestant Prussian-dominated German Empire while the Bavarian nationalists wanted to keep Bavaria as Catholic and an independent state. Nowadays, aside from the minority Bavaria Party, most Bavarians accept that Bavaria is part of Germany. 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. In Munich, the Old Bavarian dialect was widely spread, but nowadays High German is predominantly spoken there.

Coat of arms[edit]

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

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]

The Bavarian Alps

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). Because all of these countries are part of the Schengen Area, the border is completely open. Neighbouring 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 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. 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.

Population and area[edit]

Administrative region	Capital	Population (2011)		Area (km²)		No. municipalities
Lower Bavaria	Landshut	1,192,641	9.48%	10,330	14.6%	258	12.5%
Lower Franconia	Würzburg	1,315,882	10.46%	8,531	12.1%	308	15.0%
Upper Franconia	Bayreuth	1,067,988	8.49%	7,231	10.2%	214	10.4%
Middle Franconia	Ansbach	1,717,670	13.65%	7,245	10.3%	210	10.2%
Upper Palatinate	Regensburg	1,081,800	8.60%	9,691	13.7%	226	11.0%
Swabia	Augsburg	1,788,729	14.21%	9,992	14.2%	340	16.5%
Upper Bavaria	Munich	4,418,828	35.12%	17,530	24.8%	500	24.3%
Total		12,583,538	100.0%	70,549	100.0%	2,056	100.0%

Major cities[edit]

City	Region	Inhabitants 31 December 2000	Inhabitants 31 December 2005	Inhabitants 31 December 2010	Inhabitants 31 December 2012	Changes 2000 – 2010 in %
Munich	Upper Bavaria	1,210,223	1,259,677	1,353,186	1,388,308	+11.81
Nuremberg	Middle Franconia	488,400	499,237	505,664	495,121	+3.53
Augsburg	Swabia	254,982	262,676	264,708	272,699	+3.81
Regensburg	Upper Palatinate	125,676	129,859	135,520	138,296	+7.83
Ingolstadt	Upper Bavaria	115,722	121,314	125,088	127,886	+8.09
Würzburg	Lower Franconia	127,966	133,906	133,799	124,577	+4.56
Fürth	Middle Franconia	110,477	113,422	114,628	118,358	+3.76
Erlangen	Middle Franconia	100,778	103,197	105,629	105,412	+4.81
Bayreuth	Upper Franconia	74,153	73,997	72,683	71,482	−1.98
Bamberg	Upper Franconia	69,036	70,081	70,004	70,863	+1.40
Aschaffenburg	Lower Franconia	67,592	68,642	68,678	67,681	+1.61
Landshut	Lower Bavaria	58,746	61,368	63,258	65,322	+7.68
Kempten (Allgäu)	Swabia	61,389	61,360	62,060	64,625	+1.09
Rosenheim	Upper Bavaria	58,908	60,226	61,299	59,935	+4.06
Neu-Ulm	Swabia	50,188	51,410	53,504	53,888	+6.61
Schweinfurt	Lower Franconia	54,325	54,273	53,415	52,098	−1.68
Passau	Lower Bavaria	50,536	50,651	50,594	49,038	+0.11
Freising	Upper Bavaria	40,890	42,854	45,223	45,227	+10.60
Straubing	Lower Bavaria	44,014	44,633	44,450	45,099	+0.99
Dachau	Upper Bavaria	38,398	39,922	42,954	44,822	+11.87

Source: Bayerisches Landesamt für Statistik und Datenverarbeitung^[19]

Administrative divisions[edit]

Administrative Districts (Regierungsbezirke and Bezirke) of Bavaria

Bavaria is divided into 7 administrative districts called Regierungsbezirke (singular Regierungsbezirk).

WV-Bavaria regions

Regierungsbezirke (administrative districts)[edit]

Munich

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

Bezirke[edit]

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 (e.g. Regierung von Oberbayern), but are a different form of administration, having their own parliaments, etc. In the other larger states of Germany, there are Regierungsbezirke which are only administrative divisions and not self-governing entities as the Bezirke in Bavaria.

Landkreise/kreisfreie cities[edit]

These administrative regions consist of 71 administrative districts (called Landkreise, singular Landkreis, e.g. rural districts) and 25 independent cities (kreisfreie Städte, singular kreisfreie Stadt, e.g. urban districts).

Landkreise:

Kreis-free Cities:

Gemeinden (municipalities)[edit]

The 71 administrative districts are on the lowest level divided into 2031 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 2056 municipalities in Bavaria.

In 44 of the 71 administrative districts, there are a total of 215 unincorporated areas (as of January 1, 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).

Government and politics[edit]

Government[edit]

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, or 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.

The Bavarian State Government consists of the Minister-President of Bavaria, 11 Ministers and 6 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:

Ministry of the Interior (Staatsministerium des Innern, für Bau und Verkehr)
Ministry of Education and Culture, Science and Art (Staatsministerium für Bildung und Kultus, Wissenschaft und Kunst)
Ministry of Finance, for Rural Development and Homeland (Staatsministerium der Finanzen, für Landesentwicklung und Heimat)
Ministry of Economic Affairs and Media, Energy and Technology (Staatsministerium für Wirtschaft und Medien, Energie und Technologie)
Ministry of Environment and Consumer Protection (Staatsministerium für Umwelt und Verbraucherschutz)
Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, Family and Integration (Staatsministerium für Arbeit und Soziales, Familie und Integration)
Ministry of Justice (Staatsministerium der Justiz)
Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Forestry (Staatsministerium für Ernährung, Landwirtschaft und Forsten)
Ministry of Public Health and Care Services (Staatsministerium für Gesundheit und Pflege)

Political processes also take place in the 7 regions (Regierungsbezirke / Bezirke) in Bavaria, in the 71 administrative 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 (More Democracy). This is a grass-roots organization which campaigns for the right to citizen-initiated referendums. In 1997 the Bavarian Supreme Court aggravated the regulations considerably (e.g. 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 referenda took place from 1995 through 2005.

Bavarian politics[edit]

12th and current Minister-President of Bavaria Horst Seehofer

Bavaria has a multi-party system dominated by the conservative Christian Social Union (CSU), which has won every election since 1945, and the center-left Social Democrats (SPD) . Thus far 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 post-war Germany. However, in the subsequent 2008 elections the CSU lost the absolute majority for the first time in 46 years.^[20] The losses were partly attributed to the CSU's stance against an anti-smoking bill. (First anti-smoking referendum was passed but subverted, so a second referendum enforced it with a larger majority).

The last state elections were held on 15 September 2013; the CSU won an absolute majority in the state parliament^[21] in spite of bad press surrounding a cronyism affair.^[22] The CSU's former coalition partner Free Democrats (FDP) failed to gain caucus recognition amidst a downward trend for the party in all of Germany. The 17th parliamentary term comprises 180 mandates of which the CSU won 101, the SPD 42, the Free Voters 19 and the Alliance '90/The Greens 18.^[23]

Designation as a "free state"[edit]

Unlike most German states (Länder), which simply designate themselves as "State of X" (Land X), 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 choice of "Free State", a creation of the early 20th century and intended to be a German alternative to (or translation of) the Latin-derived "republic", has historical reasons, Bavaria having been styled that way even before the current 1946 constitution was enacted (i.e. in 1918 after the de facto abdication of Ludwig III). Two other states, Saxony and Thuringia, also use the style "Free State"; unlike Bavaria, however, these were not part of the original states when the Grundgesetz was enacted but joined the federation later on, in 1990, as a result of German reunification. Saxony had used the designation as "Free State" from 1918 to 1952.

Minister-presidents of Bavaria since 1945[edit]

Minister-presidents of Bavaria
No.	Name	Born-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	incumbent

Economy[edit]

BMW headquarters in Munich

Bavaria has long had one of the largest economies of any region in Germany, or Europe for that matter.^[24] Its GDP in 2007 exceeded 434 billion Euros (about 600 bn US$).^[25] This makes Bavaria itself one of the largest economies in Europe and only 20 countries in the world have a higher GDP.^[26] Some large companies headquartered in Bavaria include BMW, Siemens, Rohde & Schwarz, Audi, Munich Re, Allianz, Infineon, MAN, Wacker Chemie, Puma, Adidas, and Ruf. Bavaria has a GDP per capita of over $48 000 US, meaning that if it were its own independent country it would rank 7th or 8th in the world.

Company names[edit]

The motorcycle and automobile makers BMW (Bayerische Motoren-Werke, or Bavarian Motor Works) and Audi, Allianz, Grundig (consumer electronics), Siemens (electricity, telephones, informatics, medical instruments), Continental (Automotive Tire and Electronics), Nintendo, Adidas, Puma, HypoVereinsbank (UniCredit Group), Infineon, Krauss-Maffei Wegmann and Ruf have (or had) a Bavarian industrial base.

Demographics[edit]

The population of Bavaria is 12,843,514 (2015). Countries of origin of the residents are as listed below:

Rank	Nationality	Population estimate (2014)^[27]
1	Turkey	201,448
2	Romania	96,057
3	Poland	94,731
4	Italy	92,277
5	Austria	84,615
6	Greece	69,244
7	Croatia	64,163
8	Hungary	57,052
9	Russia	34,364
10	Bulgaria	33,214

Culture[edit]

Religion in Bavaria - 2014
religion			percent
Roman Catholics			52%
EKD Protestants			20%
Muslims			4%
Other or none			24%

Bavarian church with Alps in the background

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[edit]

St. Sebastian in Ramsau

Bavarian culture (Altbayern) has a long and predominant tradition of Roman Catholic faith. Pope emeritus, 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 Roman Catholic, 28.8% was Protestant, 0.7% was Jewish, 0.5% was placed in other religious categories.^[28]

As of 2014^[update] 52.1% of Bavarians still adhered to Roman Catholicism though the number is on the decline (they were 70.4% in 1970, 56.3% in 2007).^[29]^[30] 19.5% of the population adheres to the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bavaria, and their number is declining too.^[29]^[30] Muslims make up 4.0% of the population of Bavaria.^[31] 24% of Bavarians are irreligious or adhere to other religions, and this number is increasing.

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 yellow pages, as figurettes on the pole represent the trades of the village), and the bagpipes in the Upper Palatinate region bear witness to the ancient Celtic and Germanic remnants of cultural heritage of the region. There are a lot of traditional Bavarian sports disciplines, e.g. the Aperschnalzen is an old tradition of competitive whipcracking.

Whether actually in Bavaria, overseas or full of citizens from other nations they continue to cultivate their traditions. They hold festivals and dances to keep their traditions alive. In New York the German American Cultural Society is a larger umbrella group for others such as the Bavarian organizations, which represent a specific part of Germany. They proudly put forth a German Parade called Steuben Parade each year. Various affiliated events take place amongst its groups, one of which is the Bavarian Dancers.

Food and drink[edit]

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 of the traditional Reinheitsgebot, or purity law, initially established by the Duke of Bavaria for the City of Munich (e.g. 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 recently as incompatible with the European common market. German breweries, however, cling to the principle, and Bavarian breweries still comply with it in order to distinguish their beer blend.^[32] Bavarians are also known as some of the world's most beer-loving people with an average annual consumption of 170 litres per person, although figures have been declining in recent years.

Bavaria is also home to the Franconia wine region, which is situated along the Main River 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[edit]

Upper German, southern counterpart to Central German, both forming the High German Languages. Blue are the Austro-Bavarian dialects

Three German dialects are spoken in Bavaria: Austro-Bavarian in Old Bavaria (South-East and East), Swabian German (an Alemannic German dialect) in the Bavarian part of Swabia (South West) and East Franconian German in Franconia (North). In the 20th century an increasing part of the population began to speak Standard German, mainly in the cities.

Ethnography[edit]

Bavarians consider themselves to be egalitarian and informal.^{[citation needed]} 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.^[33]

In the United States, particularly among German Americans, Bavarian culture is viewed somewhat nostalgically, and several "Bavarian villages" have been founded, most notably Frankenmuth, Michigan; Helen, Georgia; and Leavenworth, Washington. Since 1962, the latter has been styled with a Bavarian theme and is home to an Oktoberfest celebration it claims is among the most attended in the world outside of Munich.^[34]

Sports[edit]

The Allianz Arena

Football[edit]

Bavaria is home to several football clubs including FC Bayern Munich, 1. FC Nuremberg, FC Augsburg, TSV 1860 München, FC Ingolstadt 04 and SpVgg Greuther Fürth. Bayern Munich is the most popular and successful football team in Germany having won a record 25 German titles. They are followed by 1.FC Nuremberg who have won 9 titles. SpVgg Greuther Fürth have won 3 championships while TSV 1860 München have been champions once. FC Bayern won the 2013 UEFA Champions League final.