All About the History of Bavaria and Geography of Bavaria

Bavaria, German Bayern, is Germany’s biggest land (state), encompassing the whole country’s southern region. Regional states of Thuringia & Saxony border Bavaria on the north, the Czech Republic on the east, Austria on the south and southeast, and Baden-Württemberg and Hessen on the west. The capital is Munich (München). It has twenty-seven thousand two hundred forty square miles of land (70,550 square km).

Migrations and the Early Middle Ages

• The Emperors occupying Noricum & Raetia, south of Danube, were under growing pressure from inhabitants north of Danube throughout the 5th century. Suebian communities from farther north had settled in this area, which the Romans believed to be a portion of Germania. 
• The word “Bavarian” (Latin Baiovarii) has etymological roots in the north of the Danube, beyond the empire, and is derived from the Celtic Boii who resided there previously. In the reign of Maroboduus, who founded the Germanic Marcomannic empire with its headquarters in this forested area, their name was used to identify a portion of this territory. 
• Due to usual Germanic language changes, Boi became Bai during the period, and a Germanic term akin to English “house” or contemporary German “Heim” was added. As a result, Strabo mentions Boihaemum (Greek v). [1] Boihaemum, according to Tacitus, was the term given to the place where the Boii had dwelt.

The Czech Republic

• The features gave rise to contemporary Bohemia, located in the Czech Republic to the east of current Bavaria and north of the Danube. Later on, the ending “varii” was used to give certain people residence in this geographical area, who were living on both banks of the Danube, a new name. Claudius Ptolemy mentioned the “Baenochaemae,” who lived on the Higher Elbe River, and the “Bao Moi,” a “big people” who lived near the Danube.
• The Bavarian name appears in historical documents for the first time in a Frankish census of persons compiled about 520 AD. The history of the Goths, written by the historian Jordanes in 551 AD, is the first book that mentions their position (east of the Swabians). In his account of his journey through Ravenna to Tours (565–571), Venantius Fortunatus makes the following statement on the perils of travellers: ‘If the route is clear and if Bavaria does not stop you then proceed across the Alps.’ 
• Archaeological evidence from the fifth and sixth centuries indicates the role of social influence from a variety of locations and peoples, including Alamanni, Lombards, and others.

The History of Bavaria

• High plateaus and moderate mountains characterise Bavaria. Basalt knolls & high plateaus may be found in the north, while the Spessart’s forest sandstone hills can be found in the northwest. 
• The Major river, which flows into the Rhine, drains the northwest. Along the Danube, which separates the north and south Bavaria. The terrain ranges from the layered land distribution of Swabia-Franconia to shells marble and red marl, the hill region of a Franconian-Rednitz Basin, and the limestone hills of the Franconian Jura. 
• The Bavarian and Bohemian woods lie on the eastern boundary of Bavaria, while the Franconian Forest is to the north.
• Munich’s capital is located on a plateau south of the Danube, with the Bavarian Alps beyond. The forested summits of several thousand that make up Bavaria’s part of the Alps are surrounded by steep slopes and high plateaus (the Allgäuer Alps in the west, the Berchtesgaden Alps in the east). 
• They attain their highest peak with the Zugspitze, Germany’s highest point at 9,718 feet (2,962 metres). Although there are rare outliers, like the Bottom Main valley, Bavaria has a mild climate that is severe for middle Europe.
• In the past, ancestors of the Franks lived in the north, residents of ancient Bavarian stock lived in the southeast, and Bavarian-Swabian descendants lived in the southwest. Small towns still house the bulk of Bavarian residents. 
• Only around a quarter of the population lives in cities with 100,000 or even more people. Munich is the 3rd largest city & is also called the capital of Bavaria.

Conclusion

For most tourists, Bavaria looks to be the true essence of Germany, with its unique feeling of Gemütlichkeit, beer halls, lovely tiny villages, & culturally rich cities. Everything is not anything like the truth, and anything further than the state’s borders is considered foreign land by Bavarians. The state has its song and flag, one of which, the blue-and-white lozenge, has almost become a regional icon of excellence and history. When Bavarian politicians speak about Europe, they frequently allude to Bavaria as a separate country. They invariably refer to it as Freistaat Bavaria, or “der Freistaat,” which means “the Free State.”