Name Franconia is named after the
Franks, a
Germanic tribe who conquered most of Western Europe by the middle of the 8th century. Despite its name, Franconia is not the homeland of the Franks, but rather owes its name to being partially settled by Franks from the Rhineland during the 7th century following the defeat of the
Alamanni and
Thuringians who had dominated the region earlier. At the beginning of the 10th century a
Duchy of Franconia () was established within
East Francia, which comprised modern
Hesse,
Palatinate, parts of
Baden-Württemberg and most of today's Franconia. After the dissolution of the so-called
Stem duchy of Franconia, the
Holy Roman Emperors created the
Franconian Circle (German
Fränkischer Reichskreis) in 1500 to embrace the principalities that grew out of the eastern half of the former duchy. The territory of the Franconian Circle roughly corresponds with modern Franconia. The title of
Duke of Franconia was claimed by the
Würzburg bishops until 1803 and by the kings of
Bavaria until 1918. Examples of Franconian cities founded by Frankish noblemen are
Würzburg, first mentioned in the 7th century,
Ansbach, first mentioned in 748, and
Weissenburg, founded in the 7th century.
Early history and Antiquity built the mighty fortress of
Menosgada on the
Staffelberg. Fossil finds show that the region was already settled by
Homo erectus in the middle
Ice Age about 600,000 years ago. Probably the oldest human remains in the Bavarian part of Franconia were found in the cave ruins of Hunas at
Pommelsbrunn in the county of
Nuremberg Land. In the late
Bronze Age, the region was probably only sparsely inhabited, as few
noble metals occur here and the soils are only moderately fertile. In the subsequent
Iron Age (from about 800 B.C.) the
Celts became the first nation to be discernible in the region. In northern Franconia they built a chain of
hill forts as a line of defence against the
Germani advancing from the north. On the
Staffelberg they built a powerful settlement, to which
Ptolemy gave the name
oppidum Menosgada, and on the
Gleichberge is the largest surviving
oppidum in
Central Germany, the
Steinsburg. With the increased expansion of
Rome in the first century B.C. and the simultaneous advance of the
Elbe Germanic tribes from the north, the Celtic culture began to fall into decline. The southern parts of present-day Franconia soon fell under Roman control; however, most of the region remained in
Free Germania. Initially, Rome tried to extend its direct influence far to the northeast; in the longer term, however, the Germanic-Roman frontier formed further southwest. . View over the camp ring road Under the emperors,
Domitian (81–96),
Trajan (98–117) and
Hadrian (117–138), the
Rhaetian Limes was built as a border facing the Germanic tribes to the north. This defensive line ran through the south of Franconia and described an arc across the region whose northernmost point lay at present-day
Gunzenhausen. To protect it, the Romans built several forts like
Biriciana at
Weißenburg, but by the mid-third century, the border could no longer be maintained and by 250 A.D. the
Alemanni occupied the areas up to the
Danube. Fortified settlements such as the
Gelbe Bürg at
Dittenheim controlled the new areas. More such Gau forts have been detected north of the former Limes as well. Which tribe their occupants belonged to is unknown in most cases. However, it is likely that it was mainly Alemanni and
Juthungi, especially in the south. By contrast, it was the
Burgundians who settled on the Lower and Middle Main. After the
division of the Frankish Empire, East Francia (
Francia orientialis) was formed from the territories of the dioceses of
Mainz,
Worms,
Würzburg and
Speyer. Later, the diocese of Bamberg was added. However, in the 10th and 11th centuries, they largely gave up their own language and cultural tradition. The majority of the population of Franconia was
pagan well into the
Early Middle Ages, The first people to spread the Christian faith strongly were wandering
Irish Anglo-Saxon monks in the early 7th century.
Saint Kilian, who together with his companions,
Saint Colman and
Saint Totnan are considered to be the
apostles to the Franks, suffering martyrdom in Würzburg in the late 7th century, probably did not encounter any pagans in the ducal court. It was probably
Saint Boniface who carried the Christian mission deep into the heart of the ordinary population of Franconia. In the mid-9th century the
tribal Duchy of Franconia emerged, one of the five tribal or
stem duchies of
East Francia. and was directly subordinated to the Reich. Only after that was the former considered to be under the sphere of the bishops of Würzburg as the true Franconia, its territory gradually shrinking to its present area. Unlike the other stem duchies, Franconia became the homeland and power base of East Frankish and German kings after the
Ottonians died out in 1024. As a result, in the
High Middle Ages, the region did not become a strong regional force such as those which formed in Saxony, Bavaria and
Swabia. In 1007, the later canonized Henry II founded the
Bishopric of Bamberg and endowed it with rich estates. Bamberg became a favoured
Pfalz and an important centre of the Empire. From the 12th century
Nuremberg Castle was the seat of the
Burgraviate of Nuremberg. The burgraviate was ruled from about 1190 by the Zollerns, the Franconian line of the later
House of Hohenzollern, which provided the German emperors of the 19th and 20th century. Under the Hohenstaufen kings,
Conrad III and
Frederick Barbarossa, Franconia became the centre of power in the Empire. During the time when there was no emperor, the
Interregnum (1254–1273), some
territorial princes became ever more powerful. After the Interregnum, however, the rulers succeeded in re-establishing a stronger royal lordship in Franconia. Franconia soon played an important role again for the monarchy at the time of
Rudolf of Habsburg; the itineraries of his successors showing their preference for the Rhine-Main region. In 1376 the
Swabian League of Cities was founded and was joined later by several Franconian
imperial cities. During the 13th century the
Teutonic Order was formed, taking over its first possession in Franconia in 1209, the Bailiwick of Franconia. The foundation of many schools and hospitals and the construction of numerous churches and castles in this area goes back to the work of this Roman Catholic military order. The residence place of the bailiwick was at
Ellingen until 1789 when it was transferred to today's
Bad Mergentheim. Other orders such as the
Knights Templar could not gain a foothold in Franconia; the
Order of St. John worked in the Bishopric of Würzburg and had short term commands.
Successor states of East Francia As of the 13th century, the following states, among others, had formed in the territory of the former Duchy:
Modern Period Early Modern Period On 2 July 1500 during the reign of Emperor
Maximilian I, as part of the
Imperial Reform Movement, the Empire was divided into
Imperial Circles. This led in 1512 to the formation of the
Franconian Circle. In 1559, the Franconian Circle was given jurisdiction over coinage (
Münzaufsicht) and, in 1572, was the only Circle to issue its own police ordinance. Members of the Franconian Circle included the imperial cities, the prince-bishoprics, the Bailiwick of Franconia of the Teutonic Order and several counties. The
Imperial Knights with their tiny territories, of which there was a particularly large number in Franconia, were outside the Circle assembly and, until 1806, formed the
Franconian Knights Circle (
Fränkischer Ritterkreis) consisting of six
Knights' Cantons. Because the extent of Franconia, already referred to above, is disputed, there were many areas that might be counted as part of Franconia today, that lay outside the Franconian Circle. For example, the area of Aschaffenburg belonged to
Electoral Mainz and was a part of the
Electoral Rhenish Circle, the area of Coburg belonged to the
Upper Saxon Circle and the Heilbronn area to the
Swabian Circle. In the 16th century, the
College of Franconian Counts was founded to represent the interests of the
counts in Franconia. Franconia played an important role in the spread of the
Reformation initiated by
Martin Luther, Nuremberg being one of the places where the
Luther Bible was printed. The majority of other Franconian imperial cities and imperial knights embraced the new confession. In the course of the
Counter-Reformation several regions of Franconia returned to Catholicism, however, and there was also an increase in
witch trials. In addition to Lutheranism, the
radical reformatory baptist movement spread early on across the Franconian area. Important Baptist centres were
Königsberg and Nuremberg. In 1525, the burden of heavy taxation and socage combined with new, liberal ideas that chimed with
the Reformation movement, unleashed the
German Peasants' War. The Würzburg area was particularly hard hit with numerous castles and monasteries being burned down. In the end, however, the uprisings were suppressed and for centuries the lowest strata of society were excluded from all political activity. From 1552, Margrave
Albert Alcibiades attempted to break the supremacy of the mighty imperial city of Nuremberg and to secularise the ecclesial estates in the
Second Margrave War, to create a duchy over which he would rule. Large areas of Franconia were eventually devastated in the fighting until King
Ferdinand I together with several dukes and princes decided to overthrow Albert. and the
Alte Veste In 1608, the reformed princes merged into a so-called
Union within the Empire. In Franconia, the margraves of Ansbach and Bayreuth as well as the imperial cities were part of this alliance. The Catholic side responded in 1609 with a counter-alliance, the
League. The conflicts between the two camps ultimately resulted in the
Thirty Years' War, which was the greatest strain on the cohesion of the Franconian Circle Initially, Franconia was not a theatre of war, although marauding armies repeatedly crossed its territory. However, in 1631, Swedish troops under
Gustavus Adolphus advanced into Franconia and established a large encampment in summer 1632 around Nuremberg. However, the Swedes lost the
Battle of the Alte Veste against
Wallenstein's troops and eventually withdrew. Franconia was one of the poorest regions in the Empire and lost its imperial political significance. During the course of the war, about half the local population lost their lives. To compensate for these losses about 150,000 displaced Protestants settled in Protestant areas, including
Austrian
exiles. Franconia never developed into a unified territorial state, because the patchwork quilt of small states (
Kleinstaaterei) survived the Middle Ages and lasted until the 18th century. As a result, the Franconian Circle had the important task of preserving peace, preventing abuses and to repairing war damage and had a regulatory role in the region until the end of the Holy Roman Empire. Until the
War of the Spanish Succession, the Circle had become an almost independent organization and joined the
Grand Alliance against
Louis XIV as an almost sovereign state. The Circle also developed early forms of a
welfare state. After
Charles Alexander abdicated in 1792, the former margraviates of Ansbach and Bayreuth were annexed by
Prussia. In 1806, the
Act of Confederation led to stronger ties between Bavaria, Württemberg, Baden and other areas with France, whereupon the Holy Roman Empire including the Franconian Circle fell apart. As a reward Bavaria was promised other estates, including the city of Nuremberg. In 1814, as a result of the
Congress of Vienna, the territories of the
Principality of Aschaffenburg and
Grand Duchy of Würzburg were annexed by to the Kingdom of Bavaria. In order to merge the
patchwork quilt of annexed Franconian and Swabian states into a greater Bavaria,
Maximilian Joseph Montgelas reformed the administrative structure. The Franconian provinces (Middle, Upper and Lower Franconia) were established in January 1838. Considerable resentment arose in Bavarian Franconia over the new border. There were liberal demands for republican structures, which erupted in the
Gaibach Festival in 1832 and the
Revolution of 1848-1849. Tensions eased as a result of the reconciliation policy of the
Wittelsbachs, However, the canal lost much of its importance shortly after the arrival of the railways. Between 1843 and 1854, the
Ludwig South-North Railway was established within Franconia, which ran from
Lindau on
Lake Constance via
Nuremberg,
Bamberg and
Kulmbach to
Hof. The first locomotive to run on German soil steamed 1835 from Nuremberg to Fürth on 7 December 1835.
20th century After the
First World War the monarchy in Bavaria was abolished, but the state could not agree on a compromise between a
Soviet system and
parliamentarianism. This caused fighting between the opposing camps and the then prime minister was shot. As a result, the government fled to Bamberg in 1919, where the Bamberg Constitution was adopted while, in Munich, the
Bavarian Soviet Republic reigned briefly. In 1919 the
Free State of Coburg voted in a
referendum against joining
Thuringia and was instead united with Bavaria on 1 July 1920.
Gunzenhausen made its mark as one of the first towns in the Reich itself to exercise discrimination against the Jewish population. The first Hitler Monument in Germany was established there in April 1933. On 25 March 1934, the first anti-
Jewish pogrom in Bavaria took place in Gunzenhausen. Led by
SA men, a mob of over 1,000 was involved in the violence. Two Jews committed suicide due to the trauma resulting from the attack. The attack brought the town negative press coverage worldwide. On 15 September, a
Reichstag was specially convened in Nuremberg for the purpose of passing the
Nuremberg Laws, under which the
antisemitic ideology of the Nazis became a legal basis for such actions. Like all parts of the German Reich, Franconia was badly affected by
Allied air raids. Nuremberg, as a major industrial centre and transportation hub, was hit particularly hard. Between 1940 and 1945 the city was the target of dozens of air raids. Many other places were also affected by air raids. For example, the
air raid on 4 December 1944 on Heilbronn and the
bombing of Würzburg on 16 March 1945, in which both old towns were almost completely destroyed, was a disaster for both cities. By contrast, the old town of Bamberg was almost completely spared. In order to protect
cultural artefacts, the
historic art bunker was built below Nuremberg Castle. In the closing stages of the
Second World War, at the end of March and April 1945, Franconian towns and cities were captured by formations of the
US Army who advanced from the west after the failure of the
Battle of the Bulge and
Operation Nordwind. The
Battle of Nuremberg lasted five days and resulted in at least 901 deaths. The
Battle of Crailsheim lasted 16 days, the
Battle of Würzburg seven and the
Battle of Merkendorf three days. Following the
unconditional surrender on 8 May 1945, Bavarian Franconia became part of the
American zone of occupation; whilst South Thuringia, with the exception of smaller enclaves like
Ostheim, became part of the
Soviet zone and the Franconian parts of today's Baden-Württemberg also went to the American zone The most important part of the Allied prosecution programme against leaders of the Nazi regime were the
Nuremberg Trials against leaders of the German Empire during the Nazi era, held from 20 November 1945 to 14 April 1949. The Nuremberg Trials are considered a breakthrough for the principle that, for a core set of crimes, there is no
immunity from prosecution. For the first time, the representatives of a
sovereign state were held accountable for their actions. In autumn 1946, the Free State of Bavaria was reconstituted with the enactment of the
Bavarian Constitution. The state of
Württemberg-Baden was founded on 19 September 1945. On 25 April 1952 this state merged with
Baden and
Württemberg-Hohenzollern (both from the former
French occupation zone) to create the present state of Baden-Württemberg. On 1 December 1945 the state of Hesse was founded. Beginning in 1945,
refugees and displaced persons from Eastern Europe were settled particularly in rural areas. After 1945, Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg managed the transition from economies that were predominantly
agriculture to become leading industrial states in the so-called
Wirtschaftswunder. In Lower and Upper Franconia, there was still the problem, however, of the zone along the
Inner German Border which was a long way from the markets for its agricultural produce, and was affected by migration and relatively high unemployment, which is why these areas received special support from federal and state governments. By contrast, the state of Thuringia was restored by the
Soviets in 1945. On 7 October 1949 the
German Democratic Republic, commonly known as
East Germany, was founded. In 1952, in the course of the
East German administrative reform, the state of Thuringia was abolished. Along with the failed economic policies of the GDR, this led to a general frustration that fuelled the
uprising of 17 June. There were protests in the Franconian territories too, for example in Schmalkalden. The village of
Mödlareuth became famous for being divided by the
inner German border and was nicknamed "Little Berlin". After
Die Wende, the fall of the Berlin Wall on 9 November 1989 and
reunification on 3 October 1990, made possible mainly by mass demonstrations in East Germany and local exodus of East Germans, the state of Thuringia was reformed with effect from 14 October 1990. From 1971 to 1980, an administrative reform was carried out in Bavaria with the aim of creating more efficient municipalities (
Gemeinden) and counties (
Landkreise). Against sometimes great protests by the population, the number of municipalities was reduced by a third and the number of counties by about a half. Among the changes was the transfer of the Middle Franconian county of
Eichstätt to
Upper Bavaria. On 18 May 2006, the
Bavarian Landtag approved the introduction of
Franconia Day (
Tag der Franken) in the Franconian territories of the free state. Since
Die Wende, new markets have opened up for the Franconian region of Bavaria in the new (formerly East German) federal states and the Czech Republic, enabling the economy to recover. From 2013 until 2020,
Westerngrund ) was the symbolic geographical center of the European Union. ==Contemporary Franconia==