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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