Bavaria
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Regional Research > Germany, after 1989 > Bavaria
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[edit] Introduction
The Free State of Bavaria (Freistaat Bayern) is one of the 16 Federal States (Bundesländer) of Germany and is located in the south.
[edit] Coat of Arms
The Bavarian State coat of arms (small version) consists of white (silver) and blue lozenges leaning to the right of the shield upon which rests the people's crown. The people's crown, which appeared in the coat of arms in 1923 for the first time, represents the sovereignty of the people after the collapse of the royal crown. Today there are two versions of the State coat of arms:
Great Bavarian State coat of arms (grosses bayerisches Staatswappen), not shown here.
Small Bavarian State coat of arms (kleines bayerisches Staatswappen), see above.
[edit] National Colors
The national colors of Bavaria are white (silver) and blue.
[edit] General Information
The Free State of Bavaria (Freistaat Bayern) is located in the south of Germany and in the middle of Europe. Territory-wise its Germany's largest federal state (Bundesland). Its surrounded in the west and north-west by the German federal states Baden-Württemberg, Hesse (Hessen), in the east by Thuringia (Thüringen) and Saxony (Sachsen). In the east it shares borders with the Czech Republic, in the south with Austria.
Why is Bavaria also called a Free State (Freistaat Bayern)?
| Capital: | München |
| Area: | 70,549 qkm |
| Inhabitants: | 12,3 Mio. |
| Administrative Districts:   | 7 |
| Counties: | 71 |
| Independent Cities: | 25 |
| Municipalities: | 2,056 |
(Data: 08/2004)
[edit] Political Structure
[edit] Administrative Districts
Today Bavaria is subdivided into 7 Administrative Districts called Regierungsbezirke:
- Mittelfranken (Middle Franconia)
- Oberfranken (Upper Franconia)
- Unterfranken (Lower Franconia)
- Oberbayern (Upper Bavaria)
- Niederbayern (Lower Bavaria)
- Oberpfalz (Upper Palatinate)
- Schwaben (Swabia)
[edit] Counties and Independent Cities
The 7 Bavarian administrative districts consist of 71 counties (Landkreise) and 25 independent cities (Kreisfreie Stadt) and 2,056 municipalities (Gemeinden). Additionally there are 26 so-called Groß Kreisstädte (a special status) and 314 Verwaltungsgemeinschaften (administrative associations of municipalities).
Bavaria's current administrative structure:
[edit] Structure before 1972/78
In 1972 and 1978 Bavaria had a major re-organization of the administrative system; a County-reform (Landkreisreform) and the Municipality-reform (Gemeindereform). Aim was to downsize the number of existing administrative counties (Landkreise) and municipalities (Gemeinden). Following this, many formerly independent places and municipalities became part of another municipality (and sometimes with this even became part of another county). Also some formerly existing counties were combined and the old county names ceased to exist. In some areas places even changed the Administrative District (Regierungsbezirk) they belonged too.
| Bayern | 2005 | after 1972/78 | before 1972 | in 1817 (Kingdom of Bavaria) |
| Administrative Districts: | 7 | 7 | 7 | different structure (**)see here |
| Counties: | 71 | 71 | 143 | different structure |
| Municipalities: | 2,056 | 4,406 | 7,004 | over 40,000 |
[edit] Church Structure
Bavaria's population is to 67,2 % Roman-Catholic (römisch-katholisch), to 23,9 % protestant (evangelisch-lutherisch), with 3,8% others religions (andere Konfessionen), according to data from 1987.
Due to historically reasons the old-Bavarian areas called Altbayern:
Upper Bavaria, Lower Bavaria, Upper Palatinate are mainly Roman-Catholic, while e.g. Middle Franconia is primarily protestant as well as large parts of Upper Franconia.
[edit] Evangelical-Lutheran
Today the Ev.-Luth. Kirche in Bayern (Evangelical-Lutheran Church of Bavaria) has ca. 2,75 mio. members and is organized in 6 Kirchenkreise (church districts), ca. 68 Dekanate (deaneries) and 1,531 Kirchengemeinden (parishes).
- Evangelical-Lutheran Church of Bavaria Names and list of church districts, deaneries
- Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche in Bayern Homepage, Evangelical-Lutheran Church of Bavaria
Church book archive info see either:
- Bavaria Archives#Ecclesiastical Archives in Bavaria
- or the respective enGenWiki page of the Bavarian administrative district, county or place
[edit] Evangelical-Reformed
- Evangelisch-Reformierte Kirche in Bayern (Evangelical-Reformed Church of Bavaria), Homepage
- Territories and history of the Evangelisch-Reformierte Kirche in Bayern (Evangelical-Reformed Church of Bavaria), in German only
[edit] Roman-Catholic
Today the Röm.-Kath. in Bayern (Roman-Catholic Church of Bavaria) has ca. 7 mio. members and is organized in 7 dioceses (Bistümer). Information and addresses of all current day catholic parishes:
- Römisch-Katholische Kirche in Bayern Roman Catholic church of Bavaria
- Röm.-Kath. Bistümer in Bayern Roman Catholic dioceses in Bavaria
- Röm.-Kath. Kirchengemeinden in Bayern per Ortssuche Search function: Roman Catholic parishes via place search (in Bavaria)
Church book archive info see either:
- Bavaria Archives#Ecclesiastical Archives in Bavaria
- or the respective enGenWiki page of the Bavarian administrative district, county or place
[edit] Jewish Communities
[edit] History
- History of Bavaria Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- Bavaria: Political Science, Economy and History Cyclopaedia, published 1899
- History of Bavaria, 1799-1815 (WHKMLA)
- History of Bavaria, 1815-1849 (WHKMLA)
- History of Bavaria, 1849-1871 (WHKMLA)
- Political history of Bavaria inGerman only, Politische Geschichte Bayerns, 5. Jhr. bis heute
- HDBG - Haus der Bayerischen Geschichte, HDBG - House of the Bavarian History
[edit] Historical Political Structure
Historical territories of Bavaria:
Historically Bavaria is one of the oldest German states. It dates back to about 500 A.D. and in the 6th century a Bavarian Duchy arose at the foothills of the Bavarian Alps. From 1180 until 1918 Bavaria was ruled by the House of Wittelsbach (Wittelsbach Dynastie), with inbetween changing territories.
Franconia (Franken) and Swabia (Schwaben) became part of the Kingdom of Bavaria only after 1806. The territory that is nowadays known as Franconia consisted a long time of many separate, former sovereign states, numerous ecclesiastical holdings and secular territories. For example, the Margravates (Principalities) Brandenburg-Ansbach and Brandenburg-(Kulmbach)-Bayreuth, also called: Principality beyond Gebürgs and Principality above Gebürgs were territories of the Franconian House of Hohenzollern. The situation in Swabia was similar.
| Before 1623 | Duchy of Bavaria (Herzogtum Bayern) |
| 1623 | Electorate of Bavaria, after 1628 incl. Upper Palatinate (Oberpfalz) |
| 1777 | Electorate Bavaria (Kurfürstentum Bayern), incl. Upper Palatinate (Oberpfalz) and Kurpfalz, incl. Duchies of Neuburg, Sulzbach, Jülich, Berg and Duchy Pfalz-Zweibrücken; |
| 1803 | Kurpfalzbayern |
| 1806 | Kingdom of Bavaria (Königreich Bayern), now incl. territories of Franconia (Franken) and Swabia (Schwaben) |
| 1810 | territory of the Kingdom changed, (without Palatinate Pfalz) |
| 1816 | territory of the Kingdom changed, (now again incl. Palatinate Pfalz) |
| 1918, November 8 | Free State of Bavaria (Freistaat Bayern). Abolishment of the monarchy. |
| 1919, April 4 | Räterepublik Baiern |
| 1946, December 2 | Free State of Bavaria (a Federal State of Federal Republic of Germany) |
| Maps, Territory development of Bavaria, 1777-1997, (Gebietsentwicklung Bayerns von 1777-1997, HDBG) | |
[edit] Administrative Organization
[edit] Bibliography
[edit] Genealogical Literature
[edit] Historical Literature
[edit] Gazetteers and Maps
[edit] Gazetteers
- Bavaria Gazetteers How to find a place in Bavaria ?
[edit] Maps
- Bavaria Maps Overview of helpful Links to maps for genealogist.
- Franconia Maps - 850 until today
[edit] Archives and Libraries
[edit] Archives
- Bavaria Archives How to find an archive in Bavaria ?
[edit] Libraries
- Bay. Landesgeschichtliche Zeitschriftenschau Bay. Staatsbibliothek (Bavarian State Library)
- Bayerische Bibliographie, BVB - BibliotheksVerbund Bayern Bavarian Bibliographie, Library association of Bavaria, in German
- Virtual Library Geschichte: Landes- und Regionalgeschichte
- The History Journals Guide, navigation in English
- WWWVL The World Wide Virtual Library: History Index
- Virtual Library: History: German History
[edit] Miscellaneous
[edit] Ethnology and Local History
[edit] Ethnology
Historically Bavaria has 3 tribes (Stämme) and since the end of WW2 an additional so-called Fourth Tribe:
The Old Bavarians (die Altbayern)
They live in the administrative districts of Upper Bavaria, Lower Bavaria and the Upper Palatinate. With ca. 6,3 million the Altbayern constitute over half of the population of Bavaria.
The Franks (die Franken)
The tribe of the ca. 4,1 million Franken lives in the administrative districts of Middle Franconia, Upper Franconia and Lower Franconia, these areas have become part of the Bavarian State only in the early 19th century.
The Swabians (die Schwaben)
The tribe of nowadays ca. 1,7 million Schwaben lives in the administrative district of Swabia, they have also joined the Bavarian State only in the early 19th century.
The Fourth Tribe (die Sudetendeutschen)
A fourth ethnic group, the so-called Sudeten Germans (e.g. German Bohemians), who constituted the largest number of evicted people that made Bavaria their home after 1945, have joined the other three tribes. After WW2 the Sudeten Germans (as millions of other people from Eastern Europe) were forcefully evicted from their homelands of many centuries (e.g. Bohemia, Moravia, Silesia). The Free State of Bavaria took in totally ca. 1,9 million evicted people (German Bohemian over 1,0 million) and took them under its protection. At that time this constituted ca. 21 % of the total population of Bavaria. The Bavarian State Government regards the Sudeten Germans as one of the ethnic tribes of Bavaria, reads the Certificate of Investiture of Nov 5, 1962.
More information, see: The integration of the refugees and evicted people in Bavaria after 1945 (in German)
An online exhibition of the HDBG - Haus der Bayerischen Geschichte (House of the Bavarian History) - with many charts, maps and pictures.
[edit] Emigration
- Good Bye Bayern - Grüß Gott America Emigration from Bavaria to America since 1683 (in English).
An online exhibition of the HDBG - Haus der Bayerischen Geschichte (House of the Bavarian History). Contains many information around the topic emigration from Bavaria, e.g. preparation, farewell, departure, journey, passengers and ships, arrival etc. - Franken (Franconia) Literature#Genealogical Literature, Emigration
[edit] Regional Food
[edit] Regional Landscapes
Bavaria has four main regional landscapes (Landschaften):
- Bayerische Alpen
- Alpenvorland
- Ostbayerisches Mittelgebirge
- Schwäbisch-fränkisches Schichtstufenland
- General information about these regional landscapes (in English)
- Franken (Franconia)#Miscellaneous, Regional Landscapes
[edit] Internet Links
[edit] Official Websites
[edit] Genealogical Websites
- Bavaria GenWeb Homepage
- Bavaria - FAQ
- Bavarian Surnames Index
- FOKO - FAQ in English, Database of researched surnames and researchers contact/address data
- FOKO Database direct Link
- Ollig Archiv - Totenzettel / Sterbebilder Collection of special forms of Bavarian obituaries
Click on left side on Totenzettel / Sterbezettel, see: alphabetisch sortierte Liste der Familiennamen (alphabetical sorted list of surnames). This online available collection contains currentyl over 20,000 persons with ca. 7,721 surnames. The main part of the collection comes from the Bavarian area. Available data: Familien- und Geburtsname (family or birth surname), additionally if available, Geburts- und Sterbedatum und Ort (birth/death date and place), Beruf (occupation), Ort der Bestattung (place of burial), Name und Ort der Druckerei (name and place of the company who printed the Sterbebilder).
[edit] Genealogical Mailinglists
- RootsWeb Germany Mailing Lists Overview, see Bavaria related lists
[edit] Miscellaneous Websites
- Bavaria of the English Wikipedia
| Administrative Districts in the Federal State Bavaria |
|
Mittelfranken (Middle Franconia) |
Niederbayern (Lower Bavaria) |
Oberbayern (Upper Bavaria) |
Oberfranken (Upper Franconia) | |
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