Bayern (Bavaria)
Bavaria is the Germany of Wagnerian opera, medieval fairy tales, and Teutonic myth. From tiny forest villages to stately Baroque cities along the Danube and castles perched high in the Alps, the region attracts more visitors than any other part of the country. When foreigners conjure up images of Germany, they are thinking of Bavaria: land of beer gardens, sausage, and Lederhosen. But tourists soon discover that there is much more to Germany’s largest federal state than the clichés it indulges. From international powerhouses like BMW and Audi to thriving university towns, Bavaria is too dynamic to be regarded as an open-air museum.
The region’s residents will be the first to say they are Bavarians first and Germans second. Bavaria was a sovereign kingdom for ages, after all. Through wars with France and Austria, Otto von Bismarck pulled Bavaria into his orbit, but it remained its own kingdom until 1918. Local authorities still insist upon using the Land’s proper name: Freistaat Bayern (Free State of Bavaria). On a local level, Franconians, upper Bavarians, and Swabians take great pains to assert their unique cultures. Despite such long-standing cultural identities, modern cosmopolitanism combines with historical preservation to animate the truly individual character of Germany’s southernmost state.
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