Bavaria, is a state in southeastern Germany. It covers 27,738 square miles and has a population of about 11,449,000. Most of the state is a plateau surrounded and broken by mountains. The Bavarian Alps blend into the Tirolese Alps at the Austrian border. The Zugspitze, Germany’s highest peak, lies in these mountains. It rises 9,721 feet (2,963 meters) above sea level. Bavaria is drained by the Danube and Main rivers.

 Munich and Nuremberg are Bavaria’s two most important cities. Munich, the largest city in Bavaria and its capital, It is the center for printing and publishing. Nuremberg, the second largest  Bavarian city, is famous for its toys and gingerbread.

 Bavaria has been a duchy, a kingdom, a republic, and a state at various times in its history. The region was first inhabited by the Celts. It became a duchy of Germany a after Germanic tribes invaded it in the 500s. Bavarian dukes ruled the duchy from 911 to 1180, when it came into the hands of the Wittelsbach family. Napoleon made Bavaria a kingdom in 1805, but it became a state the German Empire when Germany was unified in 1871 After World War I (1914-1918); it was briefly a republic, and then part of Germany again. The Allies invaded Bavaria in World War II (1939-1945), and U.S. troops occupied it after Germany surrendered. Later, Bavaria became a West German state. West Germany and East Germany unified in 1990.   

* Taken from The World Book Encyclopedia. (Chicago: World Book, Inc.), pg 175.

Madonna and Child–
The first Marian Stamps
of the world–Statue
 erected in Marienplatz in Munich to commemorate
the  victory of Maximilian
 over theTurks in 1620,
near Prague
La Madone et l’Enfant – Les
premiers timbres marials du
monde – Statue érigée sur la Marienplatz à Munich pour commémorer la victoire de
Maximilien sur les Turcs
en 1620, près de Prague.
Date: 1920; Scott: 249; Y & T: 188
Artist: Sigmund Von Wech

Madonna and Child–
The first Marian Stamps
of the world–Statue
 erected  in Marienplatz  in Munich to commemorate
 the victory of Maximilian
 over the Turks in 1620,
near Prague
La Madone et l’Enfant – Les
premiers timbres marials du
monde – Statue érigée sur la Marienplatz à Munich pour commémorer la victoire de
Maximilien sur les Turcs
en 1620, près de Prague.
Date: 1920; Scott: 250; Y & T: 189
Artist: Sigmund Von Wech

Madonna and Child –
The first Marian Stamps
of the world – Statue
erected in Marienplatz in Munich to commemorate
 the victory of Maximilian
 over the  Turks in 1620,
near Prague
La Madone et l’Enfant – Les
premiers timbres marials du
monde – Statue érigée sur la Marienplatz à Munich
pour commémorer la victoire
de Maximilien sur les Turcs
en 1620, près de Prague.
Date: 1920; Scott: 267; Y & T: 207
Artist: Sigmund Von Wech

Madonna and Child –
The first Marian Stamps
of the world – Statue
erected in Marienplatz in Munich to commemorate
 the victory of Maximilian
 over the  Turks in 1620,
near Prague
La Madone et l’Enfant – Les
premiers timbres marials du
monde – Statue érigée sur la Marienplatz à Munich pour commémorer la victoire de
Maximilien sur les Turcs en
1620, près de Prague.
Date: 1920; Scott: 268; Y & T: 208
Artist: Sigmund Von Wech

Madonna and Child –
The first Marian Stamps
of the world – Statue
erected in Marienplatz in Munich to commemorate
 the victory of Maximilian
 over the  Turks in 1620,
near Prague
La Madone et l’Enfant – Les
premiers timbres marials du
monde –  Statue érigée sur la Marienplatz à Munich pour commémorer la victoire de
 Maximilien sur les Turcs en
 1620, près de Prague.
Date: 1920; Scott: 269; Y & T: 209
Artist: Sigmund Von Wech

Madonna and Child –
The first Marian Stamps
of the world – Statue erected in Marienplatz in Munich to commemorate the victory of Maximilian over the
Turks in 1620, near Prague
La Madone et l’Enfant – Les premiers timbres marials du monde – Statue érigée sur la Marienplatz à Munich pour commémorer la victoire de Maximilien sur les Turcs en 1620, près de Prague.
Date: 1920; Scott: 270 A
Artist: Sigmund Von Wech