Bavaria is the land of lakes, mountains and rivers. For seven centuries, it was a free state, and today it is an integral part of Germany. Bavaria retained its medieval status, but for the last hundred years it has not given it any privileges.
About the first inhabitants of Bavaria
Today, large industrial cities are located on its territory, and once hunters and shepherds lived. Costumes of the Bavarian highlanders can be seen during public holidays in Germany. The land of Bavaria is fraught with many wonderful and terrible legends about the inhabitants of the local caves, about the enchanted Friedrich Barbarossa, who sat for several centuries in a dark grotto, on a throne made of real ivory. In the XII-XV centuries, the Bavarians were naive, superstitious people, however, like all medieval people.
The picturesque land of mountains and ponds
Bavaria occupies a vast territory; Franconian forests, Alpine mountains, Fichtelsbirge lie on it. There are many lakes and rivers, among them the Danube, sung by German and Russian poets. There are more than one and a half thousand reservoirs in total. Bavaria borders with the lands of Baden-Württemberg, Thuringia, Hesse, as well as Austria and the Czech Republic.
Middle Ages
The first inhabitants of the lands that today occupy the Bavarian cities were the Celts. Among them were Etruscans. For some time the territory belonged to the Italian royal dynasty. The real story of Bavaria begins with the reign of the Duke of Wittelbach, a representative of the dynasty, which is described in more detail below.
New time
After the Austro-Prussian war, in which Bavaria entered, part of its lands, according to a previously concluded treaty, passed to the Germans. In addition, the kingdom, namely such a status then had this territory, was in political isolation. The situation has changed for the better after the Franco-Prussian war, in which Bavaria also participated. King Ludwig entered into an agreement with the German monarch Wilhelm.
In 1871, a new German state appeared on the map of Europe, which included Bavaria. Half a century later, the man who unleashed the Second World War in 1939, tried to organize an uprising in Munich, which went down in history under the term "Beer putsch." In the 40s, the largest Bavarian cities suffered from the bombing.
Population
In Bavaria, in addition to the Bavarians, Franconians and Swabians live. Here you can hear a speech that differs significantly from the literary German language. It is difficult for a resident of Berlin to understand a person speaking in Swabian dialect.
According to 2015, more than 12 million people live in Bavaria. After the Second World War, refugees living in the former German territories were added to the indigenous inhabitants. Several thousand Sudeten Germans arrived here from the Czech border regions in the 1950s.
Cities
Speaking about the history of the federal state of Bavaria, you can not keep silent about such cities as Nuremberg and Munich. They began their development in the Middle Ages, at one time recovering from the horrors of the Thirty Years War. The events that took place in Nuremberg and Munich during the Second World War also have much in common. But before giving some facts from history, it is worth mentioning other Bavarian cities, whose population exceeds 50 thousand people. Among them: Augsburg, Inoglstadt, Regensburg, Würzburg, Erlangen, Fuerth, Bamberg, Landshut.
Munich
This city is the capital of this federal state of Germany. Bavaria covers an area of 70 thousand km 2 . Munich - 300 km 2 . About three million tourists come to the Bavarian capital every year, and many of them would like to stay here forever. This city, the largest in the federal state of Bavaria, has more than a million inhabitants. They say that it is very difficult not to envy them. What makes this burgher city attractive?
Munich is the cultural center of the federal state of Bavaria. It is surrounded by lakes Starnberger and Ammersee. This is a very welcoming, hospitable city, rich in architectural monuments, attracting tourists from all over the world. The capital of the earth, Bavaria, is able to interest everyone. Munich is called the "kingdom of beer and baroque," the "metropolis with a gentle heart." There are many more epithets that are used when it comes to this ancient city.
It is known that at the beginning of the XII century, monks lived on the territory of Munich. Hence the name of the city. Then, in the distant medieval times, it was called Munich, which in translation from the Old German language means "located near the monastery." Officially, the date of foundation is considered to be the 1158th. It was then that the monastic fortress turned into a city. Among the sights of Munich are the church and the obelisk, built on the site of the Wittelsbach dwelling - representatives of the aristocratic dynasty, thanks to which the city once acquired significance in the European expanses.
Bavaria is the land that Wittelsbach owned for seven centuries. Only in 1918 did it become part of Germany (then the Weimar Republic). The deeds of one of the bearers of this legendary family are reminded of the Isar Gate located in the east of Munich. The inscriptions on the towers of this medieval building speak about the life of Ludwig of Bavaria. Not far from the gate is the Museum of Valentine, which works according to a rather strange schedule: opens at 11:01, closes at 17:29.
The Old Courtyard is one of the main attractions of Munich. The castle on its territory was built in 1255, and from time to time the ruler of the Holy Roman Empire lived in it. In the restored Old Courtyard, local financiers live today, which, however, only have rooms at their disposal. The courtyard itself has long been recognized as a monument of ancient architecture and is accessible for tourists.
In the fall of 1810, the Munichers got the opportunity to take part in a magnificent celebration, organized on the occasion of the wedding of Ludwig with Princess Theresa. This event was held at Theresienwiese (the name came later), and it was it that served as the basis for the famous Oktoberfest, which is held annually in the capital of Bavaria.
Adolf Hitler began his political career in Munich. Today in this city nothing reminds of the greatest criminal of the 20th century. True, something still remains from Hitler's time. For example, the house where the body of the Fuhrer’s niece was found is Geli Raubal. It is a beautiful four-story building with an attic and loggias. Burgerbroikeller, where Hitler hatched a plan for the organization of the Beer Coup, lasted until 1979.
Nuremberg
The history of the city begins with the appearance in the Frankish kingdom of a village called Norimberg. Already in the Middle Ages, it became one of the largest German settlements. There was a brisk trade in the southern countries with the northern, eastern with the western. However, Nuremberg not only traded, but also produced. It was here that a pocket watch, clarinet, lathe, and thimble were invented. In Nuremberg, they made a globe on which America was not yet.
In the architecture of the city there are works of both Gothic and Renaissance. The historic buildings of Nuremberg include the Border outpost, the House of the Golden Bull, the House of Petraeus, the Jury.