Bavaria's Borders: Past, Present, And Future

Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a state in the southeast of Germany. It is the largest German state by land area, covering 70,550.19 square kilometres. It shares international borders with Austria, the Czech Republic, and Switzerland, and borders Baden-Württemberg, Hesse, Thuringia, and Saxony within Germany. The landscape of Bavaria consists of four major regions: the Bavarian Alps, the Alpine foothills, the Eastern Bavarian central mountains, and the plateaus of Swabia and Frankenalb in the west. The state is divided into seven administrative regions: Upper Franconia, Middle Franconia, Lower Franconia, Bavarian Swabia, Upper Palatinate, Upper Bavaria, and Lower Bavaria.

Bavaria's international borders

Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a state in the southeast of Germany. It is the largest German state by land area, covering 70,550.19 square kilometres. It shares international borders with Austria, the Czech Republic, and Switzerland.

To the south and southeast, Bavaria shares a border with Austria, specifically the Austrian states of Salzburg, Tyrol, Upper Austria, and Vorarlberg. In the east, the Czech Republic shares a border with Bavaria, with the Bohemian Forest forming a large part of the frontier between the two countries. Finally, in the west, Bavaria shares a border with Switzerland across Lake Constance.

Bavaria is divided into seven administrative regions: Upper Franconia, Middle Franconia, Lower Franconia, Bavarian Swabia, Upper Palatinate, Upper Bavaria, and Lower Bavaria.

Bavaria's borders with other German states

Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of Germany's total land area. It is located in the southeast of Germany and shares international borders with Austria, the Czech Republic, and Switzerland (across Lake Constance).

Bavaria is bordered by several German states, including Baden-Württemberg, Hesse, Thuringia, and Saxony. The landscape of Bavaria consists of four major regions: the Bavarian Alps, the Alpine foothills (known as the Bavarian Alpine Foreland), the Eastern Bavarian central mountains, and the plateaus of Swabia and Frankenalb (Jura) in the west.

The state is divided into seven administrative regions: Oberfranken (Upper Franconia), Mittelfranken (Middle Franconia), Unterfranken (Lower Franconia), Bayerisch Schwaben with Allgäu (Bavarian Swabia), Oberpfalz (Upper Palatinate), Oberbayern (Upper Bavaria), and Niederbayern (Lower Bavaria).

Bavaria has a distinct culture, largely due to its Catholic heritage and conservative traditions. The state also includes parts of the historical regions of Franconia and Swabia, in addition to Altbayern. The majority of Bavaria's inhabitants live in small towns, with only about one-fifth residing in cities with a population of 100,000 or more.

Bavaria's borders with its neighbouring German states are shaped by geographic features such as rivers, forests, and mountain ranges. Let's explore these borders in more detail:

• Border with Baden-Württemberg: Baden-Württemberg shares a border with Bavaria in the southwestern part of Germany. This border often follows natural features such as rivers and mountain ranges. The Danube River, for example, flows along the border between the two states in certain sections. The Swabian Jura, a low mountain range, also forms part of the boundary between them.
• Border with Hesse: Hesse borders Bavaria to the northwest. This border is marked by the Main River, which flows through both states and is a significant waterway for the region.
• Border with Thuringia: Thuringia shares a border with Bavaria in central Germany. This border cuts through the Franconian Forest, a mountainous region covered with dense forests. The mountain ranges and valleys along this border create a natural boundary between the two states.
• Border with Saxony: Saxony and Bavaria share a border in the northeastern part of Bavaria. This border traverses the Franconian Jura, a limestone mountain range, and continues through forested areas and valleys, creating a natural divide between the two states.

Bavaria's borders with Austria

Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a state in the southeast of Germany. It shares a border with Austria to the south and southeast. The border between Germany and Austria was established in 1871 and is 784km (487 miles) long, making it Germany's longest border. The border begins at Lake Constance in the northwest, which separates Baden-Württemberg and Austria, before moving east up to the tripoint formed by the German-Czech and Czech-Austrian borders in the Bohemian Forest. The border between Bavaria and Austria is characterised by Alpine mountain ranges at its centre. The Austrian states of Vorarlberg, Tyrol, Salzburg, and Upper Austria run along the border, as does the German state of Bavaria.

The border between Germany and Austria was confirmed in a treaty between the countries in 1972, after having been defined by a number of agreements between the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Bavaria in the 19th century. The border between Bavaria and Austria has experienced no changes since the end of World War II.

Bavaria's borders with Switzerland

Bavaria shares a border with Switzerland across Lake Constance to the Canton of St. Gallen. The German-Swiss border extends to 362 kilometres (225 miles), mostly following Lake Constance and the High Rhine (Hochrhein). The border begins at the German-Swiss-Austrian tripoint, located within Lake Constance, and ends at the tripoint formed with the German-Austrian and Austro-Swiss borders, also located on the lake.

The German municipality of Büsingen am Hochrhein is an enclave surrounded by Swiss territory. The canton of Schaffhausen is located almost entirely on the northern side of the High Rhine, with the exception of the southern part of the municipality of Stein am Rhein. The border then follows the Rhine, including Gailingen in the Konstanz district of Germany, but then turns north again to include the bulk of the canton of Schaffhausen, a right-bank territory including the town of Schaffhausen itself.

The German-Swiss border is covered by two operational programmes. The western portion of the border participates in the "Upper Rhine" operational programme, which funds projects in the fields of economic development, education, training, employment, culture, public services, and sustainable development. Eastern Switzerland is also involved in the tri-national cross-border programme "Alpenrhein - Bodensee - Hochrhein", which concerns a privileged area with a GDP several times higher than the European average.

Bavaria's borders with the Czech Republic

Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, shares an 815-kilometre-long international border with the Czech Republic. This border, which forms an arc extending from the tripoint with Austria in the south to the tripoint with Poland in the north, is one of the oldest in Europe. It existed within the Holy Roman Empire between the Kingdom of Bohemia and the electorates of Saxony and Bavaria.

Several rivers cross or form portions of the border, including the Ohře (Eger in German), the White Elster (Bílý Halštrov in Czech), the Natzschung (Načetínský potok in Czech), and the Spree (Spréva in Czech).

The border between Bavaria and the Czech Republic was once part of the Iron Curtain. During the Cold War, it was heavily fenced and guarded as Czechoslovakia was part of the Warsaw Pact and West Germany was a member of NATO. After the fall of the Berlin Wall, consumer tourism led to the formation of the first cross-border cooperation links.

Today, the border is a "simple" land border between two countries in the European Union. Cross-border cooperation programmes have been established to promote sustainable development, economic competitiveness, and improved accessibility in the region.

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