The Lower Danube Circle or Under Danube CircleBell, James. ''A System of Geography, Popular and Scientific: Or A Physical, Political and Statistical Account of the World and its Various Divisions'', Volume 1. Glasgow: Fullarton, 1832, p. 356. () was one of the administrative districts (German: ''Bezirke'' or ''Regierungsbezirke'') of the

Kingdom of Bavaria The Kingdom of Bavaria ( ; ; spelled ''Baiern'' until 1825) was a German state that succeeded the former Electorate of Bavaria in 1806 and continued to exist until 1918. With the unification of Germany into the German Empire in 1871, the kingd ...

between 1806 and 1837. It was named after its main river, the

Danube The Danube ( ; see also #Names and etymology, other names) is the List of rivers of Europe#Longest rivers, second-longest river in Europe, after the Volga in Russia. It flows through Central and Southeastern Europe, from the Black Forest sou ...

and was the predecessor of the administrative district of

Lower Bavaria Lower Bavaria (, ; ) is one of the seven administrative regions of Bavaria, Germany, located in the east of the state. It consists of nine districts and 258 municipalities (including three cities). Geography Lower Bavaria is subdivided into two ...

(''

Regierungsbezirk A ' (, 'governmental district') is a type of administrative division in Germany. Currently, four of sixteen ' (states of Germany) are split into '. Beneath these are rural and urban districts ' (plural, ) serve as regional mid-level local gov ...

Niederbayern''). Its administrative headquarters were in Passau, but the appellate court was in Straubing.

Independent cities

Passau Passau (; ) is a city in Lower Bavaria, Germany. It is also known as the ("City of Three Rivers"), as the river Danube is joined by the Inn (river), Inn from the south and the Ilz from the north. Passau's population is about 50,000, of whom ...

(since 1810) *

Straubing Straubing (; Central Bavarian: ''Strauwing'') is an independent city in Lower Bavaria, southern Germany. It is seat of the Districts of Germany, district of Straubing-Bogen. Annually in August the Gäubodenvolksfest, the second largest fair in Ba ...

(since 1810)

Subdivisions

The district was divided in the following judicial districts ('' Landgerichte''), according to the original borders of the districts of the former territories (''

Herrschaft The German term ''Herrschaft'' (plural: ''Herrschaften'') covers a broad semantic field and only the context will tell whether it means, "rule", "power", "dominion", "authority", "territory" or "lordship". In its most abstract sense, it refers ...

sgerichte''): *

Deggendorf Deggendorf (; ) is a town in Bavaria, Germany, capital of the Deggendorf district. It is located on the left bank approximately in the middle between the Danube cities of Regensburg and Passau. The Danube forms the town's natural border towards ...

, *

Eggenfelden Eggenfelden (; Central Bavarian: ''Eggenfejdn'') is a municipality in the district of Rottal-Inn in Bavaria, Germany. Geography Geographical location Eggenfelden is located in the valley of the Rott (Inn, Neuhaus am Inn), Rott at the intersecti ...

(since 1810), * Grafenau (since 1811), * Griesbach, * Irlbach (since 1814), *

Landau Landau (), officially Landau in der Pfalz (, ), is an autonomous (''kreisfrei'') town surrounded by the Südliche Weinstraße ("Southern Wine Route") district of southern Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is a university town (since 1990), a long ...

, * Mitterfels (since 1810), * Obernberg (1810–1816), *

, *

Pfarrkirchen Pfarrkirchen () is a municipality in southern Lower Bavaria Germany, the capital of the district Rottal-Inn. It has about 12,500 inhabitants and is an important school centre with about 10,000 pupils from all over Lower Bavaria. The town spre ...

, *

Regen Regen (; Northern Bavarian: ''Reng'') is a town in Bavaria, Germany, and the district town of the district of Regen. Geography Regen is situated on the great Regen River, located in the Bavarian Forest. Divisions Originally the town consiste ...

, *

Schärding Schärding ( , Bavarian name: Scharing) is a town in the northern Austrian state of Upper Austria, the capital of the district of the same name, and a major port on the Inn River. Historically, it was owned by the Wittelsbach family, which is r ...

(1810–1816), *

Viechtach Viechtach is a town in the district of Regen in Bavaria in Germany. It is situated on the river Schwarzer Regen, 31 km northeast of Straubing Straubing (; Central Bavarian: ''Strauwing'') is an independent city in Lower Bavaria, southern ...

(since 1810), *

Vichtenstein Vichtenstein ( Bavarian: Viatnstoa) is a municipality in the district of Schärding in the Austrian state of Upper Austria. Geography Vichtenstein lies in the Innviertel The Innviertel (literally German language, German for "Inn Quarter"; off ...

(1810–1816), *

Vilshofen Vilshofen an der Donau is the largest city in the southeast of Bavaria, Germany in the district of Passau. Until 1972, the town was the district seat of the district of Vilshofen. History Middle Ages The year 776 was the beginning of the doc ...

, *

Waizenkirchen Waizenkirchen is a municipality in the district of Grieskirchen (district), Grieskirchen in the Austrian state of Upper Austria. Geography Waizenkirchen lies in the Hausruckviertel. About 10 percent of the municipality is forest, and 80 percen ...

(1810–1816), *

Wegscheid Wegscheid is a municipality in the district of Passau in Bavaria in Germany. In November 1936, Fritz Wächtler Fritz Wächtler (7 January 1891 – 19 April 1945) was a Nazi Party official and politician who served as the ''Gauleiter'' of ...

, * Wolfstein.

History

In the years between 1806 and 1808 the Kingdom of Bavaria was divided into 15 'circles'. Their names were taken from their main rivers. The ''Unterdonaukreis'' was initially composed of 10 rural divisions and, since 1809, of the independent city of Passau. In 1810, the Unterdonaukreis was enlarged. In another territorial reorganization initiated by King

Ludwig I Ludwig I or Louis I (; 25 August 1786 – 29 February 1868) was King of Bavaria from 1825 until the 1848 revolutions in the German states. When he was crown prince, he was involved in the Napoleonic Wars. As king, he encouraged Bavaria's ind ...

on 29 November 1837, the Unterdonaukreis again enlarged and renamed

(Niederbayern). District headquarters were moved from Passau to Landshut.

References

Literature

* (de) ''Handbuch der bayerischen Ämter, Gemeinden und Gerichte 1799 - 1980'' (Guide of the Bavarian Districts, Municipalities and Courts 1799 - 1980), written by Richard Bauer, Reinhard Heydenreuter, Gerhard Heyl, Emma Mages, Max Piendl, August Scherl, Bernhard Zittel and edited by Wilhelm Volkert, Senior Professor at the University of Regensburg, Munich, 1983, {{Authority control Kingdom of Bavaria