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Coat of arms of Bavaria.svg
Flag of Bavaria (lozengy).svg

Bavaria (/bəˈvɛəriə/ Bavarian and German: Bayern [ˈbaɪɐn]), officially the Free State of Bavaria (German: Freistaat Bayern [ˈfʁaɪʃtaːt ˈbaɪɐn]), is a landlocked federal state of Germany, occupying its southeastern corner. With an area of 70,550.19 square kilometres (27,200 sq mi), Bavaria is the largest German state by land area. Its territory comprises roughly a fifth of the total land area of Germany. With 12.9 million inhabitants, it is Germany's second-most-populous state (after North Rhine-Westphalia). Bavaria's capital and largest city, Munich, is the third largest city in Germany.

The history of Bavaria stretches from its earliest settlement and formation as a duchy in the 6th century CE (AD) through the Holy Roman Empire to becoming an independent kingdom and finally a state of the Federal Republic of Germany.

The Duchy of Bavaria dates back to the year 555. In the 17th century CE (AD), the Duke of Bavaria became a Prince-elector of the Holy Roman Empire. The Kingdom of Bavaria existed from 1806 to 1918, when Bavaria became a republic. In 1946, the Free State of Bavaria re-organised itself on democratic lines after the Second World War.

Bavaria has a unique culture, largely because of the state's Catholic majority (78.5%) and conservative traditions. Bavarians have traditionally been proud of their culture, which includes festivals such as Oktoberfest and elements of Alpine symbolism. The state also has the second largest economy among the German states by GDP figures, giving it a status as a rather wealthy German region.


Selected article


Weisswurst (German About this sound Weißwurst , literally white sausage) is a traditional Bavarian sausage made from very finely minced veal and fresh pork bacon. It is usually flavoured with parsley, also known as beiderl, lemon, mace, onions, ginger and cardamom, though there are some variations. The mixture is then stuffed into fresh, clean pork casings and separated into individual sausages about ten to twelve centimeters in length and about two centimeters in thickness.

Selected biography

Christian Morgenstern

Christian Morgenstern (May 6, 1871 in Munich– March 31, 1914 in Meran) was a German author and poet from Munich.

Morgenstern's poetry, much of which was inspired by English literary nonsense, is immensely popular, even though he enjoyed very little success during his lifetime. He made fun of scholasticism, e.g. literary criticism in "Drei Hasen", grammar in "Der Werwolf", narrow-mindedness in "Der Gaul", and symbolism in "Der Wasseresel". In "Scholastikerprobleme" he discussed how many angels could sit on a needle. Still many Germans know some of his poems and quotations by heart, e.g. the following line from "The Impossible Fact" ("Die unmögliche Tatsache", 1910):

For, he reasons pointedly / That which must not, can not be. (German: "Weil, so schließt er messerscharf / Nicht sein kann, was nicht sein darf.")

In the news

More Bavarian-related news in English can be found at Deutsche Welle, Tagesschau, Der Spiegel and The Munich Times.


  • Home is not where you live, but where they understand you.

Christian Morgenstern (poet)


Rainer Werner Fassbinder (film director)

  • Hopefully it won't be that bad than it is already.

Karl Valentin

Selected picture

Credit: Florian Schott

The maypole is a tall wooden pole (traditionally of maple (Acer), hawthorn or birch) erected to celebrate May Day or Midsummer. It may be a semi-permanent feature, standing in position year-round until it has to be repainted or replaced, or it may be a shorter, temporary structure.

Did you know?

Coat of arms of Bavaria.svg
  • ...that there is a Bavarian citizenship (as opposed to a German citizenship)? Actually, the Bavarian constitution (Bavaria has a separate constitution that exists alongside the German constitution) explicitly provides for it in articles 6 and 7. Specifically, you become a Bavarian citizen by birth, by marriage or by being naturalized.



Cities of Bavaria: MunichNurembergAugsburgWürzburgRegensburgIngolstadtFürthErlangenBayreuthBambergAschaffenburg

Regions of Bavaria: Lower BavariaLower FranconiaUpper FranconiaMiddle FranconiaUpper PalatinateSwabiaUpper Bavaria

Politics of Bavaria: List of Ministers-President of BavariaBavarian state election, 2008Landtag of Bavaria

Economy of Bavaria: BMWSiemensAudiAllianzAdidasMAN

History of Bavaria: List of Ministers-President of BavariaAgilolfingsKingdom of BavariaHouse of WittelsbachBavarian Council Republic

Symbols: Coat of arms of BavariaFlag of BavariaBayernhymneBavaria statueCoat of arms of MunichMünchner Kindl

Original languages: Austro-Bavarian (boarisch)SwabianLow AlemannicEast Franconian

Culture: Paganism in the Eastern AlpsLederhosenDirndlMaibaumOktoberfestHofbräuhaus am PlatzlAcademy of Fine Arts, MunichDer Blaue ReiterBavarian National MuseumPinakothek der ModerneNeue PinakothekAlte Pinakothek

The Zugspitze massif from the northeast

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Germany state portals


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Things to do

Things you can do
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  • Help assess articles supported by WikiProject Bavaria
  • Write Bavarian topics if you see a redlink which is worthy of an article
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Wikipedia in Bavarian languages

Austro-Bavarian Alemannic
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Boarische Wikipedia Alemannische Wikipedia


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