The Rupertiwinkel is a small historic region on the southeastern border of

Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. Part of the

Archbishopric of Salzburg The Prince-Archbishopric of Salzburg (; ) was an ecclesiastical principality and state of the Holy Roman Empire. It comprised the secular territory ruled by the archbishops of Salzburg, as distinguished from the much larger Catholic diocese f ...

until the early 19th century, it is named after the first Salzburg bishop Saint Rupert (c.660–710),

apostle An apostle (), in its literal sense, is an emissary. The word is derived from Ancient Greek ἀπόστολος (''apóstolos''), literally "one who is sent off", itself derived from the verb ἀποστέλλειν (''apostéllein''), "to se ...

to the

Duchy of Bavaria The Duchy of Bavaria () was a frontier region in the southeastern part of the Merovingian kingdom from the sixth through the eighth century. It was settled by Bavarians, Bavarian tribes and ruled by List of rulers of Bavaria, dukes (''duces'') ...

Geography

The area is located in the

Alpine Foreland The Alpine Foreland, less commonly called the Bavarian Foreland,Dickinson, Robert E (1964). ''Germany: A regional and economic geography'' (2nd ed.). London: Methuen, pp. 585-586. . Bavarian Plateau or Bavarian Alpine Foreland (), refers to a tria ...

Upper Bavaria Upper Bavaria (, ; ) is one of the seven administrative regions of Bavaria, Germany. Geography Upper Bavaria is located in the southern portion of Bavaria, and is centered on the city of Munich, both state capital and seat of the district gove ...

, about north of

Salzburg Salzburg is the List of cities and towns in Austria, fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020 its population was 156,852. The city lies on the Salzach, Salzach River, near the border with Germany and at the foot of the Austrian Alps, Alps moun ...

in the German -

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

n border region.Guide to Bavaria
/ref> Centered on the town of Laufen and Waginger See, it stretches between the left shore of the

Salzach The Salzach (Austrian: �saltsax ) is a river in Austria and Germany. It is in length and is a right tributary of the Inn (river), Inn, which eventually joins the Danube. Its drainage basin of comprises large parts of the Northern Limeston ...

River in the east and the Bavarian Chiemgau cultural landscape in the west. The northern Rupertiwinkel up to Mt. Rampelsberg and the Alz River at Trostberg is administrated within the

Traunstein Traunstein (; ) is a Town#Germany, town in the south-eastern part of Bavaria, Germany, and is the administrative center of a much larger Traunstein (district), district of the same name. The town serves as a local government, retail, health se ...

District, the northernmost municipality of Tyrlaching within the district of

Altötting Altötting (, , in contrast to "Neuötting, New Ötting"; , ) is a Town#Germany, town in Bavaria, capital of the Altötting (district), district Altötting of Germany. For 500 years it has been the scene of religious pilgrimages by Catholics in ...

. The southern half down to the Hochstaufen and Teisenberg peaks of the

Chiemgau Alps The Chiemgau Alps () are a mountain range in the Northern Limestone Alps and belong to the Eastern Alps. They are crossed by the Austria–Germany border: their major part is situated in Bavaria, Germany, and only a small section is within the ...

and the

Saalach The Saalach is a river in Austria and Germany, and a left tributary of the Salzach. Course The river begins, as the stream, in the Austrian state of Tyrol in the Kitzbühel Alps at the lake below the high Gamshag. From there it flows ini ...

River is part of

Berchtesgadener Land Berchtesgadener Land (Central Bavarian: ''Berchtsgoana Land'') is a ''Landkreis'' (district) in Bavaria, Germany. It is bounded by the district of Traunstein and by the state of Austria. History Middle ages and early modern era The southern a ...

Municipalities

History

Since the early Middle Ages, the area was part of the ''Salzburggau'' within the Bavarian

stem duchy A stem duchy (, from '':wikt:Stamm, Stamm'', meaning "tribe", in reference to the Franks, Saxons, Baiuvarii, Bavarians and Alemanni, Swabians) was a constituent duchy of the Kingdom of Germany at the time of the extinction of the Carolingian dyna ...

. Already about 700 Duke Theodo of Bavaria granted the village of Piding to Bishop Rupert. Due to the fertile soils west of the Salzach River, the archbishops in the following centuries aspired to enlarge their possessions. In 1125 the Höglwörth Abbey was founded, a

Canons Regular The Canons Regular of St. Augustine are Catholic priests who live in community under a rule ( and κανών, ''kanon'', in Greek) and are generally organised into Religious order (Catholic), religious orders, differing from both Secular clergy, ...

monastery near

Anger Anger, also known as wrath ( ; ) or rage (emotion), rage, is an intense emotional state involving a strong, uncomfortable and non-cooperative response to a perceived provocation, hurt, or threat. A person experiencing anger will often experie ...

. In the course of the elevation of Salzburg to a Prince-archbishopric, the episcopal territory was acknowledged by Duke Louis II of Bavaria in 1275. From the early 14th century, the Rupertiwinkel formed the western part of the Salzburg Flachgau region. The archbishops made Palace Staufeneck an episcopal residence; in the north, Tittmoning Castle was rebuilt as a border fortress. When the prince-archbishopric was secularised in 1803, the last Prince-Archbishop Count Hieronymus von Colloredo was replaced by Ferdinand III of Habsburg-Lorraine, former Grand Duke of

Tuscany Tuscany ( ; ) is a Regions of Italy, region in central Italy with an area of about and a population of 3,660,834 inhabitants as of 2025. The capital city is Florence. Tuscany is known for its landscapes, history, artistic legacy, and its in ...

, who went on to rule as Elector of Salzburg until 1806. With Salzburg, the territory passed to the

Austrian Empire The Austrian Empire, officially known as the Empire of Austria, was a Multinational state, multinational European Great Powers, great power from 1804 to 1867, created by proclamation out of the Habsburg monarchy, realms of the Habsburgs. Duri ...

thereafter. In the wake of the

Vienna Congress The Congress of Vienna of 1814–1815 was a series of international diplomatic meetings to discuss and agree upon a possible new layout of the European political and constitutional order after the downfall of the French Emperor Napoleon, Napol ...

, Austria and

finally agreed in 1816 to make the course of the Salzach the border between their lands. Though the population of the Rupertiwinkel stresses its social and cultural distinctiveness (especially in

folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes #Traditional folk music, traditional folk music and the Contemporary folk music, contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be ca ...

and ''

Tracht ''Tracht'' () refers to traditional garments in German-speaking countries and regions. Although the word is most often associated with Bavarian, Austrian, South Tyrolean and Trentino garments, including lederhosen and dirndls, many other Germa ...

'' costumes), the region became a constituent part of the Bavarian state. When after World War II the

state administration demanded an affiliation with Austria, the claims were strongly rejected.

Notable people

Pope Benedict XVI Pope BenedictXVI (born Joseph Alois Ratzinger; 16 April 1927 – 31 December 2022) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 19 April 2005 until his resignation on 28 February 2013. Benedict's election as p ...

, born Joseph Ratzinger, spent his early childhood years in Tittmoning on the Salzach River. *

Dieter Sattler Dietler Sattler (2 February 1906 - 9 November 1968) was a German architect who became involved in politics, especially with respect to culture, the arts and foreign policy. Between 1966 and 1968 he served as the West German ambassador to the Ho ...

, architect and diplomat, spent considerable time with his family at their estate near Taching am See *

Johann Michael Rottmayr Johann Michael Rottmayr (11 December 1656 – 25 October 1730) was an Austrian painter. Biography Rottmayr was born in Laufen an der Salzach, Bavaria. Along with his Laufen-born contemporary, Hans Adam Weissenkircher, he received his educ ...

, notable baroque painter, born in Laufen an der Salzach *

Balthasar Permoser Balthasar Permoser (13 August 1651 – 18 February 1732) was among the leading sculptors of his generation, whose evolving working styles spanned the late Baroque and early Rococo. Biography Permoser was born in Kammer bei Waging, Salzburg, t ...

, sculptor, baptized in ''Kammer'' (until 1923 parish Otting, Rupertiwinkel) * Manuela Kraller (born 1981), singer, born in Ainring

Gallery

File:Staufen mountain germany.jpg, Aerial view of Rupertiwinkel File:Laufen oberndorf.jpg,

near Laufen File:Abtsee1.jpg, Abtsdorfer See File:Höglwörth.jpg, Abbey of Höglwörth File:Unterrichtungstafel Rupertiwinkel (2009).jpg, Educational table „Rupertiwinkel“ at the freeway A8

References

External links

rupertiwinkel.org (Historischa Verein Rupertiwinkel e.V.)
{{Coord, 47.9367, N, 12.9325, E, source:wikidata, display=title Upper Bavaria Cultural landscapes of Germany Prince-archbishops of Salzburg