29 Facts About Bavaria

Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a state in the south-east of Germany.

Bavaria has a unique culture, largely because of the state's Catholic heritage and conservative traditions.

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

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

Odilo issued a law code for Bavaria, completed the process of church organization in partnership with St Boniface, and tried to intervene in Frankish succession disputes by fighting for the claims of the Carolingian Grifo.

Related searches

Bavaria was defeated near Augsburg in 743 but continued to rule until his death in 748.

Bavaria initially ruled under Frankish oversight but began to function independently from 763 onward.

Bavaria 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.

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 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.

In return Bavaria was allowed to annex the modern-day region of Palatinate to the west of the Rhine and Franconia in 1815.

Bavaria continued formally as a monarchy, and it had some special rights within the federation but the diplomatic body were later undone by Wilhelm II who declared them illegal and got rid of the diplomatic service.

In 1949, the Free State of Bavaria chose not to sign the Founding Treaty for the formation of the Federal Republic of Germany, opposing the division of Germany into two countries after World War II.

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.

Major cities in Bavaria are Munich, Nuremberg, Augsburg, Regensburg, Wurzburg, Ingolstadt, Furth, and Erlangen.

Bavaria is divided into seven administrative regions called .

The in Bavaria are territorially identical with the, but they are self-governing regional corporation, having their own parliaments.

Bavaria has a multiparty system dominated by the conservative Christian Social Union, which has won every election since 1945 with the exception of the 1950 ballot.

Until December 1999, there was a, or Senate, whose members were chosen by social and economic groups in Bavaria, but following a referendum in 1998, this institution was abolished.

In 1995 Bavaria introduced direct democracy on the local level in a referendum.

Nevertheless, Bavaria has the most advanced regulations on local direct democracy in Germany.

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".

Bavaria has long had one of the largest economies of any region in Germany, and in Europe.

Bavaria has strong economic ties with Austria, Czechia, Switzerland, and Northern Italy.

Bavaria has the best developed industry in Germany and the lowest unemployment rate with 2.

Related searches

Foreign nationals resident in Bavaria were principally from other EU countries and Turkey.

Bavaria is home to the Franconia wine region, which is situated along the river Main in Franconia.

Bavaria is home to several football clubs including FC Bayern Munich, 1.

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