Bavaria Genealogy

This section of the website contains information about Bavaria. It also includes a comprehensive Bavarian gazetteer to aid your genealogical research. Bavaria is known as Bayern in the Germany. Bavaria is a State (Bundesland) within the Federal Republic of Germany, but it actually calls itself a Free State (Freistaat) based on its history.

Bavaria today is divided into 7 relatively large districts (Regierungsbezirke - see maps):

1. Oberpfalz

2. Niederbayern

3. Oberbayern

4. Unterfranken

5. Mittelfranken

6. Oberfranken

7. Schwaben

Bavaria has 71 Landkreise (like our United States counties). There are 373 Gemeinden (like our United States townships). In addition, there are 23 Städte (cities). Each Gemeinde or Stadt is a local administrative division. They also have  plus Kreisfrei Städte (big cities that are administered at a level similar to the county level).

The southern part of what is today the German State of Rheinland-Pfalz was actually once part Bavaria. Historically, this area has been known as as the "Rheinpfalz", "Rhennish Pfalz", "Rheinbayern" or "Palatinate" region. However, it is no longer a part of modern Bavaria.

Links to Bavarian Records

There are several free resources and links to other Bavarian genealogy websites on Rootsweb.