Kurt Eisner proclaimed the Free State of Bavaria in November of 1918. Free state means free of monarchy and estates. The people’s crown superseded the royal crown. Although Bavarians remain attached to the Wittelsbach dynasty, they now govern themselves.
The Free State of Bavaria is re-founded after World War II in the constitution of 1946. It has been a state in the Federal Republic of Germany since 1949. Bavaria nevertheless plays a special role to this day: frequently willful, always insisting on states’ sovereignty in the republic, sometimes also pushing the boundaries very far, belittled now and then, but never without a sense of its own identity.
To a certain extent, this makes the free state the keystone of the “myth of Bavaria”, comprised of magnificent Alpine settings, theatrical fiction and economic success, clad in dirndls and lederhosen.
What is your myth of Bavaria? Find out at the 2018 Bavarian State Exhibition at Ettal Abbey.