Product Code Database
The Upper Palatinate (; , , ) is an Regierungsbezirk in the east of Bavaria, Germany. It consists of seven districts and 226 municipalities, including three cities.
Notable regions are:
From the mid-13th century, much of the region was controlled by the Wittelsbach dynasty and until 1329 was ruled by the Wittelsbach Elector Palatine as part of the larger County Palatine of the Rhine (). By the 1329 Treaty of Pavia, the Wittelsbach territories were divided between two branches of the dynasty. The territory around the Rhine river in the west became known as the Rhenish Palatinate () or Lower Palatinate, and is today usually known simply as the Palatinate (); it is from this territory that the modern German state of Rhineland-Palatinate derives its name. By contrast, the territory to the east centred on Amberg became known as the Upper Palatinate (), upper and lower in this case referring to the elevation of the territories (compare Low German and High German, Upper Lusatia and Lower Lusatia, Upper Lorraine and Lower Lorraine, Low Countries, Lower Saxony).
Cadet branches of the Wittelsbach dynasty also ruled over smaller territories in Neuburg and Sulzbach. As a result of the Elector Palatine Frederick V's abortive claim to the Bohemian throne in 1619–1620, the Upper Palatinate, along with the rest of his lands, were declared forfeit to the Emperor and, along with the Electoral title, given to the Duke of Bavaria. Although the Lower Palatinate was restored to Frederick's son by the Peace of Westphalia in 1648, the Upper Palatinate remained under the Elector of Bavaria, and has remained a part of Bavaria ever since. The smaller territories of Neuburg and Sulzbach came to Bavaria in 1777 when Charles Theodore, Elector Palatine inherited the Bavarian lands of his Wittelsbach cousin Maximilian III Joseph, Elector of Bavaria. The city of Regensburg, an Imperial Free City, was not joined with the rest of the region until the end of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806 and the end of the short-lived Principality of Regensburg under Carl von Dalberg, which existed from 1803 to 1810.
After the founding of the Kingdom of Bavaria, the state was totally reorganised and, in 1808, divided into 15 administrative districts (; singular Regierungsbezirk) called Kreis]]e (literally "Circles", singular: Kreis). They were created in the fashion of the French departments, quite even in size and population, and named after their main rivers. In the following years, due to territorial changes (e.g. the loss of Tyrol, the addition of the Palatinate), the number of Kreise in the kingdom was reduced to 8. One of these was the Regenkreis (Regen District). In 1837, king Ludwig I of Bavaria renamed the Kreise after historical territorial names and tribes of the area. This also involved some border changes or territorial swaps. Thus, the district name of Regenkreis was changed to Upper Palatinate.
Kreisfreie Städte (district-free towns):
|
|
