70 Fun Facts About Bavaria

Bavarian culture is heavily shaped by which religious heritage?

The Counter-Reformation was centred here, and resentment of Protestant Prussia fed a strong separate identity after 1871.

By area, where does Bavaria rank among Germany's 16 states?

At 70,550 square kilometres it is comfortably ahead of Lower Saxony.

Bavaria's official name uses which title?

Saxony and Thuringia use the same designation; it dates from the fall of the monarchy in 1918.

In the first century AD the territory of Bavaria was incorporated into which Roman provinces?

Augsburg began as a Roman camp built between 8 and 5 BC and became the capital of Raetia.

The Duchy of Bavaria was created within Francia in which year?

The Agilolfing house ruled it until Charlemagne deposed Duke Tassilo III in 788.

Which family ruled Bavaria for 738 years, from 1180 to 1918?

They received the duchy as a fief after Emperor Frederick Barbarossa deposed Henry the Lion.

Which duke, deposed by his cousin Barbarossa in 1180, is credited with founding Munich?

He founded the town to control the salt trade after burning down nearby Föhring and its bridges over the Isar.

What does 'zu den Munchen', the Old High German name behind Munich, mean?

The first written record of the town dates from 1158, but 11th-century pottery dug up near Marienplatz shows it is older.

Munich lies on which river?

The city sits north of the Alps and is Germany's third largest after Berlin and Hamburg.

Bavaria gained the status of prince-elector in the Holy Roman Empire in 1623, during which war?

The Bavarian duke took over the electoral vote of his relative the Elector Palatine.

Bavaria became a kingdom in which year, as the Holy Roman Empire collapsed under Napoleon?

Elector Maximilian IV Joseph was crowned king and Bavaria joined the Confederation of the Rhine.

In the German Empire founded in 1871, Bavaria ranked second in size, power and wealth behind which state?

Many Bavarians resented being ruled by mostly Protestant northerners.

Which socialist proclaimed the People's State of Bavaria on 8 November 1918, toppling the first German monarchy?

He was assassinated in February 1919 after losing an election, and a short-lived Bavarian Soviet Republic followed that April.

The Nazis' failed Beer Hall Putsch in Munich took place in which year?

Munich and Nuremberg came to be seen as strongholds of Nazism during the Weimar and Nazi years.

In 1949 the Bavarian parliament voted against adopting Germany's Basic Law. Why?

Bavaria said it would accept the constitution anyway if two-thirds of the other states ratified it, and joined the Federal Republic.

Which conservative party, founded in 1945, is the CDU's Bavarian 'sister party'?

Its representatives have held the post of Minister-President continuously since 1957; Markus Söder took office in 2018.

Which CSU leader ran the party 1961–88 and was Bavaria's Minister-President for a decade?

Munich's airport now carries his name.

Modern Bavaria consists of Altbayern ('Old Bavaria') plus parts of which two historical regions?

Both have their own dialects and cultures; three of Bavaria's seven administrative regions are Franconian.

How many administrative regions (Regierungsbezirke) does Bavaria have?

Three lie in Franconia, three in Old Bavaria and one in Swabia.

The Bavarian flag comes in two official forms, one striped and one covered in what?

Both patterns are tied to the Wittelsbach family; users are free to choose either.

The golden lion in the first quarter of Bavaria's coat of arms represents which administrative region?

It is identical to the arms of the old Electorate of the Palatinate; the red-and-white 'Franconian Rake' stands for the three Franconian regions.

The Bavarian dialect, spoken in Bavaria, most of Austria and South Tyrol, has roughly how many speakers?

That makes it the largest of all German dialects; in 2008, 45 percent of Bavarians said they used only dialect in everyday life.

Germany's highest mountain, on the Austrian border south of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, is called what?

It rises to 2,962 metres and was first climbed in August 1820 by surveyor Josef Naus and two companions.

How tall is Germany's highest mountain?

Three cable cars run to the summit, and three normal climbing routes reach it.

Ludwig II of Bavaria, who built Neuschwanstein, was known by which nickname?

He was also called the Swan King, and was a devoted patron of Richard Wagner.

What happened to Ludwig II on 13 June 1886, the day after he was declared insane and deposed?

The bodies were found in Lake Starnberg near Berg Castle; the insanity finding is now questioned.

In 1867 Ludwig II was briefly engaged to Sophie Charlotte, younger sister of which royal?

Elisabeth, known as Sisi, was his eccentric cousin and lifelong friend.

How did Ludwig II pay for Neuschwanstein?

The Neo-Romanesque castle was built from 1869 to plans by Eduard Riedel, and it was opened to paying visitors within six weeks of his death.

Roughly how many people visit Neuschwanstein each year?

Summer days can bring 6,000 visitors; since 2025 it has been part of a UNESCO World Heritage listing of Ludwig's palaces.

Ludwig II's Herrenchiemsee palace, on an island in the Chiemsee, was modelled on which building?

He bought the island, formerly an Augustinian monastery, in 1873 and started building in 1878.

Which of Ludwig II's three palaces was the smallest and the only one actually completed?

He lived there most of the time from 1876, and had himself rowed round an artificial grotto lake while musicians played Wagner.

The first Oktoberfest, on 12 October 1810, celebrated what event?

Crown Prince Ludwig married Princess Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen; the festival ground is still called the Theresienwiese after her.

Oktoberfest is held on which Munich fairground?

It runs from mid-September to the first Sunday in October and is the world's largest Volksfest.

The famous Bavarian beer purity law, the Reinheitsgebot, was adopted across Bavaria in which year?

Its most influential predecessor was a Munich law of 1487; the whole duchy adopted the rule on 23 April 1516.

Which three ingredients did the 1516 Bavarian beer law permit?

Yeast went unmentioned even though brewers knowingly used it at the time.

Traditional Bavarian Weisswurst is made mainly from what?

It is eaten with sweet mustard, a pretzel and wheat beer, and by tradition should not hear the church bells strike noon.

By tradition, Weisswurst should be eaten before what?

The 'Weisswurst equator' is a humorous line dividing Bavaria's sausage culture from the rest of Germany.

Munich's Hofbräuhaus am Platzl was built in 1589 to extend a brewery founded by which duke?

He found Munich's beer so bad that he had been importing it from Saxony.

Nuremberg is the largest city of which cultural region of northern Bavaria?

It was also the home of Albrecht Dürer, Hans Sachs and Johann Pachelbel, and later of the Nazi rallies and postwar trials.

How many leading Nazi defendants did the Nuremberg tribunal try in 1945-46?

Six German organisations were also in the dock; the four convening powers were France, the USSR, the UK and the US.

By what name was Regensburg, a UNESCO site since 2006, historically known in English?

It sits at the northernmost point of the Danube and hosted the Perpetual Diet of the Holy Roman Empire.

Passau is nicknamed the 'City of Three Rivers'. Besides the Danube, which two rivers meet there?

Its diocese, founded by the English missionary Boniface in 739, was for years the largest in the German kingdom.

Augsburg, founded by the Romans in 15 BC, is named after whom?

Its Roman name was Augusta Vindelicorum, and it is one of Germany's oldest cities.

Augsburg was home to which two families that dominated 16th-century European banking?

Jakob Fugger founded the Fuggerei social housing complex there in 1513, and it is still in use.

Which Franconian town on seven hills, a UNESCO site since 1993, has around 2,400 timber houses in its old town?

Emperor Henry II built its cathedral, consecrated in 1012, and is buried there with his wife Kunigunde.

Würzburg's UNESCO-listed Residenz palace stands on which river?

The city is the centre of Franconian wine country and the second-largest city in Franconia.

Rothenburg ob der Tauber lies on which tourist route through southern Germany?

Its name means 'Red castle above the Tauber', after its position on a plateau over the river.

Germany's first national park, established in 1970, lies in which forested region on the Czech border?

With the Bohemian Forest across the Czech border it forms Central Europe's largest contiguous forest.

Only electric boats, rowing boats and pedal boats have been allowed on which Bavarian lake since 1909?

It is advertised as Germany's cleanest lake, and its sheer rock walls produce a famously clear echo.

Berchtesgaden National Park, created in 1978, is dominated by which massif west of its central lake?

It reaches 2,713 metres; the Hochkalter lies beyond the Wimbachtal valley.

Munich hosted the Summer Olympics in which year?

Two years later the city also staged the FIFA World Cup final.

FC Bayern Munich was founded in 1900 by eleven players led by whom?

The club has since won a record number of German titles and six European Cups.

Under whose captaincy did Bayern Munich win the European Cup three years running from 1974 to 1976?

They completed the Treble in 2020, becoming only the second European club to do it twice.

Bayern's Allianz Arena, opened in 2005, was the first stadium in the world to have what?

Its skin of inflated ETFE plastic panels can glow red or white; it holds 75,000 for league games.

Which carmaker, whose initials mean 'Bavarian Motor Works', is headquartered in Munich?

The name came into use in 1917 when Rapp Motorenwerke was renamed; it also owns Mini and Rolls-Royce.

Audi is headquartered in which Bavarian city on the Danube?

Its four rings recall the 1932 merger of Horch, Audi, DKW and Wanderer into Auto Union.

Adidas and Puma, founded by the feuding Dassler brothers, are headquartered in which Franconian town?

The brothers split their shoe company in 1948; Rudolf started Puma and Adi styled his firm adidas from 1949.

Munich-born composer Richard Strauss was the grandson of a prosperous brewer from which family?

His father Franz was principal horn at the Munich Court Opera; Richard began piano at four.

Lebkuchen, the honey-sweetened Christmas cakes, were invented in the 13th century by whom?

The name may come from Leb-Honig, the solid crystallised honey from the hive that was good for little except baking.

The lederhosen worn in Bavaria may include one uniquely Bavarian invention. Which?

Leather breeches were once worn by riders and hunters all over Europe, not just in the Alps.

The Danube, which crosses Bavaria via Regensburg and Passau, rises in which German region?

It begins at Donaueschingen where the Brigach and Breg meet, and is Europe's second-longest river after the Volga.

The Rhine–Main–Danube Canal joins the Danube at Kelheim with the Main at which Bavarian city?

The link connects the Black Sea with the North Sea.

Roughly how many people live in Bavaria?

Munich alone has about 1.5 million residents, and eight of Germany's 80 largest cities lie within the state.

Which pope was born in Marktl am Inn in Upper Bavaria?

Joseph Ratzinger also served as Cardinal-Archbishop of Munich and Freising before his election in 2005.

Bavaria's border with Switzerland runs across which body of water?

The frontier faces the Canton of St. Gallen; Bavaria's other foreign neighbours are Austria and the Czech Republic.

In the Middle Ages, what practical purpose did a Bavarian village's Maibaum (maypole) serve?

Figures on the pole represented the trades of the village. Along with Upper Palatinate bagpipes, it survives as a trace of Celtic and Germanic heritage.

The Franconia wine region along the Main is famous for using which distinctively shaped bottle?

Frankenwein has been produced for more than 1,000 years, and many Franconian villages hold their own wine festivals through the year.

Which minister modernised Bavaria on the Napoleonic French model between 1799 and 1817?

His centralised administrative structures outlived the monarchy, and parts of them remain valid into the 21st century.

Until its abolition after a 1998 referendum, what second chamber did Bavaria's legislature have?

Its members were chosen by social and economic groups rather than voters; the Landtag has been unicameral since December 1999.

The Bavarian Soviet Republic of 1919 was crushed by the army and which paramilitary units?

It had been proclaimed on 6 April 1919 after Kurt Eisner's assassination, and fell in May; the Bamberg Constitution followed that August.