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70 free Bavaria trivia questions with answers — geography quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
Bavaria is Germany's largest state by area, its second most populous, and easily its most stubbornly distinct: it calls itself a Free State, kept its own kings until 1918, voted against the West German constitution in 1949 and still speaks a dialect with 12 million speakers. This quiz covers the whole of it, from the Roman province of Raetia and the 738-year rule of the Wittelsbachs to Kurt Eisner's revolution, the Beer Hall Putsch and the CSU. It also covers the Bavaria visitors know: Munich and its monks, Neuschwanstein and the Fairy Tale King, Oktoberfest and the 1516 beer purity law, Weisswurst and Lebkuchen, the Zugspitze and the Königssee, Nuremberg, Regensburg, Augsburg, Bamberg and Würzburg, plus BMW, Audi, Adidas, Puma and Bayern Munich. Questions run from easy (the capital) to expert (which region the golden lion on the coat of arms stands for). Every answer was checked against Wikipedia's articles on Bavaria, its cities, rulers, companies and traditions, and each question shows the sentence that supports it. Try our Munich, Oktoberfest and Germany quizzes next.
30 of 70 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Bavarian culture is heavily shaped by which religious heritage?
Catholic
The Counter-Reformation was centred here, and resentment of Protestant Prussia fed a strong separate identity after 1871.
Q 02By area, where does Bavaria rank among Germany's 16 states?
First
At 70,550 square kilometres it is comfortably ahead of Lower Saxony.
Q 03Bavaria's official name uses which title?
Free State
Saxony and Thuringia use the same designation; it dates from the fall of the monarchy in 1918.
Q 04In the first century AD the territory of Bavaria was incorporated into which Roman provinces?
Raetia and Noricum
Augsburg began as a Roman camp built between 8 and 5 BC and became the capital of Raetia.
Q 05The Duchy of Bavaria was created within Francia in which year?
555
The Agilolfing house ruled it until Charlemagne deposed Duke Tassilo III in 788.
Q 06Which family ruled Bavaria for 738 years, from 1180 to 1918?
Wittelsbach
They received the duchy as a fief after Emperor Frederick Barbarossa deposed Henry the Lion.
Q 07Which duke, deposed by his cousin Barbarossa in 1180, is credited with founding Munich?
Henry the Lion
He founded the town to control the salt trade after burning down nearby Föhring and its bridges over the Isar.
Q 08What does 'zu den Munchen', the Old High German name behind Munich, mean?
To the monks
The first written record of the town dates from 1158, but 11th-century pottery dug up near Marienplatz shows it is older.
Q 09Munich lies on which river?
Isar
The city sits north of the Alps and is Germany's third largest after Berlin and Hamburg.
Q 10Bavaria gained the status of prince-elector in the Holy Roman Empire in 1623, during which war?
Thirty Years' War
The Bavarian duke took over the electoral vote of his relative the Elector Palatine.
Q 11Bavaria became a kingdom in which year, as the Holy Roman Empire collapsed under Napoleon?
1806
Elector Maximilian IV Joseph was crowned king and Bavaria joined the Confederation of the Rhine.
Q 12In the German Empire founded in 1871, Bavaria ranked second in size, power and wealth behind which state?
Prussia
Many Bavarians resented being ruled by mostly Protestant northerners.
Q 13Which socialist proclaimed the People's State of Bavaria on 8 November 1918, toppling the first German monarchy?
Kurt Eisner
He was assassinated in February 1919 after losing an election, and a short-lived Bavarian Soviet Republic followed that April.
Q 21The golden lion in the first quarter of Bavaria's coat of arms represents which administrative region?
Upper Palatinate
It is identical to the arms of the old Electorate of the Palatinate; the red-and-white 'Franconian Rake' stands for the three Franconian regions.
Q 22The Bavarian dialect, spoken in Bavaria, most of Austria and South Tyrol, has roughly how many speakers?
12 million
That makes it the largest of all German dialects; in 2008, 45 percent of Bavarians said they used only dialect in everyday life.
Q 23Germany's highest mountain, on the Austrian border south of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, is called what?
Zugspitze
Q 14The Nazis' failed Beer Hall Putsch in Munich took place in which year?
1923
Munich and Nuremberg came to be seen as strongholds of Nazism during the Weimar and Nazi years.
Q 15In 1949 the Bavarian parliament voted against adopting Germany's Basic Law. Why?
It gave too little power to the states
Bavaria said it would accept the constitution anyway if two-thirds of the other states ratified it, and joined the Federal Republic.
Q 16Which conservative party, founded in 1945, is the CDU's Bavarian 'sister party'?
CSU
Its representatives have held the post of Minister-President continuously since 1957; Markus Söder took office in 2018.
Q 17Which CSU leader ran the party 1961–88 and was Bavaria's Minister-President for a decade?
Franz Josef Strauß
Munich's airport now carries his name.
Q 18Modern Bavaria consists of Altbayern ('Old Bavaria') plus parts of which two historical regions?
Franconia and Swabia
Both have their own dialects and cultures; three of Bavaria's seven administrative regions are Franconian.
Q 19How many administrative regions (Regierungsbezirke) does Bavaria have?
Seven
Three lie in Franconia, three in Old Bavaria and one in Swabia.
Q 20The Bavarian flag comes in two official forms, one striped and one covered in what?
White and blue lozenges
Both patterns are tied to the Wittelsbach family; users are free to choose either.
It rises to 2,962 metres and was first climbed in August 1820 by surveyor Josef Naus and two companions.
Q 24How tall is Germany's highest mountain?
2,962 m
Three cable cars run to the summit, and three normal climbing routes reach it.
Q 25Ludwig II of Bavaria, who built Neuschwanstein, was known by which nickname?
The Fairy Tale King
He was also called the Swan King, and was a devoted patron of Richard Wagner.
Q 26What happened to Ludwig II on 13 June 1886, the day after he was declared insane and deposed?
He and his doctor were found dead
The bodies were found in Lake Starnberg near Berg Castle; the insanity finding is now questioned.
Q 27In 1867 Ludwig II was briefly engaged to Sophie Charlotte, younger sister of which royal?
Empress Elisabeth of Austria
Elisabeth, known as Sisi, was his eccentric cousin and lifelong friend.
Q 28How did Ludwig II pay for Neuschwanstein?
His own fortune and heavy borrowing
The Neo-Romanesque castle was built from 1869 to plans by Eduard Riedel, and it was opened to paying visitors within six weeks of his death.
Q 29Roughly how many people visit Neuschwanstein each year?
1.3 million
Summer days can bring 6,000 visitors; since 2025 it has been part of a UNESCO World Heritage listing of Ludwig's palaces.
Q 30Ludwig II's Herrenchiemsee palace, on an island in the Chiemsee, was modelled on which building?
Versailles
He bought the island, formerly an Augustinian monastery, in 1873 and started building in 1878.