Upper Bavaria (, ; ) is one of the seven
administrative regions 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 ...
.
Geography
Upper Bavaria is located in the southern portion 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 ...
, and is centered on the city of
Munich
Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...
, both state capital and seat of the district government. Because of this, it is by far the most populous administrative division in Bavaria. It is subdivided into four planning regions (''Planungsverband''): Ingolstadt, Munich, Bayerisches Oberland (Bavarian Highland), and Südostoberbayern (South East Upper Bavaria). The name 'Upper Bavaria' refers to the relative position on the Danube and its tributaries: downstream, Upper Bavaria is followed by
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 ...
, then
Upper Austria
Upper Austria ( ; ; ) is one of the nine States of Austria, states of Austria. Its capital is Linz. Upper Austria borders Germany and the Czech Republic, as well as the other Austrian states of Lower Austria, Styria, and Salzburg (state), Salzbur ...
, and subsequently
Lower Austria
Lower Austria ( , , abbreviated LA or NÖ) is one of the nine states of Austria, located in the northeastern corner of the country. Major cities are Amstetten, Lower Austria, Amstetten, Krems an der Donau, Wiener Neustadt and Sankt Pölten, which ...
. It consists of 20 districts and 500 municipalities (including three cities).
''Landkreise'' (districts):
*
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 ...
*
Bad Tölz-Wolfratshausen
Bad Tölz-Wolfratshausen ( Bavarian: ''Bad Däiz-Woifradshausn'') is a ''Landkreis'' (district) in Bavaria, Germany. It is bounded by (from the south and clockwise) Austria and the districts of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Weilheim-Schongau, Starnber ...
*
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 ...
*
Dachau
Dachau (, ; , ; ) was one of the first concentration camps built by Nazi Germany and the longest-running one, opening on 22 March 1933. The camp was initially intended to intern Hitler's political opponents, which consisted of communists, s ...
*
Ebersberg
Ebersberg is the seat of the similarly named Ebersberg '' Landkreis'' (district) in the Oberbayern ''Regierungsbezirk'' (administrative region) in Bavaria, southern Germany. The ''Ebersberger Forst'' (forest) is one of Germany’s largest conti ...
*
Eichstätt
Eichstätt () is a town in the federal state of Bavaria, Germany, and capital of the district of Eichstätt. It is located on the Altmühl river and has a population of around 13,000. Eichstätt is also the seat of the Roman Catholic Dioce ...
*
Erding
Erding () is a Town#Germany, town in Bavaria, Germany, and capital of the Erding (district), rural district of the same name. It had a population of 36,469 in 2019.
The original Erdinger Weissbier is a well-known Bavarian specialty.
Erding is ...
*
Freising
Freising () is a university town in Bavaria, Germany, and the capital of the Freising (district), with a population of about 50,000.
Location
Freising is the oldest town between Regensburg and Bolzano, and is located on the Isar river in ...
*
Fürstenfeldbruck
Fürstenfeldbruck () is a town in Bavaria, Germany, 32 kilometres west of Munich. It is the capital of the district of Fürstenfeldbruck. it had a population of 35,494. Since the 1930s Fürstenfeldbruck has had an air force base.
Geography
F ...
*
Garmisch-Partenkirchen
Garmisch-Partenkirchen (; ) is an Northern Limestone Alps, Alpine mountain resort, ski town in Bavaria, southern Germany. It is the seat of government of the Garmisch-Partenkirchen (district), district of Garmisch-Partenkirchen (abbreviated ...
*
Landsberg
*
Miesbach
Miesbach () is a Town#Germany, town in Bavaria, Germany, and is the capital of the Miesbach (district), Miesbach district. The district is at an altitude of 697 metres above sea level. It covers an area of approximately 863.50 km2 of alpine ...
*
Mühldorf
Mühldorf am Inn (, ; Central Bavarian: ''Muihdorf am Inn'') is a Town#Germany, town in Bavaria, Germany, and the capital of the Mühldorf (district), district Mühldorf on the river Inn (river), Inn. It is located at , and had a population of ab ...
*
Munich
Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...
(''München'')
*
Neuburg-Schrobenhausen
Neuburg-Schrobenhausen is a ''Landkreis'' (district) in Bavaria, Germany. It is bounded by (from the east and clockwise) the districts of Pfaffenhofen, Aichach-Friedberg, Donau-Ries and Eichstätt, and by the city of Ingolstadt.
History
The di ...
*
Pfaffenhofen
*
Rosenheim
Rosenheim () is a city in Bavaria, Germany. It is an independent city located in the centre of the Rosenheim (district), district of Rosenheim (Upper Bavaria), and is also the seat of its administration. It is located on the west bank of the Inn ...
*
Starnberg
Starnberg is a Town#Germany, town in Bavaria, Germany, some southwest of Munich. It is at the north end of Lake Starnberg, in the heart of the "Five Lakes Country", and serves as capital of the Starnberg (district), district of Starnberg. Recor ...
*
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 ...
*
Weilheim-Schongau
Weilheim-Schongau is a ''Landkreis'' (district) in the south of Bavaria, Germany. Neighboring districts are (from the north clockwise) Landsberg, Starnberg, Bad Tölz-Wolfratshausen, Garmisch-Partenkirchen and Ostallgäu.
Geography
The distric ...
''Kreisfreie Städte'' (district-free cities):
*
Ingolstadt
Ingolstadt (; Austro-Bavarian language, Austro-Bavarian: ) is an Independent city#Germany, independent city on the Danube, in Upper Bavaria, with 142,308 inhabitants (as of 31 December 2023). Around half a million people live in the metropolitan ...
*
Munich
Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...
(''München'')
*
Rosenheim
Rosenheim () is a city in Bavaria, Germany. It is an independent city located in the centre of the Rosenheim (district), district of Rosenheim (Upper Bavaria), and is also the seat of its administration. It is located on the west bank of the Inn ...
Population
Historical Population of Upper Bavaria:
Economy
The Gross domestic product (GDP) of the region was €273.7 billion in 2018, accounting for 8.2% of German economic output. GDP per capita adjusted for purchasing power was €53,900 or 179% of the EU27 average in the same year. The GDP per employee was 134% of the EU average. This makes Upper Bavaria one of the richest regions in Europe.
History
The duchy of
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 ...
was created for the first time with the ''First Bavarian
partition'' in 1255 under duke
Louis II, but there was no exact correlation between this duchy and the current territory. After the reunification in 1340 Bavaria was divided again in 1349, and in 1392 the duchies
Bavaria-Munich
Bavaria-Munich () was a duchy that was a constituent state of the Holy Roman Empire from 1392 to 1505.
History
After the death of Stephen II, Duke of Bavaria, Stephen II in 1375, his sons Stephen III, Duke of Bavaria, Stephen III, Frederick, D ...
and
Bavaria-Ingolstadt
Bavaria-Ingolstadt ( or ') was a sub-duchy which was part of the Holy Roman Empire from 1392 to 1447.
History
After the death of Stephen II in 1375, his sons Stephen III, Frederick, and John II jointly ruled Bavaria-Landshut. After seventeen ...
were created in Upper Bavaria. In 1505 Bavaria was permanently reunited. For administrative purposes, Bavaria was split into ''Rentämter'' (plural of '). Upper Bavaria consisted of the Rentamt Munich and Rentamt Burghausen.
After the founding 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 ...
the state was totally reorganised and, in 1808, divided into 15 administrative districts (Regierungsbezirke (singular Regierungsbezirk)), in Bavaria called (Kreise (singular Kreis)). They were created in the fashion of the French departements, quite even in size and population, and named after their main rivers. In the following years, due to territorial changes (e. g. loss of Tyrol, addition of the
Palatinate), the number of districts was reduced to 8. One of these was the
Isarkreis (Isar District). In 1837 king
Ludwig I of Bavaria
Ludwig I or Louis I (; 25 August 1786 – 29 February 1868) was King of Bavaria from 1825 until the German revolutions of 1848–49, 1848 revolutions in the German states. When he was crown prince, he was involved in the Napoleonic Wars. As ki ...
renamed the Kreise after historical names, and tribes. This also involved border changes or territorial swaps. Thus, the Isarkreis changed to Upper Bavaria.
Instead of a Rentamt-style mere administrational unit, the newly created districts became predecessors of modern regional self-government, building a political and administrational link in-between the Bavarian state as a whole and the local authorities.
Main sights
Featured former residence cities are the capital Munich, Ingolstadt and
Neuburg an der Donau
Neuburg an der Donau (Central Bavarian: ''Neiburg an da Donau'') is a town which is the capital of the Neuburg-Schrobenhausen district in the state of Bavaria in Germany.
Divisions
The municipality has 16 divisions:
* Altmannstetten
* Bergen, N ...
and the diocesan towns of
Freising
Freising () is a university town in Bavaria, Germany, and the capital of the Freising (district), with a population of about 50,000.
Location
Freising is the oldest town between Regensburg and Bolzano, and is located on the Isar river in ...
and
Eichstätt
Eichstätt () is a town in the federal state of Bavaria, Germany, and capital of the district of Eichstätt. It is located on the Altmühl river and has a population of around 13,000. Eichstätt is also the seat of the Roman Catholic Dioce ...
. Interesting townscapes are found at
Landsberg am Lech
Landsberg am Lech (Landsberg at the Lech (river), Lech) is a Town#Germany, town in southwest Bavaria, Germany, about 65 kilometers west of Munich and 35 kilometers south of Augsburg. It is the capital of the district of Landsberg (district), Lands ...
,
Wasserburg am Inn
Wasserburg am Inn (Central Bavarian: ''Wassabuag am Inn'') is a town in Rosenheim district in Upper Bavaria, Germany. The historic centre is a peninsula formed by the meandering river Inn. Many Medieval structures remain intact, giving the city ...
and
Burghausen and further south
Bad Reichenhall
Bad Reichenhall (; Central Bavarian: ''Reichahoi'') is a spa town, and administrative center of the Berchtesgadener Land district in Upper Bavaria, Germany. It is located near Salzburg in a basin encircled by the Chiemgau Alps (including Mount Stau ...
and
Berchtesgaden
Berchtesgaden () is a municipality in the district Berchtesgadener Land, Bavaria, in southeastern Germany, near the border with Austria, south of Salzburg and southeast of Munich. It lies in the Berchtesgaden Alps. South of the town, the Be ...
.
The highest mountain in Upper Bavaria,
Zugspitze
The Zugspitze ( , ; ), at above Normalhöhennull, sea level, is the highest peak of the Wetterstein Mountains and the highest mountain in Germany. It lies south of the town of Garmisch-Partenkirchen in Bavaria, and the Austria–Germany border ...
, offers an incomparable panoramic view of the Alps. Nestled in forested mountain ranges, the lakes
Tegernsee
Tegernsee () is a Town#Germany, town in the Miesbach (district), Miesbach district of Bavaria, Germany. It is located on the banks of Tegernsee (lake), Lake Tegernsee, which is 747 m (2,451 ft) AMSL, above sea level. A spa town, it is su ...
,
Schliersee
Schliersee is a small town (Markt) and a municipality in the district of Miesbach in Bavaria in Germany. It is named after the nearby Lake Schliersee. It comprises the districts Schliersee (town), , , , Josefsthal and Spitzingsee.
Among the p ...
, and
Spitzingsee, are idyllically situated. The larger lakes, like
Starnberger See
Lake Starnberg, or ''Starnberger See'' ) — called Lake Würm or ''Würmsee'' until 1962 — is Germany's second-largest body of fresh water, having great depth, and fifth-largest Lake, lake by area. It and its surroundings lie in three differen ...
,
Ammersee
Ammersee (; English: Lake Ammer) is a '' Zungenbecken'' lake in Upper Bavaria, Germany, southwest of Munich between the towns of Herrsching and Dießen am Ammersee. With a surface area of approximately , it is the sixth largest lake in Germany ...
(south-west of Munich), and
Chiemsee
Chiemsee () is a freshwater lake in Bavaria, Germany, near Rosenheim. It is often called "the Bavarian Sea". The rivers Tiroler Achen and Prien (river), Prien flow into the lake from the south, and the river Alz flows out towards the north. The ...
further to the east, all situated in the pre-alpine uplands, offer regular Passenger services on steamers.
Sacred art treasures can be found in the monasteries
Andechs
Andechs is a municipality in the district of Starnberg in Bavaria in Germany. It is renowned in Germany and beyond for Andechs Abbey, a Benedictine
The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict (, abbreviated as O.S.B. or OSB ...
,
Schäftlarn,
Fürstenfeld
Fürstenfeld (; ) is a small historic city in Styria, Austria. It is situated near the border with Hungary, which is why the city was originally founded. The town has become quite famous in Austria and Germany because of the song by the same name ...
,
Benediktbeuern
Benediktbeuern (; Central Bavarian: ''Benediktbeiern'') is a municipality in the district of Bad Tölz-Wolfratshausen in Bavaria, Germany, 2 kilometers, or 1.25 miles from Bichl. The village has 3,602 residents as of 31 December 2019.
The medie ...
,
Polling
Poll, polled, or polling may refer to:
Forms of voting and counting
* Poll, a formal election
** Election verification exit poll, a survey taken to verify election counts
** Polling, voting to make decisions or determine opinions
** Polling pla ...
and
Ettal
Ettal is a German municipality and a village in the district of Garmisch-Partenkirchen in Bavaria.
Geography
Ettal is situated in the ''Oberland'' area in the ''Graswangtal'' between the ''Loisachtal'' and '' Ammertal'', approx. 10 km north o ...
and in the
Wieskirche. Among popular excursions in Upper Bavaria are the
Koenigssee with the Sanctuary of St Bartholomew's and mount
Watzmann
The Watzmann () is a mountain in the Berchtesgaden Alps south of the village of Berchtesgaden. It is the third highest in Germany, and the highest located entirely on German territory.
Three main peaks array on a N-S axis along a ridge on the ...
, the royal castles of
Ludwig II
Ludwig II (Ludwig Otto Friedrich Wilhelm; 25 August 1845 – 13 June 1886), also called the Swan King or the Fairy Tale King (), was King of Bavaria from 1864 until his death in 1886. He also held the titles of Count Palatine of the Rhine, Duk ...
,
Linderhof
Linderhof Palace () is a schloss in Germany, in southwest Bavaria near the village of Ettal. It is the smallest of the three palaces built by King Ludwig II of Bavaria and the only one which was actually completed and that he lived in most of t ...
and
Herrenchiemsee
Herrenchiemsee is a complex of royal buildings on Herreninsel, the largest island in the Chiemsee lake, in southern Bavaria, Germany. Together with the neighbouring isle of Frauenchiemsee and the uninhabited Krautinsel, it forms the municipali ...
in
Chiemsee
Chiemsee () is a freshwater lake in Bavaria, Germany, near Rosenheim. It is often called "the Bavarian Sea". The rivers Tiroler Achen and Prien (river), Prien flow into the lake from the south, and the river Alz flows out towards the north. The ...
, the
Burghausen Castle and the castle
Hohenaschau. The most important places of pilgrimage are
Altoetting and
Tuntenhausen.
References
External links
Official websiteRegierung von Oberbayern
Official websiteBezirk Oberbayern
Tourism website
{{Authority control
NUTS 2 statistical regions of the European Union
Government regions of Germany