Bavaria

BAVARIA. - Historical region of southern Germany which, from the foot of the outer Prealps (Swiss, Bavarian and Salzburg), extends northward beyond the Danube, as far as the Rhön and the Thuringian Forest; bounded on the west by the Iller, the Franconian hills and the Spessart, and on the east by the Salzach, the Inn, the Bohemian Forest and the Fichtelgebirge. To this, which is the core of Bavaria, is added, on the left bank of the Rhine, the so-called Bavarian Palatinate (Pfalz), territorially detached from Bavaria by Baden and Hesse. In turn this historical unit results from several distinct natural regions, to which correspond, at least in broad outline, minor historical regions.

The climate accentuates its continentality and its relative scarcity of precipitation toward the east (middle Danube), becoming naturally harsher in the mountain zones and on the Swabian-Bavarian plateau, which lies as a whole above 500 m. Munich (525 m. in elevation) has a mean annual temperature of 7.9, which oscillates between -2.1 in January and 17.7 in July.

The area of Bavaria amounted in 1939 to 76,089 sq. km., of which 5,492 belonged to the Rhenish Palatinate, 27,420 to Bavaria proper, 23,554 to Franconia and 9,966 to Swabia.

Its population amounted, at the same date, to about 7,800,000 inhabitants (102 per sq. km.); after the German defeat Bavaria without the Rhenish Palatinate, entirely included in the American occupation zone (70,238 sq. km.), counts 9,029,090 inhabitants (129 per sq. km.). Of these the great majority (70% in 1933)

are Catholics and less than 1/2 (29% at the same date) are Evangelical Christians.

Bavaria is an essentially agricultural and forested country. 40% of its population is engaged in work in the fields (49% of its surface) and in the woods (22%). Agricultural production (cereals, potatoes, hops; wine in the Rhenish Palatinate and on the lower Main) exceeds internal needs.

Pastures and meadows, which occupy 24% of the territory, are widespread especially in the Alpine zone, where livestock raising (cattle) flourishes. Industries (33% of the population), although comparatively less developed than in Germany as a whole, counted, before the last great conflict, a varied and imposing complex of activities (brewing, textiles, mechanical, chemical, toys), concentrating in the numerous urban centers. Of these the three largest correspond to the historical-administrative centers of the main regions: Munich (760,000 inhabitants) in Upper Bavaria, at the crossing point of the great routes of international trade (Berlin-Rome and Paris-Vienna-Constantinople); Nuremberg (322 thousand inhabitants in 1947; 430 thousand in 1939), in Franconia, already an important industrial and commercial center in the Middle Ages, and Augsburg (Augusta Vindelicorum, 168,000 inhabitants in 1947, 186,000 in 1939) in Swabia, one of the most important industrial centers of southern Germany. Besides these, mention should be made of Würzburg in lower Franconia (107,000 inhabitants), Ludwigshafen (144,000 inhabitants) on the Rhine, capital of the German chemical industry, Regensburg (Ratisbon, 118,000 inhabitants) in the upper Palatinate, Fürth (80,000 inhabitants) near Nuremberg.

Giuseppe Caraci

I. ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY

In the Roman provinces of Raetia and Noricum, inhabited by Celtic tribes, Christianity penetrated together with Latin culture, and at the end of the 3rd century and the beginning of the next there were martyrs such as St. Afra in Augusta, St. Florian (Lorch on the Enns), St. Maximilian (Cilli). Bishops of this region attended the Synod of Sardica (343). In the 5th century, when Roman rule was about to decline, St. Severinus (d. 482) preached the Christian faith for 30 years. From his biography written by Eugippius, one can gather that there was already an organized Church, and to this period the episcopal sees of Lauriacum (Lorch), Tiburnia (Sankt Peter im Holz), Petavium (Pettau), Augusta Vindelicorum (Augsburg),

Sabiona (Säben) date back. The greater part of the territory was subject to the metropolis of Aquileia, a small part to that of Milan.

After the Bavarian invasion the first historically attested duke is Garibald I (560-90) of the family of the Agilolfings, who had converted to Christianity. Irish missionaries first and Frankish ones afterwards undertook the Christianization of the country. From Luxeuil came St. Eustace (d. 629) and Agilus (d. 650), who founded the abbey of Weltenburg. The holy bishops Emmeram (d. 652), Rupert (d. 718) and Corbinian (670-732) founded churches and monasteries at Regensburg, Salzburg and Freising. Duke Theodo II (690-717) sought to organize the Bavarian Church and worked to that end in Rome with Gregory II (716). This duke's plan, that is the organization of four dioceses (Passau, Regensburg, Salzburg, Freising), was carried out in 739 by St. Boniface (v.), who in 741 also founded the dioceses of Eichstätt and Würzburg.

The eminent position that the Church thus came to occupy also appears in Bavarian law (codified in the Lex Baiawariorum between 730 and 740), which recognizes numerous rights for it. Ecclesiastical discipline was regulated by the Synods of Ascheim (756) and Dingolfing (774). Among the numerous secular collegiate churches and the monasteries founded in that era, mention should be made of those so celebrated throughout the Middle Ages and even afterwards: St. Emmeram at Regensburg (beginning of the 8th century), on the Domberg at Freising (744), Niederaltaich (741), Mondsee (748), Altomünster (749), Benediktbeuren (752), Wessobrunn (753), Tegernsee (756-61), Schäflarn (762), Ottobeuren (764), Kremsmünster (777), Herrenchiemsee (782), Metten (790), St. Florian (9th century), Altötting (876).

In 788 Tassilo III, the last of the Agilolfings, was deposed by Charlemagne, and Bavaria came under Frankish rule and formed part of the kingdom of Germany. On 20 April 798 Pope Leo III erected Salzburg into an archdiocese with Passau, Regensburg, Freising and Säben as suffragans. In 791 the first provincial synod of Bavaria was held. Both under Charlemagne and under Louis the German (817-76) the country flourished. Duke Arnulf the Bad (905-937) confiscated ecclesiastical property (908-914) in order to distribute it to his vassals, and thus there occurred the first secularization of Bavaria. The country suffered greatly from the numerous invasions of the Hungarians, who were later defeated by Otto I (955).

Holy bishops such as Ulrich of Augsburg (890-973) and Wolfgang of Regensburg (924-94) reformed the Church. Emperor Henry II the Saint founded the diocese of Bamberg (1007). Under Henry III three Bavarians ascended the papal throne: Clement II (whose tomb in Bamberg cathedral is the only papal sepulchre still extant in Germany), Damasus II and Victor II.

In the Investiture Controversy Bavaria was divided, but the Bavarian William, abbot of Hirsau (1069-91), was a great promoter of the papal reform together with the archbishops of Salzburg.

After the establishment of Carinthia (1002), Austria (1156) and Styria (1180) as independent duchies, Otto of Wittelsbach received Bavaria in fief, and his descendants governed it until 1918, generous toward the Church, as indeed was the whole people. In 1216 Chiemsee was erected into a diocese.

In the 13th century the Bavarian Church was on the one hand disturbed by the disorders caused by Frederick II and by the Waldensians, and on the other received a new impulse from the mendicant Orders: the Friars Minor (1221 at Mo-

(phot. Kunstarchivist, Seminar, Marburg)
BAVARIA - Interior of the church of St. James (12th-13th cent.), Regensburg.

naco), the Dominicans (1229 at Regensburg), the Dominican nuns (1235 at Altenhohenau on the Inn), the Poor Clares (1284 at Munich). Its great representatives were the Franciscans David of Augsburg (1200-72), Berthold of Regensburg (d. 1272) and the Dominican St. Albert the Great (1193-1280).

The life of the Church was greatly hindered during the struggle of Louis the Bavarian (1314-47) against John XXII. During the great Western Schism (1378-1417) the dukes followed the Pope of Rome and then the one of Pisa, like a great part of Germany. The country suffered much during the Hussite wars (1419-43).

In the 15th century the ecclesiastical reforms promoted by Albert III the Wise (1438-60) and by the papal legate Nicholas of Cusa aimed at suppressing the abuses of the clergy and of the people. William IV (1508-50) fought the Reformation, validly aided by John Eck (v.) (1486-1543), the greatest adversary of Luther. The duke called the Jesuits Salmerón (v.; 1515-85) and St. Peter Canisius to the University of Ingolstadt, founded by Louis VI the Rich (1450-79). They opened various colleges for the instruction of the young (Munich 1560). Albert V the Magnanimous (1550-79) changed the statute of 1506 so that only Catholic princes could govern the duchy (1578). His son William V the Pious (1579-97) regulated the relations between Church and State in a concordat concluded with the archbishop of Salzburg and his suffragans.

Maximilian I the Great (1597-1651), a skilful politician and absolute prince, promoted Catholicism with all his might, so that Bavaria became the first German Catholic state. He founded numerous colleges for the Jesuits (Mindelheim 1618, Landshut 1629, etc.)

and convents for the Capuchins (Augsburg 1601, Landshut 1610, etc.) and for other Orders. He formed the league of the German Catholic states (1609). In the Thirty Years' War Bavaria suffered much and after the Peace of Westphalia (1648), Ferdinand Maria (1651-79) rebuilt many destroyed churches and convents.

The absolutism of the princes became ever stronger, as they strove for the supremacy of the State over the Church. In 1717 the erection of new convents was forbidden 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 erected a nunciature at Munich, despite the protest of the metropolitans of Salzburg, Mainz and Trier.

As a consequence of the French Revolution and of the absolutism of the State, in the early 19th century all convents and all religious foundations were suppressed (about 97 abbeys, 200 convents of the mendicant Orders, 400 other convents besides the chapters), and their temporal properties passed to the State. The prince-bishops, deprived of their traditional principality, the canons, and the secularized religious were pensioned off. About 50 monastic libraries passed to the State Library of Munich. The Protestants (1800) and the Jews (1813) obtained freedom of worship. The dioceses and the numerous parishes without a pastor, and the modified frontiers of Bavaria, which had become a kingdom (1806), made a new ecclesiastical organization felt to be 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 parts conflicted with the spirit of the concordat.

During the government of Louis I (1825-48) the Church was able to regain vigour, since the king appointed eminent bishops and permitted the restoration of abbeys and of religious Orders (except the Jesuits). The bishops assembled at Freising protested against the interference of the State and demanded full observance of the concordat (1850 and 1852). Ecclesiastical life flourished again (literature, press and Catholic organizations) despite the baneful activities of the liberal Lutz ministry (from 1869), which favoured the Old Catholics, but which did not succeed in spreading the "Kulturkampf" in Bavaria, although the Catholic party of the "patriots", founded in 1869, always had the majority in parliament, except in the years 1893-99. In 1883 the Catholic public school was recognized by the State. During the regency of Prince Luitpold (1886-1912) ecclesiastical life continued to develop peacefully. The First World War, the inflation and the social-communist conflicts of the post-war period brought considerable harm to the Church; however, the new constitution of the republic of Bavaria of 1919 was not unfavourable to it. A new concordat between the State and the Holy See was concluded on 29 March 1924 and approved by parliament in 1925 (the representative of the Pope was Msgr. Pacelli, nuncio at Munich since 1917, and at Berlin from 1925, the present Pius XII). This concordat (AAS, 17 [1925], pp. 41-45) guaranteed the Church many freedoms. With the advent of National Socialism (1933) the persecution of the Catholic Church began. Catholic associations were suppressed, religious manifestations (processions, etc.) forbidden as symptoms of a "political" Church. Despite the repeated protests of Card. Michael Faulhaber, archbishop of Munich, the Catholic schools were closed (1935). At present in Bavaria, as in all of Germany, the Church and Catholics are energetically recovering.

II. STATISTICS

Bavaria is divided into two ecclesiastical provinces: the archdiocese of Munich-Freising with the suffragan sees of Augsburg, Passau and Regensburg, and the archdiocese of Bamberg with the suffragan sees of Eichstätt, Speyer and Würzburg. In 1945, out of 9,354,293 inhabitants, of whom 6,598,631 were Catholics, there were 8,432 churches, 3,904 parishes, 7,273 secular priests, 1,700 regulars, 202 male religious houses with 2,924 professed, 1,071 female religious houses with 27,136 professed, and 1,759 charitable institutions with approximately 70,000 inmates.

Cesario van Hulst

III. SACRED ART

There are traces of pre-Romanesque churches, in part subsequently transformed, in the ancient Bavarian cities of Roman foundation: Regensburg (v.), Augsburg (v.), Passau, Altötting. Donations by Emperor Arnulf of illuminated codices and valuable goldsmith work imported into the treasury of Regensburg cathedral, today in the Library and in the "Reiche Kapelle" of the Residenz-Museum in Munich, gave a strong impulse to the flourishing of such arts, especially in Regensburg, from the 11th century onward; monasteries, such as those of Wessobrunn, likewise became artistic centers. Ecclesiastical architecture too develops fully from the 11th century onward, especially in Augsburg, Tegernsee, Freising and again in Regensburg. The bronze doors of Augsburg cathedral (mid-11th century) are the most important example of Romanesque sculpture.

In the 12th and 13th centuries the foundations and enlargements of churches and monasteries multiply: Prüfening (near Regensburg), Regensburg (St. James, All Saints, Niedermünster, St. Emmeram), Freising, Seeon, Altenstadt, Steingaden, etc. Of the ancient wall painting the remains are scanty (Prüfening, Regensburg,

phot. H. Wutz, Munich)
BAVARIA. - Main portal of the Cathedral (14th-15th cent.) - Regensburg.

Perschen); the most important sculptures are in Regensburg. The figured stained-glass windows in the cathedral of Augsburg are quite well known, and the school of miniature painting of Regensburg is very important.

In the 13th century, infiltrations of the Gothic style begin; in the architecture of the 14th century, the local character becomes increasingly pronounced, and it lasts until the relatively late appearance of Renaissance elements. Regensburg (present cathedral), Augsburg (rebuilding of the cathedral) and Kaisheim provide examples of full Gothic; Amberg, Nördlingen, Straubing, Wasserburg, Ingolstadt, Passau, Landshut, and other churches of Munich document the very flourishing late Gothic style, which frees itself ever more from Western ties through the work of famous architects (e.g., Stettheimer). At the same time, secular buildings (town halls, etc.) multiply. Sculpture, anonymous, in the cathedrals of Augsburg (14th cent.), Regensburg (early 15th cent.) and others, includes in the 15th century many clearly distinct personalities, who were also among the most important in German sculpture: working in Bavaria were: Kaschauer, H. Multscher (v.), Erasmus Grasser, H. Leinberger, Gregor Erhart, Adolf and Hans Daucher, Jörg Lederer, L. Hering, who were, for the most part, still "Gothic", but in a style full of movement, at times passionate, which was already preparing the new Renaissance wave. The same holds for painting: anonymous are the masters of the altar of Paehl (Munich), of the Augustinian altar of Munich (National Museum), the master of the "Pollinger Tafel", the other of the "Marientafel"; active until the 16th century are F. Herlin (Nördlingen),

H. Holbein the Elder (v.), Burgkmair (v.), J. Breu (v.) and Chr. Amberger (Augsburg); Altdorfer (v.), W. Huber, Ostendorfer (Regensburg); H. Strigel (Memmingen), M. Schaffner and B. Zeitblom (Ulm); G. Maeleskircher and J. Pollack (Munich).

Only in the late 16th century is the Gothic style definitively surpassed, with the arrival of southern Renaissance, or rather Mannerist, forms, which then turn into Baroque. Such forms reach Bavaria already transformed, through the intermediary of Flemish masters (F. Sustris [v.], Hubert Gerhard, Peter Candid de Witte, Adrian de Vries). The most important monuments (today destroyed by acts of war) were some parts of the royal castle and the church of St. Michael in Munich and the town hall of Augsburg (Elias Holl). Secular architecture takes on preponderant importance, as proved by the Fugger palace in Augsburg, the "Antiquarium" of the Munich royal residence (one of the first buildings constructed specifically for a collection of antiquities), all decorated with paintings and sculptures of the period.

In painting the same stylistic development takes shape, with a prevalence of secular themes (portrait) through the work of H. Muelich, Christoph Schwarz (Munich), down to J. Rottenhammer, the two Loth (Munich) and Joh. Matth. Kager (Augsburg). Of this same period the principal sculptors are: A. Daucher, Hubert Gerhard (fountain of the "Augustusbrunnen", Augsburg), H. Krumpper (statue of the "Patrona Bavariae", Munich).

In Baroque art, down to the typical, rich and clear Rococo of southern Germany, the number of new churches greatly increases; among the most notable must be counted: that of Maria Birnbaum; the churches of the Theatines, of the Most Holy Trinity and of St. John Nepomuk (Munich), Benediktbeuern, Fürstenfeld, Weltenburg, Rohr, Rottenbuch, Berg am Laim, Rott am Inn, Wies, Andechs and many others; famous among the architects: the dynasties of the Asam (v.), of the Dientzenhofer; Joh. Michael Fischer, J. and M. Guenther, Dom. and Joh. Zimmermann. Numerous too are the Italians, active, sometimes for generations, in Bavaria: the Viscardi, E. Zuccali, etc. Suggestive is the position of the great monasteries of Benediktbeuern, Oberaltaich, Metten, Ottobeuren (in part with beautiful library buildings). French influences began to appear in secular architecture: castles of Schleissheim and Nymphenburg near Munich (J. Effner, Cuvilliés).

Churches and castles contain rich stuccoes and paintings. Among the great decorators are known the Guenther, the Feuchtmayer, Joh. Zimmermann, among the painters J. Knoller, George de Marées, J. Zick, Chr. Wink; among the engravers Riedinger; and among the sculptors, finally, Faistenberger, J. B. Straub and Bustelli, who was one of the greatest creators in porcelain, active in the Nymphenburg factory.

The architecture of Neoclassicism and of the full 19th century is manifested especially in Munich (v.). But painting too becomes increasingly concentrated in the capital, so much so that one can speak of a true Munich school. The Kobell, P. v. Hess, the portrait painters Stieler and Edlinger and even more the landscape painters Dillis, Dorner, Wagenbauer initiate the naturalism of the 19th century, in part under French influence. Schwanthaler is the most important classicist sculptor; Klenze, Gärtner and others become architects of the kings of Bavaria. Under the protection of the court monumental painting flourishes (P. v. Cornelius, W. Kaulbach, Schnorr v. Carolsfeld), but also classical landscape (Rottmann). Spitzweg, Schleich, Piloty, Lenbach, Lier,

Loeffz and W. Dietz represent various currents of German painting, culminating in the Leibl group, Schuch, Truebner; Hölzel, L. Dill, Langhammer, Uhde; typical representatives of Munich painting, such as H. v. Habermann, L. Samberger, L. Herterich, influenced painters of the importance of H. v. Marées, Uhde, Corinth. Among the moderns born or active in Munich are listed the painters A. Weisgerber, K. Caspar, the sculptors Ad. Hildebrand, B. Bleeker, C. Casper, K. Fiedler and H. Wimmer.

For the art of northern Bavaria (Franconia) v. FRANCONIA.

IV. SCHOOL SYSTEM

At the time of the collapse of Nazism, work began on the reorganization of the schools, and an attempt was made to turn the Bavarian school into an institution for re-education; while still maintaining its unitary-German-national character, an attempt was made to introduce into the schools a lay moral education, by which it was intended to arrive at humanitarian and social solidarity among all peoples. This moral education should be independent of religious education, which is part of the compulsory school subjects, but not to the same extent as before Nazism. The teaching of religion is provided by the religious and confessional communities; the envisaged teaching of lay morality should be provided by lay teachers (professors of philosophy?). Supervision and inspection, as well as administration, again depend on the central authority, which for the moment is subordinate to the occupation authorities.

Education is divided into preschool and school. Preschool takes place in kindergartens. School is compulsory, free, and lasts 10 years. Throughout Bavaria there are 7,600 elementary schools, "Volkshauptschulen," of which 5,347 are Catholic, 1,958 Protestant, 89 mixed, and 27 Jewish. The duration of elementary instruction is 7 years and is followed by the elementary continuation school, "Volksfortbildungsschule," which lasts three years and is compulsory. Secondary education has classical, scientific, teacher-training, and vocational courses. Higher education is provided at the Universities of Munich (founded in 1472 at Ingolstadt, transferred in 1846 to Landshut and in 1880 to Munich), Würzburg (founded in 1402 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" at Weihenstephan (founded in 1852), the Commercial University "Handelshochschule"

at Nuremberg, the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich (founded in 1770), the Music Academy "Staatsakademie der Tonkunst" in Munich, and a Conservatory in Würzburg.

The education of the Catholic clergy is provided in the episcopal seminaries of Regensburg, Speyer, Würzburg, and Miltenberg and in the "Philosophisch-Theologischen Hochschulen" (Universities of Philosophy and Theology) at Amberg, Bamberg, Aschaffenburg, Augsburg,

Burghausen, Landshut, Regensburg, and 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 an Institute for Biblical and Church History studies run by the Benedictines. - See Pl. LXVIII.