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IN THE MIDDLE
HISTORY AND IDENTITY Bavaria has a long and distinguished history. Mentioned as early as the Merovingian Empire in 555 AD, it was declared a kingdom for the first time under the Carolingians. From 1180, the fortunes of Bavaria were determined by the Wittelsbach family. They ruled for more than 700 years, with the country prospering economically and culturally during this time. In 1806, the then electorate became a kingdom again, which then collapsed with the November Revolution at the end of World War I. Kurt Eisner, leader of the revolution in Bavaria, declared the constitutional monarchy abolished and proclaimed the so-called Free State on 8 November 1918 – a designation which the state still bears today. After World War II and during the US occupation, Bavaria was reorganised when the Federal Republic of Germany was founded. The areas of the Palatinate were separated from their home region and have since belonged to Rhineland-Palatinate. Unlike some other federal states, Bavaria has maintained many historical customs and festivities, which are supported and kept alive in particular by numerous associations, ensuring close identi fication with the immediate environment. Even though, when viewed from outside looking in, the state’s image is often dominated by the old Bavarian traditions, the cultural heritage is in fact extremely rich and diverse; especially since the regions of Franconia and Swabia, with their independent customs and traditions, were added to the Bavarian core area during the kingdom’s reorganisation under Napoleon. The diversity is also reflected in the three language dialects of the areas mentioned and their innumerable subforms.
LANDSCAPE AND AGRICULTURE The borders of Bavaria contain numerous areas that are very different in character. Due to their special topography and flora, the Bavarian Forest, the Rhön Mountains and the Fichtel Mountains in the north, as well as the Alpine foothills and the Alps in the south, are particularly striking. These areas are important for tourism and popular local recreational destinations. Besides the tourism use, large parts of the sparsely populated areas serve as cultivation areas and meadows for agriculture.
One third of Bavaria is covered with forest, which is predominantly managed sustainably. This basic data shows that the federal state still has the largest agricultural economy and the largest areas of forest in the Federal Republic, although the share of the population working in the agricultural sector is steadily decreasing (in 2019 the share was around 1.8 %) [1].
POPULATION Bavaria has been an attractive location for many years due to its well-positioned economy, but also because of the scenic attractions. In total, its residents have an area of around 70,550 square kilometres at their disposal, making the Free State the largest of the 16 federal states in Germany. The population is, however, distributed quite unevenly over this area and, therefore, settlement density varies greatly for different locations. In Munich, an average 4,736 people live in one square kilometre, compared to only 66 inhabitants in the Neustadt an der Waldnaab rural district. As a result, in addition to the booming metropolises, the state must also address a multitude of sparsely populated areas. Currently home to about 12.9 million inhabitants, Bavaria has the highest population in Germany after the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. Almost 1.5 million of its inhabitants live in the state capital Munich. Due to Bavaria’s great appeal and the continuing supply of high-quality jobs, it is assumed that the number of residents will continue to grow slightly by 2038 [2]. However, if regional differences are taken into account, a more nuanced picture emerges. Detailed analysis reveals a large north-south divide in this development. In addition to the large urban centres, particularly the districts in the south of Bavaria will see large population growth (Upper Bavaria expects an increase of 8 % [3]). In the south, in the metropolitan regions of Nuremberg and Munich, as well as in the metropolitan areas of Regensburg, Würzburg and Augsburg, the Bavarian state government put the so-called “Mietpreisbremse” (a form of rent control) into effect in July 2019: it authorises the state government to determine areas in which the adequate supply of the population with rental apartments on reasonable terms is significantly at risk, i.e. where the housing market is tight [4].