BAVARIA. – A historic region of southern Germany that extends northward from the foothills of the Outer Prealps (Swiss, Bavarian, and Salzburg Alps) beyond the Danube to the Rhön Mountains and the Thuringian Forest; it is bounded to the west by the Iller River, the Franconian Heights, and the Spessart, and to the east by the Salzach, the Inn, the Bohemian Forest, and the Fichtelgebirge. To this core of Bavaria is added, on the left bank of the Rhine, the so-called Bavarian Palatinate (Pfalz), territorially separated from Bavaria by Baden and Hesse. This historical unit itself comprises several distinct natural regions, which correspond, at least broadly, to smaller historical subregions.
The climate becomes increasingly continental and relatively dry toward the east (along the middle Danube), growing naturally harsher in the mountainous zones and on the Swabian-Bavarian plateau, which generally lies above 500 meters. Munich (525 meters above sea level) has an average annual temperature of 7.9°C, ranging from -2.1°C in January to 17.7°C in July.
In 1939, Bavaria covered an area of 76,089 km², of which 5,492 km² belonged to the Rhenish Palatinate, 27,420 km² to Bavaria proper, 23,554 km² to Franconia, and 9,666 km² to Swabia.
At the same date, its population was approximately 7,800,000 (102 per km²). After Germany’s defeat, Bavaria—excluding the Rhenish Palatinate, which lay entirely within the American occupation zone (70,238 km²)—had a population of 9,029,000 (129 per km²). Of these, the vast majority (70% in 1933) were Catholic, while less than one-third (29% at the same date) were Evangelical Christians.
Bavaria is essentially an agricultural and forestry region. Forty percent of its population is engaged in farming (which covers 49% of its territory) and forestry (22%). Agricultural production (cereals, potatoes, hops; wine in the Rhenish Palatinate and along the lower Main) exceeds domestic demand.
Pastures and meadows, which occupy 24% of the territory, are especially widespread in the Alpine zone, where livestock farming (cattle) thrives. Industry (33% of the population), though comparatively less developed than in Germany as a whole, once encompassed a diverse and substantial range of activities (breweries, textiles, mechanical engineering, chemicals, toys), concentrated in numerous urban centers. The three largest of these correspond to the historical and administrative hubs of the main regions: Munich (760,000 inhabitants) in Upper Bavaria, at the intersection of major international trade routes (Berlin–Rome and Paris–Vienna–Constantinople); Nuremberg (322,000 in 1947; 430,000 in 1939) in Franconia, an important industrial and commercial center in the Middle Ages; and Augsburg (Augusta Vindelicorum; 168,000 in 1947; 186,000 in 1939) in Swabia, one of southern Germany’s most significant industrial centers. Other notable cities include Würzburg in Lower Franconia (107,000), Ludwigshafen on the Rhine (144,000), the capital of Germany’s chemical industry, Regensburg (Ratisbona; 118,000) in Upper Palatinate, and Fürth (80,000) near Nuremberg.
I. ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY.
In the Roman provinces of Raetia and Noricum, inhabited by Celtic tribes, Christianity spread alongside Latin culture, and by the late 3rd and early 4th centuries martyrs such as St. Afra in Augsburg, St. Florian (Lorch on the Enns), and St. Maximilian (Cilli) appeared. Bishops from this region attended the Synod of Serdica (343). In the 5th century, as Roman rule waned, St. Severinus (d. 482) preached the Christian faith for 30 years. From his biography by Eugippius, it is clear that an organized Church already existed, and at this time the episcopal sees of Lauriacum (Lorch), Tiburnia (Sankt Peter im Holz), Petavium (Pettau), Augusta Vindelicorum (Augsburg), and Sabiona (Säben) date from. Most of the territory fell under the metropolitan jurisdiction of Aquileia, with a smaller portion under Milan.
After the Bavarian invasions, the first historically attested duke was Garibald I (560–90) of the Agilolfing dynasty, who had converted to Christianity. Irish missionaries first, and later Frankish ones, contributed to the Christianization of the land. From Luxeuil came St. Eustasius (d. 629) and St. Agilus (d. 650), who founded the monastery of Weltenburg. The saintly bishops Emmeram (d. 652), Rupert (d. 718), and Corbinian (670–732) established churches and monasteries in Regensburg, Salzburg, and Freising. Duke Theodo II (690–717) sought to organize the Bavarian Church and traveled to Rome in this regard to consult Gregory II (716). The plan of this duke—to establish four dioceses (Passau, Regensburg, Salzburg, Freising)—was realized in 739 by St. Boniface (v.), who in 741 also founded the dioceses of Eichstätt and Würzburg.
The prominent role thus assumed by the Church is also reflected in Bavarian law (codified in the *Lex Baiuvariorum* between 730 and 740), which grants it extensive privileges. Church discipline was regulated by the Synods of Ascheim (756) and Dingolfing (774). Among the numerous collegiate churches and monasteries founded at this time are those that became celebrated throughout the Middle Ages and beyond: St. Emmeram in Regensburg (early 8th century), on the Domberg in Freising (744), Niederaltaich (741), Mondsee (748), Altomünster (749), Benediktbeuern (752), Wessobrunn (753), Tegernsee (756–61), Schäftlarn (762), Ottobeuren (764), Kremsmünster (777), Herrenchiemsee (782), Metten (790), St. Florian (9th century), and Altötting (876).
In 788, Tassilo III, the last of the Agilolfings, was deposed by Charlemagne, and Bavaria came under Frankish rule, becoming part of the Kingdom of Germany. On April 20, 798, Pope Leo III elevated Salzburg to an archdiocese, with Passau, Regensburg, Freising, and Säben as its suffragans. The first provincial synod of Bavaria was held in 791. Under both Charlemagne and Louis the German (817–76), the country flourished. Duke Arnulf the Bad (905–937) confiscated ecclesiastical lands (908–914) to distribute them to his vassals, marking Bavaria’s first secularization. The land suffered greatly from repeated Magyar invasions, which were finally defeated by Otto I in 955.
Saintly bishops such as Ulrich of Augsburg (890–973) and Wolfgang of Regensburg (924–994) reformed the Church. Emperor Henry II the Saint founded the diocese of Bamberg (1007). Under Henry III, three Bavarians ascended to the papal throne: Clement II (whose tomb in Bamberg Cathedral is the only papal burial site still extant in Germany), Damasus II, and Victor II.
During the Investiture Controversy, Bavaria was divided, but the Bavarian William, abbot of Hirsau (1069–91), became a leading promoter of the papal reform alongside the archbishops of Salzburg.
After the establishment of Carinthia (1002), Austria (1156), and Syria (1180) as independent duchies, Otto of Wittelsbach received Bavaria as a fief, and his descendants governed it until 1918, generous toward the Church, as was the entire people. In 1216, Chiemsee was erected as a diocese.
In the 13th century, the Bavarian Church was on the one hand disturbed by the disorders caused by Frederick II and the Waldensians, and on the other hand received new impetus from the mendicant orders: the Friars Minor (12
Bavaria - Interior of the church of St. James (12th-13th centuries). Regensburg.
21 a Mo-
and convents for the Capuchins (Augsburg 1601, Landshut 1610, etc.) and for other orders. It formed the league of the German Catholic states (1609). In the Thirty Years' War, Bavaria suffered greatly, and after the Peace of Westphalia (1648), Ferdinand Maria (1651-79) rebuilt many churches and convents that had been destroyed.
The absolutism of the princes grew ever stronger, as they sought supremacy of the state over the Church. In 1717, the erection of new convents was prohibited by law. Scholars such as Johann von Ickstatt (1702-76) and Peter von Osterwald (1718-76) propagated the idea of a national Church. It was the century of Febronianism and Josephinism. To eliminate jurisdictional difficulties, in 1785 Pius VI established a nunciature in Munich, despite the protests of the metropolitans of Salzburg, Mainz, and Trier.
As a consequence of the French Revolution and state absolutism, at the beginning of the 19th century all convents and religious foundations were suppressed (about 97 abbeys, 200 convents of mendicant orders, 400 other convents besides the chapters), and their temporal properties passed to the state. Prince-bishops, deprived of their traditional principality, canons, and secularized religious, were pensioned off. About 50 monastic libraries passed to the State Library of Munich. Protestants (1800) and Jews (1813) obtained freedom of worship. The dioceses and numerous parishes without pastors, and the altered frontiers of Bavaria, which had become a kingdom (1806), made a new ecclesiastical organization necessary: in 1817 a concordat was concluded with the Holy See, and with the bull *Dei ac Domini* of 1 April 1818, Pius VII fixed the boundaries of the dioceses. The publication of the concordat by the government took place in 1818 together with the edict concerning religion, which in many respects contrasted with the spirit of the concordat.
During the reign of Louis I (1825-48), the Church was able to regain strength, since the king appointed eminent bishops and permitted the restoration of abbeys and religious orders (except the Jesuits). The bishops assembled at Freising protested against state interference and demanded full observance of the concordat (1850 and 1852). Ecclesiastical life flourished (in literature, the press, and Catholic organizations) despite the harmful activities of the liberal ministry of Lutz (from 1869), which favored the Old Catholics but failed to introduce the *Kulturkampf* into Bavaria, although the Catholic party of the "Patriots," founded in 1869, with the exception of the years 1893-99, always had a majority in the parliament. In 1883, Catholic public schools were recognized by the state. During the regency of Prince Luitpold (1886-1912), ecclesiastical life continued to develop peacefully. The First World War, inflation, and the social-communist conflicts of the postwar period caused considerable damage to the Church; however, the new constitution of the republic of Bavaria in 1919 was not unfavorable to II. A new concordat between the state and the Holy See was concluded on 29 March 1924 and approved by the parliament in 1925 (the Pope's representative was Msgr. Pacelli, who had been nuncio in Munich since 1917 and in Berlin from 1925, the present Pius XII). This concordat (*AAS*, 17 [1925], pp. 41-45) guaranteed many freedoms to the Church. With the advent of National Socialism (1933), persecution of the Catholic Church began. Catholic associations were suppressed, religious processions and other manifestations were forbidden as symptoms of a "political" Church. Despite repeated protests by Cardinal Michael Faulhaber, archbishop of Munich, Catholic schools were closed (1935). At present, in Bavaria as in all Germany, the Church and Catholics are energetically reviving.
II. STATISTICS
Bavaria is divided into two ecclesiastical provinces: the archdiocese of Munich-Freising with the suffragans of Augsburg, Passau, and Regensburg; and the archdiocese of Bamberg with the suffragans of Eichstätt, Speyer, and Würzburg. In 1945, out of a population of 9,354,293, of which 6,598,631 were Catholics, there were 8,432 churches, 3,904 parishes, 7,273 diocesan priests, 1,700 regular clergy, 2,020 male religious houses with 2,924 professed members, 1,071 female religious houses with 27,136 professed members, and 1,759 charitable institutions with about 70,000 residents.Cesario van Hulst
III. SACRED ART
Traces of pre-Romanesque churches are found, some of which were later transformed in the ancient Bavarian cities of Roman foundation: Regensburg (v.), Augsburg (v.), Passau, Altötting. Donations by Emperor Henry II of illuminated manuscripts and precious goldsmith works to the treasury of the cathedral of Regensburg, now in the Library and the "Reiche Kapelle" of the Residenz-Museum in Munich, gave a strong impetus to the flourishing of these arts, especially in Regensburg, from the 11th century onward; monasteries, such as Wessobrunn, also became artistic centers. Ecclesiastical architecture also developed fully from the 11th century, especially in Augsburg, Tegernsee, Freising, and again in Regensburg. The bronze doors of the cathedral of Augsburg (mid-11th century) are the most important example of Romanesque sculpture.In the 11th and 12th centuries, foundations and enlargements of churches and monasteries multiplied: Prüfening (near Regensburg), Regensburg (St. James, All Saints, Niedermünster, St. Emmeram), Freising, Seeon, Altenthann, Steingaden, etc. Remains of ancient mural painting are scarce (Prüfening, Regensburg, Perschen); the most important sculptures are in Regensburg. The figured windows in the cathedral of Augsburg are well known, and the school of illumination in Regensburg was of great importance.
In the 13th century, Gothic style began to infiltrate; in 14th-century architecture, the local character became ever more pronounced, lasting until the relatively late appearance of Renaissance elements. Regensburg (current cathedral), Augsburg (reconstruction of the cathedral), and Kaisheim provide examples of mature Gothic; Amberg, Nördlingen, Straubing, Wasserburg, Ingolstadt, Passau, Landshut, and other churches in Munich document the late Gothic style, which flourished and freed itself increasingly from Western ties through the work of famous architects (e.g., the Stetheimer). At the same time, secular buildings (town halls, etc.) multiplied. Anonymous sculpture in the cathedrals of Augsburg (14th century), Regensburg (early 15th century), and others, in the 15th century included many distinct personalities who were also among the most important in German sculpture: working in Bavaria were the Kaschauer, H. MULTSCHEER, HANS (v.), Erasmus Grasser, H. Leinberger, Gregor Erhart, Adolf and Hans Dauer, Jörg Lederer, L. Hering, who were largely still "Gothic," but of a dynamic, sometimes impassioned style that was already preparing the new wave of the Renaissance. The same applies to painting: anonymous are the masters of the altar of Pähl (Munich), the altar of the Augustinians in Munich (National Museum), the master of the "Pollinger Tafel," and the other of the "Mariental"; active until the 16th century were F. Herlin (Nördlingen), H. Hol
Bavaria – Church of St Anne (15th–16th centuries) – Augsburg.
VECCHIAIA (v.), BURGKMAIR, HANS (v.), J. BREUGHEL (v.) e Chr. Amberger (Augsburg); ALTDORFER, ALBRECHT (v.), W. Huber, Ostendorfer (Regensburg); H. Strigel (Memmingen), M. Schaffner and B. Zeitblom (Ulm); G. Malesskircher and J. Pollack (Munich).
Only in the late 16th century was Gothic style definitively superseded by the arrival of Renaissance, or rather Mannerist, southern forms that later evolved into Baroque. These forms reached Bavaria already transformed, through the mediation of Flemish masters (F. Sustris [v.], Hubert Gerhard, Peter Candid de Witte, Adriaen de Vries). The most important monuments (now destroyed by wartime actions) included parts of the royal castle and the Church of St Michael in Munich and the town hall of Augsburg (Elias Holl). Secular architecture assumed pre-eminent importance, as evidenced by the Fugger Palace in Augsburg and the ‘Antiquarium’ of the Munich Residenz (one of the first buildings constructed specifically to house a collection of antiquities), all decorated with paintings and sculptures of the period.
In painting, the same stylistic development unfolded, with a predominance of secular themes (portraiture) through the work of H. Muelich, Christoph Schwarz (Munich), up to J. Rottenhammer, the two Loths (Munich) and Johann Matthias Kager (Augsburg). From the same period, the principal sculptors were: A. Daucher, Hubert Gerhard (fountain of the ‘Augustusbrunnen’, Augsburg), H. Krumpfer (statue of the ‘Patrona Bavariae’, Munich).
In Baroque art, up to the typical rich and luminous Rococo of southern Germany, the number of new churches greatly increased; among the most notable are: Maria Birnbaum; the churches of the Theatines, the Holy Trinity and St John Nepomuk (Munich), Benediktbeuern, Fürstenfeld, Weltenburg, Rohr, Rottenbuch, Berg am Laim, Rott am Inn, Wies, Andechs and many others. Notable architects Asam (v.), the Dientzenhofer; Johann Michael Fischer, J. and M. Günther, Dominikus and Johann Zimmermann. Numerous Italians were also active in Bavaria, sometimes for generations: the Viscardi, E. Zuccalli, etc. The position of the great monasteries of Benediktbeuern, Oberaltaich, Metten, Ottobeuren is striking (partly with magnificent library buildings). French influences began to appear in secular architecture: the castles of Schleissheim and Nymphenburg near Munich (J. Effner, Cuvilliés).
Churches and castles contain rich stucco work and paintings. Among the great decorators were the Günther brothers, the Feuchtmayer family, Johann Zimmermann; among painters, J. Knoller, George de Marées, J. Zick, Christoph Wink; among engravers, Riedinger; and among sculptors, finally, Faistenberger, J. B. Straub and Bustelli, who was one of the greatest creators in porcelain, active at the Nymphenburg factory.
Neoclassical architecture and that of the early 20th century manifested themselves especially in Munich (v.). Yet painting too became increasingly concentrated in the capital, to the point that one can speak of a genuine Munich School. The Kobell family, P. von Hess, the portraitists Stieler and Edlinger, and above all the landscapists Dillis, Dörner and Wagenbauer initiated 19th-century naturalism, partly under French influence. Schwanthaler is the most important classicist sculptor; Klenze, Gärtner and others became architects to the kings of Bavaria. Under court patronage monumental painting flourished (P. von Cornelius, W. Kaulbach, Schnorr von Carolsfeld), as well as classical landscape painting (Rottmann). Spitzweg, Schleich, Piloty, Lenbach, Lier, Loefiz and W. Dietz represent various currents of German painting, culminating in the group Leibl, Schuch, Trübner, Hölzel, L. Dill, Langhammer, Uhde; typical representatives of Munich painting such as H. von Habermann, L. Samberger, L. Herterich influenced painters of the stature of H. von Marées, Uhde and Corinth. Among modern artists born or active in Munich are listed the painters A. Weisgerber, K. Caspar, the sculptors Adolf Hildebrand, B. Bleeker, C. Caspar, K. Fiedler and H. Wimmer.
For the art of northern Bavaria (Franconia) V. FRANCIA.
Bernardo Degenhart
IV. SCHOOL SYSTEM
At the moment of the collapse of Nazism, the Bavarian school system was reorganized and an attempt was made to make the Bavarian school an institution for re-education, while maintaining its unitary, German, national character. An attempt was also made to introduce into the schools secular moral education, with which it was hoped to achieve humanitarian and social solidarity among all peoples. This secular moral education was to be independent of religious education, which remains a compulsory school subject, though not to the same extent as before Nazism. Religious instruction is provided by religious and confessional communities; the planned secular moral instruction was to be provided by laypeople (philosophy teachers?). Supervision, instruction and administration again depend on the central authority, which for the time being is under the control of the occupying authorities.Instruction is divided into preschool and school education. Preschool takes place in kindergartens. School education is compulsory, free, and lasts for 10 years. Throughout Bavaria, there are 7,600 elementary schools called "Volkshaupstuhlen," of which 5,347 follow the Catholic curriculum, 1,958 the Protestant curriculum, 89 the mixed curriculum, and 27 the Jewish curriculum. Elementary education lasts for 7 years and is followed by the compulsory post-elementary "Volksforbildungsschule," which lasts for three years.
Secondary education includes classical, scientific, teaching, and vocational courses. Higher education is provided at the Universities of Munich (founded in 1472 in Ingolstadt, moved in 1826 to Landshut, and in 1880 to Munich), Würzburg (founded in 1492 and renewed in 1582), and Erlangen (founded in 1743); at the Munich Polytechnic "Technische Hochschule" (founded in 1836 and reorganized in 1868); at the Agricultural University "Hochschule für Landwirtschaft" in Weihenstephan (founded in 1892); at the School of Commerce "Handelshochschule" in Nuremberg; at the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich (founded in 1770); at the State Academy of Music "Staatsakademie der Tonkunst" in Munich; and at a Conservatory in Würzburg.
The education of the Catholic clergy is provided in the diocesan seminaries of Regensburg, Speyer, Würzburg, and Miltenberg, and in the "Philosophisch-Theologischen Hochschulen" (Philosophical-Theological Universities) in Amberg, Aschaffenburg, Augsburg, Burgau, Würzburg, where academic degrees can be obtained. For members of the Franciscan Order, there is a "Philosophisch-theologische Hochschule" in Munich, founded in 1828; in Munich, there is also an Institute for Biblical Studies and Church History run by the Benedictines.