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 o ...

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

History

After the founding of the Kingdom of Bavaria 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 collectivity, territorial collectivities"), between the regions of France, admin ...

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, 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 administr ...

(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'', Otto Hellmuth, (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 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 (mechanical), bearing. The wheel is one of the key components of the wheel and axle which is one of the Simple machine, six simple machines. Wheels, in conjunction wi ...

on a red field symbolizing the clerical state of Mainz, 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 Würzburg (with Veitshöchheim) and Aschaffenburg, the towns of Miltenberg,

Amorbach Amorbach () is a town in the Miltenberg district in the ''Regierungsbezirk'' of Lower Franconia (''Unterfranken'') in Bavaria, Germany, with some 4,000 inhabitants. It is situated on the small river Mud, in the northeastern part of the Odenwald ...

and Werneck, the scenic attractions of the River Main including the Mainschleife at

Volkach Volkach is a town in the district of Kitzingen in the ''Regierungsbezirk Unterfranken'' (Lower Franconia) in Bavaria, Germany. It lies on the river Main and has a population of around 8,700. History Located outside the town but inside the mu ...

and the low mountain ranges of the Rhön with the spa town Bad Kissingen and of the Spessart with Mespelbrunn Castle belong to the major tourist attractions.

Notable people from Lower Franconia

* Regiomontanus * Florian Geyer *

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

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 * Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen * Leonhard Frank * Carl Diem * Dirk Nowitzki

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. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase ''universitas magistrorum et scholarium'', which rou ...

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