Bavaria

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For other uses, see Bavaria (disambiguation) and Bayern (disambiguation).

Free State of Bavaria
Freistaat Bayern (German)
Freistoot Bayern (Bavarian)
State
Coat of arms of Free State of Bavaria
NUTS Region
DE2
HDI (2018)0.956[3]
very high · 5th of 16
Websitewww.bayern.de

Bavaria (

below the German average. Bavaria's main cities are Munich (its capital and largest city and also the third largest city in Germany),[4] Nuremberg, and Augsburg
.

The

Federal Republic of Germany in 1949.[5]

Bavaria has a unique culture, largely because of the state's

German states by GDP figures, giving it a status as a wealthy German region.[8]

Contemporary Bavaria also includes parts of the historical regions of Franconia and Swabia.

History

Main article: History of Bavaria

Antiquity

Prehistoric Heunischenburg, in the vicinity of Kronach

The Bavarians emerged in a region north of the Alps, previously inhabited by Celts, which had been part of the Roman provinces of Raetia and Noricum.

The Bavarians spoke a Germanic dialect which developed into Old High German during the early Middle Ages, however, unlike other Germanic groups, they probably did not migrate from elsewhere when Western Roman influence collapsed.

Rather, they seem to have coalesced out of other groups left behind by the Roman withdrawal late in the 5th century. These peoples may have included the Celtic

Rugians, Heruli. The name "Bavarian" ("Baiuvarii
") means "Men of Baia" which may indicate Bohemia, the homeland of the Boii and later of the Marcomanni. They first appear in written sources circa 520.

A 17th century Jewish chronicler, David Gans, citing Cyriacus Spangenberg, claimed that the diocese was named after an ancient Bohemian king, Boiia, in the 14th century BC.[9]

Middle Ages

Further information: Duchy of Bavaria

From about 554 to 788, the house of

Tassilo III who was deposed by Charlemagne.[10]

Three early dukes are named in

Theodelinde, became Queen of the Lombards
in northern Italy and Garibald was forced to flee to her when he fell out with his Frankish overlords.

Garibald's successor,

Slavs and Avars around 600. Tassilo's son Garibald II seems to have achieved a balance of power between 610 and 616.[11]

After Garibald II, little is known of the Bavarians until Duke Theodo I, whose reign may have begun as early as 680. From 696 onward, he invited churchmen from the west to organize churches and strengthen Christianity in his duchy. (It is unclear what Bavarian religious life consisted of before this time.)

His son, Theudebert, led a decisive Bavarian campaign to intervene in a succession dispute in the Lombard Kingdom in 714, and married his sister Guntrud to the Lombard King Liutprand. At Theodo's death the duchy was divided among his sons, but reunited under his grandson Hugbert.

Bavaria in the 10th century

At Hugbert's death (735) the duchy passed to a distant relative named

Alemannia (modern southwest Germany and northern Switzerland). Odilo issued a law code for Bavaria, completed the process of church organization in partnership with St. Boniface (739), and tried to intervene in Frankish succession disputes by fighting for the claims of the Carolingian Grifo. He was defeated near Augsburg in 743 but continued to rule until his death in 748.[12][13]

Saint Boniface completed the people's conversion to Christianity in the early 8th century.

Tassilo III (b. 741 – d. after 796) succeeded his father at the age of eight after an unsuccessful attempt by Grifo to rule Bavaria. He initially ruled under Frankish oversight but began to function independently from 763 onward. He was particularly noted for founding new monasteries and for expanding eastwards, fighting Slavs in the eastern Alps and along the Danube
and colonizing these lands.

After 781, however, his cousin Charlemagne began to pressure Tassilo to submit and finally deposed him in 788. The deposition was not entirely legitimate.

Dissenters attempted a coup against Charlemagne at Tassilo's old capital of Regensburg in 792, led by his own son Pépin the Hunchback. The king had to drag Tassilo out of imprisonment to formally renounce his rights and titles at the Assembly of Frankfurt in 794. This is the last appearance of Tassilo in the sources, and he probably died a monk. As all of his family were also forced into monasteries, this was the end of the Agilolfing dynasty.

The Bavarian duchies after the partition of 1392

For the next 400 years numerous families held the duchy, rarely for more than three generations. With the revolt of duke Henry the Quarrelsome in 976, Bavaria lost large territories in the south and south east.

The territory of

Babenberger family. This event marks the founding of Austria. Later the counts of Tyrol next to other princes began to act more independently from the dukes of Bavaria, and the new Duchy of Merania
was created from lordships once under the jurisdiction of the Duchy of Bavaria.

The last, and one of the most important, of the dukes of Bavaria was

Electorate of the Palatinate by Rhine (Kurpfalz in German) was also acquired by the House of Wittelsbach in 1214, which they would subsequently hold for six centuries.[14]

The first of several divisions of the duchy of Bavaria occurred in 1255. With the extinction of the

Hohenstaufen in 1268, Swabian territories were acquired by the Wittelsbach dukes. Emperor Louis the Bavarian acquired Brandenburg, Tyrol, Holland and Hainaut for his House but released the Upper Palatinate for the Palatinate branch of the Wittelsbach in 1329. That time also Salzburg finally became independent from the Duchy of Bavaria
.

In the 14th and 15th centuries, upper and lower Bavaria were repeatedly subdivided. Four Duchies existed after the division of 1392:

Landshut War of Succession, the other parts of Bavaria were reunited, and Munich became the sole capital. The country became a center of the Jesuit-inspired Counter-Reformation
.

Bavarian herald Joerg Rugenn wearing a tabard
of the arms around 1510

Electorate of Bavaria

Further information: Electorate of Bavaria

In 1623 the Bavarian duke replaced his relative of the Palatinate branch, the

Electorate of the Palatinate in the early days of the Thirty Years' War and acquired the powerful prince-electoral dignity in the Holy Roman Empire
, determining its Emperor thence forward, as well as special legal status under the empire's laws.

During the early and mid-18th century the ambitions of the Bavarian prince electors led to several wars with Austria as well as occupations by Austria (War of the Spanish Succession, War of the Austrian Succession with the election of a Wittelsbach emperor instead of a Habsburg).

From 1777 onward, and after the younger Bavarian branch of the family had died out with elector

Electorate of the Palatinate were governed once again in personal union
, now by the Palatinian lines.

The new state also comprised the

Berg
as these on their part were in personal union with the Palatinate.

Kingdom of Bavaria

Main article: Kingdom of Bavaria
Bavaria in the 19th century and beyond

When Napoleon abolished the Holy Roman Empire, Bavaria became – by grace of Napoleon – a kingdom in 1806 due, in part, to the Confederation of the Rhine.[15]

Its area doubled after the Duchy of Jülich was ceded to France, as the Electoral Palatinate was divided between France and the

Jerome Bonaparte. Tyrol and Salzburg were temporarily reunited with Bavaria but finally ceded to Austria by the Congress of Vienna
.

In return Bavaria was allowed to annex the modern-day region of

Montgelas
, followed a strict policy of modernisation copying Napoleonic France; he laid the foundations of centralized administrative structures that survived the monarchy and, in part, have retained core validity through the 20st century.

In May 1808, a first constitution was passed by Maximilian I,[16] being modernized in 1818. This second version established a bicameral Parliament with a House of Lords (Kammer der Reichsräte) and a House of Commons (Kammer der Abgeordneten). That constitution was followed until the collapse of the monarchy at the end of World War I.

After the rise of

North German Confederation of 1867, but the question of German unity was still alive. When France declared war on Prussia in 1870, all the south German states (Baden, Württemberg, Hessen-Darmstadt and Bavaria) aside from Austria, joined the Prussian forces and ultimately joined the Federation, which was renamed Deutsches Reich (German Empire)
in 1871.

Bavaria continued formally as a monarchy, and it had some special rights within the federation (such as an army, railways, postal service and a diplomatic body of its own) but the diplomatic body were later undone by Wilhelm II who declared them illegal and got rid of the diplomatic service.[citation needed]

Part of the German Empire

Bavaria within the German Empire

When Bavaria became part of the newly formed German Empire, this action was considered controversial by Bavarian nationalists who had wanted to retain independence from the rest of Germany, as had Austria.

As Bavaria had a heavily Catholic majority population, many people resented being ruled by the mostly Protestant northerners of Prussia. As a direct result of the Bavarian-Prussian feud, political parties formed to encourage Bavaria to break away and regain its independence.[17]

In the early 20th century, Wassily Kandinsky, Paul Klee, Henrik Ibsen, and other artists were drawn to Bavaria, especially to the Schwabing district of Munich, a center of international artistic activity.

Free State of Bavaria

A memorial to soldiers who died in the two World Wars in Dietelskirchen (Kröning
), Bavaria

Free State has been an adopted designation after the abolition of monarchy in the aftermath of World War I in several German states.

On 12 November 1918, Ludwig III signed a document, the Anif declaration, releasing both civil and military officers from their oaths; the newly formed republican government, or "People's State" of Socialist premier Kurt Eisner,[18] interpreted this as an abdication. To date, however, no member of the House of Wittelsbach has ever formally declared renunciation of the throne.[19]

On the other hand, none has ever since officially called upon their Bavarian or Stuart claims. Family members are active in cultural and social life, including the head of the house, Franz, Duke of Bavaria. They step back from any announcements on public affairs, showing approval or disapproval solely by Franz's presence or absence.

Eisner was assassinated in February 1919, ultimately leading to a Communist revolt and the short-lived Bavarian Soviet Republic being proclaimed 6 April 1919. After violent suppression by elements of the German Army and notably the Freikorps, the Bavarian Soviet Republic fell in May 1919. The Bamberg Constitution (Bamberger Verfassung) was enacted on 12 or 14 August 1919 and came into force on 15 September 1919 creating the Free State of Bavaria within the Weimar Republic.

Extremist activity further increased, notably the 1923

German federal election, March 1933
, the Nazis received less than 50% of the votes cast in Bavaria.

As a manufacturing centre, Munich was heavily bombed during World War II and was occupied by U.S. troops, becoming a major part of the American Zone of Allied-occupied Germany (1945–47) and then of "Bizonia".

The Rhenish Palatinate was detached from Bavaria in 1946 and made part of the new state Rhineland-Palatinate. During the Cold War, Bavaria was part of West Germany. In 1949, the Free State of Bavaria chose not to sign the Founding Treaty (Gründungsvertrag) for the formation of the Federal Republic of Germany, opposing the division of Germany into two countries after World War II.

The

Basic Law of Germany
, mainly because it was seen as not granting sufficient powers to the individual Länder (states), but at the same time decided that it would still come into force in Bavaria if two-thirds of the other Länder ratified it. All of the other Länder ratified it, however, so it became law.[20]

Bavarian identity

Expression of Bavarian (linguistic) identity in a shop window in the town of Regensburg, Upper Palatinate

Bavarians have often emphasized a separate national identity and considered themselves as "Bavarians" first, "Germans" second.[21]

In the 19th-century sense, an independent Bavarian State only existed from 1806 to 1871. This feeling started to come about more strongly among Bavarians when the Kingdom of Bavaria was forced by Bismarck to join the Protestant Prussian-dominated German Empire in 1871, while the Bavarian nationalists wanted to keep Bavaria as Catholic and an independent state. Aside from the minority Bavaria Party, most Bavarians now accept Bavaria is part of Germany.[22]

Another consideration is that Bavarians foster different cultural identities: Franconia in the north, speaking East Franconian German; Bavarian Swabia in the south west, speaking Swabian German; and Altbayern (so-called "Old Bavaria", the regions forming the "historic", pentagon-shaped Bavaria before the acquisitions through the Vienna Congress, at present the districts of the Upper Palatinate, Lower and Upper Bavaria) speaking Austro-Bavarian.[citation needed]

In Munich, the Old Bavarian dialect was widely spread, but nowadays High German is predominantly spoken there.

Flags and coat of arms

Main articles: Flag of Bavaria and Coat of arms of Bavaria

Flags

Uniquely among German states, Bavaria has two official flags of equal status, one with a white and blue stripe, the other with white and blue lozenges. Either may be used by civilians and government offices, who are free to choose between them.[23] Unofficial versions of the flag, especially a lozenge style with coat of arms, are sometimes used by civilians.

Coat of arms

The modern coat of arms of Bavaria was designed by Eduard Ege in 1946, following heraldic traditions.

  • The Golden Lion: At the dexter chief, sable, a lion rampant Or, armed and langued gules. This represents the administrative region of Upper Palatinate.
  • The "Franconian Rake": At the sinister chief, per fess dancetty, gules, and argent. This represents the administrative regions of Upper, Middle and Lower Franconia.
  • The Blue "Pantier" (mythical creature from French heraldry, sporting a flame instead of a tongue): At the dexter base, argent, a Pantier rampant azure, armed Or and langued gules. This represents the regions of Lower and Upper Bavaria.
  • The Three Lions: At the sinister base, Or, three lions passant guardant sable, armed and langued gules. This represents Swabia.
  • The White-And-Blue inescutcheon: The inescutcheon of white and blue fusils askance was originally the coat of arms of the Counts of Bogen, adopted in 1247 by the House of Wittelsbach. The white-and-blue fusils are indisputably the emblem of Bavaria and these arms today symbolize Bavaria as a whole. Along with the People's Crown, it is officially used as the Minor Coat of Arms.
  • The People's Crown (Volkskrone): The coat of arms is surmounted by a
    the people
    after the royal crown was eschewed in 1923.

Geography

View of the Bavarian Alps (foreground); in the background Austria (specifically Tyrol): Inn valley (center) with (left) Kaisergebirge and (right) Pendling mountain. In the extreme background (center-left) the snow-capped High Tauern
.

Bavaria shares international borders with Austria (Salzburg, Tyrol, Upper Austria and Vorarlberg) and the Czech Republic (Karlovy Vary, Plzeň and South Bohemian Regions), as well as with Switzerland (across Lake Constance to the Canton of St. Gallen). All of these countries are part of the Schengen Area, so the borders are completely open (except during COVID-19).

Neighboring states within Germany are Baden-Württemberg, Hesse, Thuringia, and Saxony. Two major rivers flow through the state: the Danube (Donau) and the Main. The Bavarian Forest and the Bohemian Forest form the vast majority of the frontier with the Czech Republic and Bohemia.

The major cities in Bavaria are Munich (München), Nuremberg (Nürnberg), Augsburg, Regensburg, Würzburg, Ingolstadt, Fürth, and Erlangen.

The geographic center of the European Union is located in the northwestern corner of Bavaria.

Mountains

The Bavarian Alps define the border with Austria (including the Austrian federal-states of Vorarlberg, Tyrol and Salzburg), and within the range is the highest peak in Germany: the Zugspitze.

Hills

Climate

At lower elevations the climate is classified according to Köppen's guide as “Cfb” or “Dfb” at lower altitudes, then at higher altitudes the climate becomes “Dfc” and “ET”.

The summer months have been getting hotter in recent years.

Alpine glaciers: Of the five glaciers of Bavaria only the Höllentalferner is predicted to exist over a longer time perspective. The Südliche Schneeferner has almost vanished since the 1980s.[24]

Administrative divisions

Administrative regions

Administrative regions (Regierungsbezirke and Bezirke) of Bavaria

Bavaria is divided into seven administrative regions called Regierungsbezirke (singular Regierungsbezirk). Each of these regions has a state agency called the Bezirksregierung (district government).

  1. Upper Palatinate (German: Oberpfalz)
  2. Upper Bavaria (Oberbayern)
  3. Lower Bavaria (Niederbayern)
  1. Upper Franconia (Oberfranken)
  2. Middle Franconia (Mittelfranken)
  3. Lower Franconia (Unterfranken)
  1. Swabia
    (Schwaben)

Bezirke

Bezirke (districts) are the third communal layer in Bavaria; the others are the Landkreise and the Gemeinden or Städte. The Bezirke in Bavaria are territorially identical with the Regierungsbezirke, but they are self-governing regional corporation, having their own parliaments. In the other larger states of Germany, there are only Regierungsbezirke as administrative divisions and no self-governing entities at the level of the Regierungsbezirke as the Bezirke in Bavaria.

Population and area

Bezirk Coat of arms Capital Population (2019)[26] Area (km2) No. municipalities
Lower Bavaria
DEU Niederbayern COA.svg
 Landshut 1,244,169 9.48% 10,330 14.6% 258 12.5%
Lower Franconia
Unterfranken Wappen.svg
 Würzburg 1,317,619 10.46% 8,531 12.1% 308 15.0%
Upper Franconia
Wappen Bezirk Oberfranken2.svg
 Bayreuth 1,065,371 8.49% 7,231 10.2% 214 10.4%
Middle Franconia
Mittelfranken Wappen.svg
 Ansbach 1,775,169 13.65% 7,245 10.3% 210 10.2%
Upper Palatinate
DEU Oberpfalz COA.svg
 Regensburg 1,112,102 8.60% 9,691 13.7% 226 11.0%
Swabia
Wappen Schwaben Bayern.svg
 Augsburg 1,899,442 14.21% 9,992 14.2% 340 16.5%
Upper Bavaria
DEU Oberbayern COA.svg
 Munich 4,710,865 35.12% 17,530 24.8% 500 24.3%
Total 13,124,737 100.0% 70,549 100.0% 2,056 100.0%

Districts

The second communal layer is made up of 71 rural districts (called Landkreise, singular Landkreis) that are comparable to counties, as well as the 25 independent cities (Kreisfreie Städte, singular Kreisfreie Stadt), both of which share the same administrative responsibilities.

Map of the Landkreise of Bavaria

Rural districts:

  1. Aichach-Friedberg
  2. Altötting
  3. Amberg-Sulzbach
  4. Ansbach
  5. Aschaffenburg
  6. Augsburg
  7. Bad Kissingen
  8. Bad Tölz-Wolfratshausen
  9. Bamberg
  10. Bayreuth
  11. Berchtesgadener Land
  12. Cham
  13. Coburg
  14. Dachau
  15. Deggendorf
  16. Dillingen
  17. Dingolfing-Landau
  18. Donau-Ries
  19. Ebersberg
  20. Eichstätt
  21. Erding
  22. Erlangen-Höchstadt
  23. Forchheim
  24. Freising
  25. Freyung-Grafenau
  26. Fürstenfeldbruck
  27. Fürth
  28. Garmisch-Partenkirchen
  29. Günzburg
  30. Hassberge
  31. Hof
  32. Kelheim
  33. Kitzingen
  34. Kronach
  35. Kulmbach
  36. Landsberg
  1. Landshut
  2. Lichtenfels
  3. Lindau
  4. Main-Spessart
  5. Miesbach
  6. Miltenberg
  7. Mühldorf
  8. München (Landkreis München)
  9. Neuburg-Schrobenhausen
  10. Neumarkt
  11. Neustadt (Aisch)-Bad Windsheim
  12. Neustadt an der Waldnaab
  13. Neu-Ulm
  14. Nürnberger Land
  15. Oberallgäu
  16. Ostallgäu
  17. Passau
  18. Pfaffenhofen
  19. Regen
  20. Regensburg
  21. Rhön-Grabfeld
  22. Rosenheim
  23. Roth
  24. Rottal-Inn
  25. Schwandorf
  26. Schweinfurt
  27. Starnberg
  28. Straubing-Bogen
  29. Tirschenreuth
  30. Traunstein
  31. Unterallgäu
  32. Weilheim-Schongau
  33. Weissenburg-Gunzenhausen
  34. Wunsiedel
  35. Würzburg

Independent cities:

  1. Amberg
  2. Ansbach
  3. Aschaffenburg
  4. Augsburg
  5. Bamberg
  6. Bayreuth
  7. Coburg
  8. Erlangen
  9. Fürth
  10. Hof
  11. Ingolstadt
  12. Kaufbeuren
  13. Kempten
  1. Landshut
  2. Memmingen
  3. Munich (München)
  4. Nuremberg (Nürnberg)
  5. Passau
  6. Regensburg
  7. Rosenheim
  8. Schwabach
  9. Schweinfurt
  10. Straubing
  11. Weiden
  12. Würzburg

Municipalities

The 71 rural districts are on the lowest level divided into 2,031 regular municipalities (called Gemeinden, singular Gemeinde). Together with the 25 independent cities (kreisfreie Städte, which are in effect municipalities independent of Landkreis administrations), there are a total of 2,056 municipalities in Bavaria.

Frauenkirche (left) and Rathaus
(town hall)
Nuremberg
Augsburg
Regensburg with the Danube (foreground) and Regensburg Cathedral

In 44 of the 71 rural districts, there are a total of 215

Starnberger See-without island Roseninsel, Ammersee, which are the three largest lakes of Bavaria, and Waginger See
).

Major cities and towns

City Region Inhabitants
(2000) 		Inhabitants
(2005) 		Inhabitants
(2010) 		Inhabitants
(2015) 		Change
(%)
Munich Upper Bavaria 1,210,223 1,259,677 1,353,186 1,450,381 +11.81
Nuremberg Middle Franconia 488,400 499,237 505,664 509,975 +3.53
Augsburg Swabia 254,982 262,676 264,708 286,374 +3.81
Regensburg Upper Palatinate 125,676 129,859 135,520 145,465 +7.83
Ingolstadt Upper Bavaria 115,722 121,314 125,088 132,438 +8.09
Würzburg Lower Franconia 127,966 133,906 133,799 124,873 +4.56
Fürth Middle Franconia 110,477 113,422 114,628 124,171 +3.76
Erlangen Middle Franconia 100,778 103,197 105,629 108,336 +4.81
Bayreuth Upper Franconia 74,153 73,997 72,683 72,148 −1.98
Bamberg Upper Franconia 69,036 70,081 70,004 73,331 +1.40
Aschaffenburg Lower Franconia 67,592 68,642 68,678 68,986 +1.61
Landshut Lower Bavaria 58,746 61,368 63,258 69,211 +7.68
Kempten Swabia 61,389 61,360 62,060 66,947 +1.09
Rosenheim Upper Bavaria 58,908 60,226 61,299 61,844 +4.06
Neu-Ulm Swabia 50,188 51,410 53,504 57,237 +6.61
Schweinfurt Lower Franconia 54,325 54,273 53,415 51,969 −1.68
Passau Lower Bavaria 50,536 50,651 50,594 50,566 +0.11
Freising Upper Bavaria 40,890 42,854 45,223 46,963 +10.60
Straubing Lower Bavaria 44,014 44,633 44,450 46,806 +0.99
Dachau Upper Bavaria 38,398 39,922 42,954 46,705 +11.87

Source: Bayerisches Landesamt für Statistik und Datenverarbeitung[27][28]

See also: List of places in Bavaria and List of cities in Bavaria by population

Politics

The Bavarian State Chancellery in Munich
Main article: Politics of Bavaria

Bavaria has a multiparty system dominated by the conservative

Chancellorship
.

The German Greens and the center-right Free Voters have been represented in the state parliament since 1986 and 2008 respectively.

In the

2008 elections the CSU lost the absolute majority for the first time in 46 years.[29]

The losses were partly attributed by some to the CSU's stance for an anti-smoking bill.[further explanation needed] (A first anti-smoking law had been proposed by the CSU and passed but was watered down after the election, after which a referendum enforced a strict antismoking bill with a large majority).

Current Landtag

SPD: 22 seats
  The Greens: 38 seats
  FDP: 11 seats
  Free Voters: 27 seats
  CSU: 85 seats
  AfD
: 22 seats

The

last state elections were held on 14 October 2018 in which the CSU lost its absolute majority in the state parliament in part due to the party's stances as part of the federal government, winning 37.2% of the vote; the party's second worst local election outcome in its history after 1950. The Greens who had surged in the polls leading up to the election have replaced the social-democratic SPD as the second biggest force in the Landtag with 17.6% of the vote. The SPD lost over half of its previous share compared to 2013 with a mere 9.7% in 2018. The liberals of the FDP were again able to reach the five-percent-threshold in order to receive mandates in parliament after they were not part of the Landtag after the 2013 elections. Also entering the new parliament were the right-wing populist Alternative for Germany (AfD), with 10.2% of the vote.[30]

The center-right Free Voters party gained 11.6% of the vote and formed a government coalition with the CSU which led to the subsequent reelection of Markus Söder as

Minister-President of Bavaria.[31]

Government

  • Bavarian Cabinet since 12 November 2018

The Constitution of Bavaria of the Free State of Bavaria was enacted on 8 December 1946. The new Bavarian Constitution became the basis for the Bavarian State after the Second World War.

Bavaria has a

unicameral Landtag (English: State Parliament), elected by universal suffrage. Until December 1999, there was also a Senat, or Senate, whose members were chosen by social and economic groups in Bavaria, but following a referendum in 1998, this institution was abolished.[citation needed
]

The Bavarian State Government consists of the

Minister-President of Bavaria
, eleven Ministers and six Secretaries of State. The Minister-President is elected for a period of five years by the State Parliament and is head of state. With the approval of the State Parliament he appoints the members of the State Government. The State Government is composed of the:

  • State Chancellery (Staatskanzlei)
  • Ministry of the Interior, for Sport and Integration (Staatsministerium des Innern, für Sport und Integration)
  • Ministry for Housing, Construction and Transport (Staatsministerium für Wohnen, Bau und Verkehr)
  • Ministry of Justice (Staatsministerium der Justiz)
  • Ministry for Education and Culture (Staatsministerium für Bildung und Kultus)
  • Ministry for Science and Art (Staatsministerium für Wissenschaft und Kunst)
  • Ministry of Finance and for Home Affairs (Staatsministerium der Finanzen und für Heimat)
  • Ministry for Economic Affairs, Regional Development and Energy (Staatsministerium für Wirtschaft, Landesentwicklung und Energie)
  • Ministry for Environment and Consumer Protection (Staatsministerium für Umwelt und Verbraucherschutz)
  • Ministry for Food, Agriculture and Forestry (Staatsministerium für Ernährung, Landwirtschaft und Forsten)
  • Ministry for Family, Labour and Social Affairs (Staatsministerium für Familie, Arbeit und Soziales)
  • Ministry for Health and Care (Staatsministerium für Gesundheit und Pflege)
  • Ministry for Digital Affairs (Staatsministerium für Digitales)[32]

Political processes also take place in the seven regions (Regierungsbezirke or Bezirke) in Bavaria, in the 71 rural districts (Landkreise) and the 25 towns and cities forming their own districts (kreisfreie Städte), and in the 2,031 local authorities (Gemeinden).

In 1995 Bavaria introduced direct democracy on the local level in a referendum. This was initiated bottom-up by an association called Mehr Demokratie (English: More Democracy). This is a grass-roots organization which campaigns for the right to citizen-initiated referendums. In 1997 the Bavarian Supreme Court tightened the regulations considerably (including by introducing a turn-out quorum). Nevertheless, Bavaria has the most advanced regulations on local direct democracy in Germany. This has led to a spirited citizens' participation in communal and municipal affairs—835 referendums took place from 1995 through 2005.

Minister-presidents of Bavaria since 1945

See also:
List of Ministers-President of Bavaria
prime minister
("Ministerpräsident") of Bavaria