Franconia

For other uses, see Franconia (disambiguation).
Franconia
Cultural region
Flag of Franconia
Flag
Coat of arms of Franconia
Coat of arms
Anthem: "Frankenlied"
Location of Franconia
Country Germany
Largest cities1. Nuremberg 2. Fürth 3. Würzburg 4. Erlangen 5. Bamberg
Time zoneUTC+1 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+2 (CEST)

Franconia (German: Franken [ˈfʁaŋkn̩] ⓘ; East Franconian: Franggn [ˈfrɑŋɡŋ̍]; Bavarian: Frankn) is a region of Germany, characterised by its culture and East Franconian dialect (German: Ostfränkisch). Franconia is made up of the three Regierungsbezirke of Lower, Middle and Upper Franconia in Bavaria, the adjacent, Franconian-speaking South Thuringia, south of the Thuringian Forest—which constitutes the language boundary between Franconian and Thuringian—and the eastern parts of Heilbronn-Franconia in Baden-Württemberg.

Those parts of the Vogtland lying in Saxony (largest city: Plauen) are sometimes regarded as Franconian as well, because the Vogtlandian dialects are mostly East Franconian. The inhabitants of Saxon Vogtland, however, mostly do not consider themselves Franconian. On the other hand, the inhabitants of the Hessian-speaking parts of Lower Franconia west of the Spessart (largest city: Aschaffenburg) do consider themselves Franconian, although not speaking the dialect. Heilbronn-Franconia's largest city of Heilbronn and its surrounding areas are South Franconian-speaking, and therefore only sometimes regarded as Franconian. In Hesse, the east of the Fulda District is Franconian-speaking, and parts of the Oden Forest District are sometimes regarded as Franconian for historical reasons, but a Franconian identity did not develop there.

Franconia's largest city is Nuremberg, which is contiguous with Erlangen and Fürth, with which it forms the Franconian conurbation with around 1.3 million inhabitants. Other important Franconian cities are Würzburg, Bamberg, Bayreuth, Ansbach and Coburg in Bavaria, Suhl and Meiningen in Thuringia, and Schwäbisch Hall in Baden-Württemberg.

The German word Franken—Franconians—also refers to the ethnic group, which is mainly to be found in this region. They are to be distinguished from the Germanic people of the Franks, and historically formed their easternmost settlement area. The origins of Franconia lie in the settlement of the Franks from the 6th century in the area probably populated until then mainly by the Elbe Germanic people in the Main River area, known from the 9th century as East Francia (Francia Orientalis).[1] In the Middle Ages the region formed much of the eastern part of the Duchy of Franconia and, from 1500, the Franconian Circle.[2] The restructuring of the south German states by Napoleon, after the demise of the Holy Roman Empire, saw most of Franconia awarded to Bavaria.[3]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference francia orientalis was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Rudolf Endres: "Der Fränkische Reichskreis". In: Hefte zur Bayerischen Geschichte und Kultur 29, published by the Haus der Bayerischen Geschichte, Regensburg, 2003, p. 6, see online version (PDF).
  3. ^ Manfred Treml: "Das Königreich Bayern (1806–1918)". In: Politische Geschichte Bayerns, published by the Haus der Bayerischen Geschichte as Issue 9 of the Hefte zur Bayerischen Geschichte und Kultur, 1989, pp. 22–25, here: p. 22.