Lower Franconia (german: Unterfranken) is one of seven

districts A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions ...

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total l ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...

. The districts of Lower, Middle and Upper Franconia make up the region of

Franconia Franconia (german: Franken, ; Franconian dialect: ''Franggn'' ; bar, Frankn) is a region of Germany, characterised by its culture and Franconian dialect (German: ''Fränkisch''). The three administrative regions of Lower, Middle and Upper ...

History

After the founding of the

Kingdom of Bavaria The Kingdom of Bavaria (german: Königreich Bayern; ; spelled ''Baiern'' until 1825) was a German state that succeeded the former Electorate of Bavaria in 1805 and continued to exist until 1918. With the unification of Germany into the German ...

the state was totally reorganised and, in 1808, divided into 15 administrative government regions (German: , singular ), in Bavaria called (singular: ). They were created in the fashion of the French

departement In the administrative divisions of France, the department (french: département, ) is one of the three levels of government under the national level ("territorial collectivities"), between the administrative regions and the communes. Ninety- ...

s, quite even in size and population, and named after their main rivers. In the following years, due to territorial changes (e. g. loss of

Tyrol Tyrol (; historically the Tyrole; de-AT, Tirol ; it, Tirolo) is a historical region in the Alps - in Northern Italy and western Austria. The area was historically the core of the County of Tyrol, part of the Holy Roman Empire, Austrian Emp ...

, addition of the Palatinate), the number of Kreise was reduced to 8. One of these was the

Untermainkreis The Untermainkreis (German: Lower Main District) was one of the administrative districts (German: Bezirke or Regierungsbezirke) of the Kingdom of Bavaria between 1806 and 1837 named after its main river Main. It was the predecessor of the administ ...

(Lower Main 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 name Untermainkreis changed to Lower Franconia and Aschaffenburg, but the city name was dropped in the middle of the 20th century, leaving just Lower Franconia. From 1933, the regional Nazi ''

Gauleiter A ''Gauleiter'' () was a regional leader of the Nazi Party (NSDAP) who served as the head of a '' Gau'' or '' Reichsgau''. ''Gauleiter'' was the third-highest rank in the Nazi political leadership, subordinate only to '' Reichsleiter'' and to ...

'',

Otto Hellmuth Otto Hellmuth (22 July 1896 – 20 April 1968) was a member of the Nazi Party and the ''Gauleiter'' in Lower Franconia (''Unterfranken'') from 1928 to 1945. Early life Born at Markt Einersheim, during World War I he entered service as a Kri ...

, (who had renamed his party Gau ''"Mainfranken"'') insisted on renaming the government district as well. He encountered resistance from Bavarian state authorities but finally succeeded in having the name of the district changed, effective 1 June 1938. After 1945 the name was restored. The municipal reform () of June 1972 consolidated the 22 country districts of Lower Franconia into nine. Unterfranken is the north-west part of Franconia and consists of three district-free cities () and nine country districts (). The major portion of the Franconian wine region is situated in Lower Franconia.

Economy

The Gross domestic product (GDP) of the region was 53.7 billion € in 2018, accounting for 1.6% of German economic output. GDP per capita adjusted for purchasing power was 37,500 € or 124% of the EU27 average in the same year. The GDP per employee was 102% of the EU average.

Coat of arms

The coat of arms includes the " Franconian Rake" (the arms of Duchy of Franconia) in the upper portion, the "", a banner, quarterly argent (silver) and gules (red), on a lance or (gold), in bend, on an azure (blue) field, associated with

Würzburg Würzburg (; Main-Franconian: ) is a city in the region of Franconia in the north of the German state of Bavaria. Würzburg is the administrative seat of the ''Regierungsbezirk'' Lower Franconia. It spans the banks of the Main River. Würzburg ...

in the lower left quadrant, and a white/silver

wheel A wheel is a circular component that is intended to rotate on an axle bearing. The wheel is one of the key components of the wheel and axle which is one of the six simple machines. Wheels, in conjunction with axles, allow heavy objects to be ...

on a red field symbolizing the clerical state of

Mainz Mainz () is the capital and largest city of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Mainz is on the left bank of the Rhine, opposite to the place that the Main joins the Rhine. Downstream of the confluence, the Rhine flows to the north-west, with Ma ...

, in the lower right quadrant.

Area and population

Main sights

Aschaffenburg, Schloss Johannisburg, 09-08-2015, 005

Next to the former episcopal residence cities of

(with Veitshöchheim) and Aschaffenburg, the towns of

Miltenberg Miltenberg () is a town in the ''Regierungsbezirk'' of Lower Franconia (''Unterfranken'') in Bavaria, Germany. It is the seat of the like-named district and has a population of over 9,000. Geography Location The old town lies on the Mai ...

, Amorbach and Werneck, the scenic attractions of the River Main including the Mainschleife at Volkach and the low mountain ranges of the Rhön with the spa town Bad Kissingen and of the

Spessart Spessart is a '' Mittelgebirge'', a range of low wooded mountains, in the States of Bavaria and Hesse in Germany. It is bordered by the Vogelsberg, Rhön and Odenwald. The highest elevation is the Geiersberg at 586 metres above sea level. Ety ...

with

Mespelbrunn Castle Mespelbrunn Castle is a late- medieval/early- Renaissance moated castle on the territory of the town of Mespelbrunn, between Frankfurt and Würzburg, built in a tributary valley of the Elsava valley, within the Spessart forest. It is a popula ...

belong to the major tourist attractions.

Notable people from Lower Franconia

Regiomontanus Johannes Müller von Königsberg (6 June 1436 – 6 July 1476), better known as Regiomontanus (), was a mathematician, astrologer and astronomer of the German Renaissance, active in Vienna, Buda and Nuremberg. His contributions were instrument ...

* Florian Geyer *

Tilman Riemenschneider Tilman Riemenschneider (c. 1460 – 7 July 1531) was a German sculpture, sculptor and wood carving, woodcarver active in Würzburg from 1483. He was one of the most prolific and versatile sculptors of the transition period between late Gothic ar ...

Balthasar Neumann Johann Balthasar Neumann (; 27 January 1687 (?) – 19 August 1753), usually known as Balthasar Neumann, was a German architect and military artillery engineer who developed a refined brand of Baroque architecture, fusing Austrian, Bohemian, Ita ...

Friedrich Rückert Friedrich Rückert (16 May 1788 – 31 January 1866) was a German poet, translator, and professor of Oriental languages. Biography Rückert was born in Schweinfurt and was the eldest son of a lawyer. He was educated at the local '' Gymnasiu ...

* Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen *

Leonhard Frank Leonhard Frank (4 September 1882 in Würzburg – 18 August 1961 in Munich) was a German expressionist writer. He studied painting and graphic art in Munich, and gained acclaim with his first novel ''The Robber Band'' (1914, tr. 1928). When a Be ...

* Carl Diem *

Dirk Nowitzki Dirk Werner Nowitzki (, ; born June 19, 1978) is a German former professional basketball player who is a special advisor for the Dallas Mavericks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Listed at , he is widely regarded as one of the gre ...

Institutes of higher education

* Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg *

University of Applied Sciences Würzburg-Schweinfurt A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, the ...

Hochschule Aschaffenburg

References

External links

*
Official website in EnglishOfficial websiteStatistics
{{Authority control NUTS 2 statistical regions of the European Union Wine regions of Germany Government regions of Germany