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 Here
in bavaria people say “the clocks have another
beat”.Nobody can exactly describe the meaning of
this proverb. But you can get the feeling of what this
means when spending time in bavaria and see how people
live here.
All over the world it is well known that a visit
to bavaria is an impressive experience. It’s a country
with a long history, lively traditions and culture. There
are enormous art treasures to find and wonderful landscapes
surrounded of high mountains.
General
information
Bavaria
is the largest land of the federal republic of germany
with 27,.239 squaremiles. 18,02 million people live here – more
than double as much as in austria, our neighbour-country.
The capital of bavaria is Munich with 1,22 million
inhabitants.. In Munich is the seat of the bavarian government.Situated
in the south of germany, bavaria has several neighbours:
Austria, Switzerland and the Czech Republic.The German
border regions are Baden-Wuerttemberg,Hesse, Thuringia
and Saxonia.The biggest towns are
Munich, Nürnberg,
Augsburg, Würzburg and Regensburg.
Landscapes
Several
beautiful rivers cross Bavaria, such as the Danube, the
Main, Isar and Inn.The largest lake in bavaria is lake
Chiemsee with 30 sqm.Many pittoresque lakes can be found
for spending a wonderful holiday: lake Starnberger See
or Ammersee near Munich, lake Königssee in Berchtesgaden which
is surrounded of impressive mountains of the alps. Also
a part of lake Bodensee, one of the largest lakes in
Europe belongs to Bavaria.
Very
impressive are the mountains of the alps that build the
southern border.The 2,.962 m Zugspitze near Garmisch-Partenkirchen is
Germany’s
highest mountain. The peak of the Zugspitze offers
a breathtaking panorama across 400 peaks and a view into
four countries, Austria, Italy, Switzerland and Germany.
 In
another wonderful holiday region, the Berchtesgadener
Land is situated the second highest mountain the
2713 mWatzmann.
Wonderful
destinations in the alps invite visitors around the year.
Wendelstein, Hoher Göll
and Rotwand and many other peaks want to be conquered.
History
Bavaria
is one of the oldest states in Europe. Here
a few points of its history:about 500 p.C. the race
of the Bavarians had been come into being mixed from
Romans, Celtics and Teutons.1180 p.C. Otto of Wittelsbach
founded the State of Bavaria.
In the 16th century duke
Max Emanuel supported baroque influences in arts and
culture.
In 1806 Bavaria is converted to a kingdom under
Max Joseph 4
In1818 Bavaria gets a constitution.
1825-48
King Ludwig 1st reigns over. He transforms Munich to
a brilliant capital of arts and sciences.
1864-86 Under
King Ludwig 2nd, the “Mad
King’s” regency
one started to build a Series of fantastic
fairytale castles –Neuschwanstein,
Linderhof und finally Herrenchiemsee on
an island in lake Chiemsee.
1933 Hitler takes
over power and Bavaria is no longer an independent
state
1945 Germany’s
capitulation – Bavaria
is occupied by the American Forces.
1949
Germany gets the constitutional law.
Culture
and Arts
During the past centuries Bavaria
beared musicians and artists who are famous
all over the world.
Richard Strauss ( 1864-1949)
was Munich’s
greatest composer. His most famous operas
are “Der
Rosenkavalier” and “Elektra”
Richard
Wagner ( 1813-1883 ) was to revolutionise
German opera by making the music secondary
to the dramatic action. In Bayreuth every
year the Wagner festival takes place – a
high society event.Wagner’ most famous
works are “The
flying Dutchman”. “The ring
of the Nibelungen” and “Tristan
and Isolde”.
All
over the country you can find examples of baroque arts
in churches like the “Wieskirch” in
Steingaden or the “St.Mang Basilika” in
Füssen.
The
most visited sights are obviously the about
40 castles and palaces Bavarian rulers,
Neuschwanstein castle, Linderhof palace,
Nymphenburg palace and many more.
 Lifestyle
Bavarian
people have both: traditions and modern
life.There are many old traditions, often
based on the catholic church which are
lively celebrated in traditional costumes.In
the villages in rural regions you can find
clubs to maintain the traditional music
and costumes. They organize festivals and
invite other clubs for dancing and singing
according to their traditions.
A special
and famous bavarian tradition is the “Octoberfest” in
Munich taking place every year in autum.It’s
a huge fair with many beertents and
attractions for visitors from all over
the world.
Let’s
talk about beer. Well known breweries
like “Lowenbrau”, “Schneider”, “Klosterbrauerei
Andechs” or “Hacker-Pschorr” are
settled in and round Munich. And if
you drink a “Mass” – that
means a litre of beer you ought to
enjoy a bavarian speciality with
it.Pretzels and raddish or a “Weißwurst” are
the hits.Very popular is “Schweinsbraten
mit Semmelknödel” that
means roasted pork with dumplings made
of bread.There are many typical bavarian
recipes to get to know.
If
you now have become curious of all these things –Come
and visit Bavaria !
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