Starnberg () is a ''Landkreis'' (district) in the southern part of

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 ...

. Neighboring districts are (from the north clockwise)

Fürstenfeldbruck Fürstenfeldbruck () is a town in Bavaria, Germany, located 32 kilometres west of Munich. It is the capital of the Fürstenfeldbruck (district), district of Fürstenfeldbruck. it has a population of 35,494. Since the 1930s, Fürstenfeldbruck h ...

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and ...

Bad Tölz-Wolfratshausen Bad Tölz-Wolfratshausen ( Bavarian: ''Bad Däiz-Woifradshausn'') is a ''Landkreis'' (district) in Bavaria, Germany. It is bounded by (from the south and clockwise) Austria and the districts of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Weilheim-Schongau, Starnber ...

Weilheim-Schongau Weilheim-Schongau is a ''Landkreis'' (district) in the south of Bavaria, Germany. Neighboring districts are (from the north clockwise) Landsberg, Starnberg, Bad Tölz-Wolfratshausen, Garmisch-Partenkirchen and Ostallgäu. Geography The distric ...

and Landsberg. Starnberg district and the

Hochtaunuskreis The Hochtaunuskreis is a ''Kreis'' (district) in the middle of Hesse, Germany and is part of the Frankfurt/Rhine-Main Metropolitan Region. Neighbouring districts are Lahn-Dill, Wetteraukreis, district-free Frankfurt, Main-Taunus, Rheingau-Taun ...

regularly compete for the title of Germany's wealthiest district.

Geography

Main geographic feature of the district are the five lakes – the

Starnberger See Lake Starnberg, or ''Starnberger See'' ) — called Lake Würm, or ''Würmsee'' , until 1962 — is Germany's second-largest body of fresh water, having great depth, and fifth-largest lake by area. It and its surroundings lie in three different B ...

and

Ammersee Ammersee (English: Lake Ammer) is a Zungenbecken lake in Upper Bavaria, Germany, southwest of Munich between the towns of Herrsching and Dießen am Ammersee. With a surface area of approximately , it is the sixth largest lake in Germany. The la ...

, as well as the smaller Weßlinger See,

Wörthsee Wörthsee (Wörth lake) is a lake in the Starnberg district of Bavaria, Germany. It is one of the lakes of the Fünfseenland (Five lakes) region, which contains the remains of a great glacial lake. Location The Wörthsee is located to the east ...

and

Pilsensee Pilsensee is a lake in Oberbayern, 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 ...

. The lakes were formed by the

glacier A glacier (; ) is a persistent body of dense ice that is constantly moving under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. It acquires distinguishing features, such a ...

s of the last

ice age An ice age is a long period of reduction in the temperature of Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Earth's climate alternates between ice ages and gre ...

. Hence the district is also called '' Fünf-Seen-Land'' (five lake county).

History

The district was created in 1902, when the ''Bezirksamt München II'' was dissolved, and the new ''Bezirksamt Starnberg'' and ''Bezirksamt Wolfratshausen'' were created. Starting in 1939 they were called ''Landkreis''. In 1972 two municipalities (Bachhausen and Höhenrain) from the district Wolfratshausen were added to the district. In the 1978 communal reform the previously 42 municipalities were merged into the current 14 ones.

Partnerships

Since 1982 the district has a partnership with the district Bad Dürkheim in

Rhineland-Palatinate Rhineland-Palatinate ( , ; german: link=no, Rheinland-Pfalz ; lb, Rheinland-Pfalz ; pfl, Rhoilond-Palz) is a western state of Germany. It covers and has about 4.05 million residents. It is the ninth largest and sixth most populous of the ...

. Since 1981 it also has a partnership with the Taipei County (now New Taipei City), which developed after a delegation of parachutists from Taiwan stayed in Starnberg for the 1980 parachuting world championship in Altenstadt/ Schongau.

Coat of arms

The coat of arms show the Bavarian diamonds in the background, with a yellow lion and eagle in front. The two animals were the symbol of the Counts of Andechs-Meranien, who ruled the area until 1248.

Towns and municipalities

References

External links

Five Lake County tourist information

(English) {{DEFAULTSORT:Starnberg (District) Districts of Bavaria