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Bavaria: South Germany
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Bavaria is not merely endowed with scenic beauty and a wealth of cultural monuments, nor is it just a holiday and leisure spot famed for its hospitality. Now, as before, the Free State is the top farming province of Germany. Agriculture has distinctly shaped it with its cultural landscape, as well as with its traditions, mores and customs.
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With an area of 70,553 km² and 11.6 million inhabitants, Bavaria (German Bayern or Freistaat Bayern) forms the southernmost of the 16 Bundesländer of Germany. Its capital is Munich. Bavaria shares international borders with Austria and the Czech Republic. Two major rivers flow through the state, the Danube (Donau) and the Main. The major cities in Bavaria are Munich, Nuremberg, Augsburg, Würzburg, Ingolstadt, Regensburg, Fürth and Erlangen. History of Bavaria
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The anthem originally had lyrics praising the king of Bavaria in the third verse, this was omitted in 1918 and in 1946 the Bavarian poet Josef Marai Lutz wrote a new stanza (which is now unofficially used). To end the discussion on varoius types of texts the Bavarian Prime Minister made a proclamation on July 18th 1980. This proclamation said, that the text introduced in 1953 with its 2 stanzas, which is very close to the original text, should be used oficially. However, there are some differences between the "traditional" text and the "official" text, the "traditional" text having been used when Bavaria was an independent state, the "official" text now mentions Germany.
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After World War II, Bavaria became part of the American occupation zone. The Rhenish Palatinate was separated from Bavaria and was later made part of the state of Rhineland-Palatinate. A new constitution for Bavaria was drawn up in 1946. Since the founding of the Federal Republic of Germany in 1949, the conservative Christian Social Union, allied nationally with the Christian Democratic Union, has been the strongest Bavarian political party.
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In 1995 Bavaria introduced direct democracy on the local level in a referendum. This was initiated bottom-up by an association called Mehr Demokratie (More Democracy). This is a grass-roots organization which campaigns for the right to citizen-initiated referendums. In 1997 the Bavarian Supreme Court aggravated the regulations considerably (e.g. by introducing a turn-out quorum). Nevertheless, Bavaria has the most advanced regulations on local direct democracy in Germany.
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Find a house for rent in Bavaria, Germany, so that you can settle in and enjoy all that this culturally rich region of Germany has to offer. Bavaria is known for its striking mountain scenery and grand castles, the most famous of which is the Residenz Palace in Munich. Munich is ... known for its beer gardens and multi-week festivals, including Octoberfest and the Christ Child Market during the Christmas season. Another popular Christmas market occurs in Nuremburg, which is acclaimed for its food. Much of Nuremburg’s buildings were bombed during WWII, but reconstructed afterward. Of special note are the Germanisches Nationalmuseum and the Kaiserburg fortress.
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South Germany