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Welcome DAHOAM

The Free State of Bavaria: life in the heart of Europe.
Cosmopolitan. Ready for the future. One of a kind.
Image: Kilian Schönberger

Live and let live.

Relaxed dynamism, down-to-earth cosmopolitanism: the white and blue attitude towards life

Stadtlust

Urban delights

Every stone a story, every place an experience, every city an inspiration

The flow of life

Kayaking to town hall

Just the facts

Bavaria in numbers

Gemeinsam sind wir stark!

Together we are strong!

Extended family 2.0: generations and cultures hand in hand

Heimatliebe und Weltoffenheit

Down to earth, yet cosmopolitan

Successful worldwide, at home in Bavaria

Starfotograf Juergen Teller

Celebrity photographer Juergen Teller

Kurt Cobain, Kate Moss, Elton John: in natural light

„Be cool, be Bavarian!“

Streetwear meets tradition

Bavaria’s attire is turning heads

Gehörlos tanzen? Kassandra kann‘s!

Belly beats

Kassandra Wedel is Europe’s only hearing-impaired professional dance instructor

Aquarell :: Löwe Welcome DAHOAM

Images: Kilian Blees

Live and let live.

If you ask a guest from abroad what his or her idea of the “typical Bavarian” is, the answer will probably focus on lederhosen and dirndl dresses, beer and roast pork. But there is a lot more to being “typically Bavarian”.

More than 13 million people live in the Free State of Bavaria. People from Altbayern, Franconians, Swabians and Sudeten Germans have made Bavaria the charming home state that it is, as well as turning it into a location with the best of opportunities. It is a wonderful place to live and work. That is why an increasing number of people are coming to Bavaria: since 1987, the population of the Free State has grown by a net 2.1 million inhabitants.

Bavaria is changing, but that special white-and-blue attitude towards life will remain: live and let live! This love of diversity forms the core of the proverbial liberalitas bavariae.

Urban delights

Journey to mediaeval times – at the Imperial Castle of Nuremberg
Image: Lindmahr
Memories bring people together – the Dani Karavan memorial in the UNESCO World Heritage City of Regensburg
Image: Kilian Schönberger

Images: Kilian Blees

Together we are strong!

Her braided pigtail swings through the air like a lasso. Alysha skips through the dance hall to the sound of flute music. “She used to be really withdrawn,” her grandmother says. Things have been different ever since Alysha started dancing with 83-year-old Helga Koeppe in the therapeutic exercise class in Hassfurt’s multi-generational house.

The people there support each other – with lots of love. They are living the concept of a large family in a modern form, young and old learning from and with each other over four storeys.

Mothers meet up, accompanied by their babies, to participate in the toddlers’ group. Volunteers teach seniors how to use computers and smartphones. And it does not matter where anyone comes from: German class, music, arts and crafts, dancing – all these things unite families with and without a migration background.

Down to earth, yet cosmopolitan

“Live and let live. It’s in Bavaria’s nature. Bavarians are conscious of tradition and down to earth. They love their home state, the landscape, the culture, and they’re not afraid to show it.”

Franz Beckenbauer (born 1945), Bavarian football legend and honorary president of FC Bayern Munich.
Image: Tina Berning

13 076 721

Population of Bavaria.
Germany: 80,925,031
(as of June 2014)
State capital (Munich): 1,493,900
(as of February 2015)

Image: Tina Berning

“I grew up in Würzburg and will always be rooted in my home state of Bavaria. I come home for a few weeks every summer, and as soon as I step through the door, I am once again my young self, my parents’ son. My parents are down-to-earth. My mother still gives me pocket money when I’m in Würzburg. I like to spend my time there with friends and family.”

Dirk Nowitzki (born 1978), former basketball player in the National Basketball Association (NBA) (Source : Süddeutsche Zeitung, 2014 : “Wochenend-Interview. Dirk Nowitzki über Bescheidenheit” SZ No 205 from 06./07.11. 2014.)

Image: Tina Berning

47%

Around 47 per cent of people over 14 years of age in Bavaria are active as volunteers ‒ that’s almost every second.

Images: Juergen Teller

Juergen Teller is one of the style-defining and most influential photographers in the world. “Perfection bores me.”

He has stuffed Kate Moss into a wheelbarrow and Victoria Beckham into a shopping bag. And his pictures of Kurt Cobain, Elton John and Björk are world-famous. Juergen Teller revolutionised fashion photography by searching for what it really means to be human instead of trying to create the appearance of perfection.

This special style of capturing people just how they are might also have something to do with his background. Juergen Teller grew up in the Middle Franconian town of Bubenreuth in a family that made violins. An allergy to dust prevented him from carrying on the family tradition. He searched for other paths and studied photography in Munich.

Today, the Franconian himself is a global star and lives in London. Yet he still enjoys returning to the place where he grew up. Between 2014 and 2019, Teller has been a guest professor for photography at the Academy of Fine Arts in Nuremberg.

Image: Tina Berning

Images: Kilian Blees/David Rasche Photography

Fresh, flash fashion – Bavaria’s attire is turning heads. „Be cool, be Bavarian!“

Christina Kronawitter has been wearing dirndls and lederhosen since she was at school. “Back then, they would all say: What do you look like?!” Nowadays, it is a matter of course for young people in Bavaria to wear their home state on their sleeve. A squad of young fashion designers is mixing traditional garb with modern elements. Like Kronawitter, for instance, who runs a store in the Lower Bavarian city of Landau an der Isar. Bed linen, tablecloths and curtains all serve as material for her special pieces.

“There are no fixed rules about how to wear a dirndl,” the fashionista explains. “Whether retro, romantic or a tad rock-starish, I want to use my fashion to convey this special attitude towards life: be cool, be Bavarian!”

Incidentally, the position of the dirndl’s bow says quite a lot about the wearer: front left means “still available!”, front right says “already taken!”

Images: Kilian Blees

Dancing without hearing? Kassandra can.“I feel the beat in my belly!”

Thirteen dancers stand in the mirror-walled hall of the GSC dance school in Munich. The music starts up, and their hip-hop moves effortlessly match up with the rhythm. How can anyone dance so masterfully without hearing the music?

At the age of three, Kassandra Wedel lost her ability to hear in a car accident. Seven of her students are also hearing-impaired. “I feel the rhythm with my whole body. All you need is some good bass to carry the vibrations into the room.” For fifteen years, Kassandra has been teaching hip-hop to both hearing-impaired and hearing-able students alike. “Nikita” is the name of her integrative dance group.

In 2001, the passionate hip-hop artist became the German national champion. In 2012, she became German national champion and world vice champion with “Nikita”, also taking home the world champion title in both solo and duo events. “Dancing gives me a sense of freedom and confidence.” And it helps in overcoming prejudice. “Because dancing is a passion that connects us all.”

The flow of life

Kayaking in front of the sublime backdrop provided by a UNESCO World Heritage site: the Old Town of Bamberg.
Image: Steffen Egly

Bavaria has ...

70 550 km²

ean area of 70,550 km², making it Germany’s largest state.

1 880

more than 200 natural lakes and 1,880 static bodies of water

Eight UNESCO World Heritage sites: Würzburg Residence and Court Gardens, Pilgrimage Church of Wies near Steingaden, Old Town of Bamberg, Frontiers of the Roman Empire: Upper German-Raetian Limes, Old Town of Regensburg with Stadtamhof, Prehistoric Pile-Dwellings around the Alps, Margravial Opera House in Bayreuth, Augsburg's historic water management
Image: Tina Berning

109 000

109,000 historical buildings and artistic monuments

Welcome DAHOAM

Video

Aktivierung erforderlich

Live and let live.

Urban delights

The flow of life

Just the facts

Together we are strong!

Down to earth, yet cosmopolitan

Celebrity photographer Juergen Teller

Streetwear meets tradition

Belly beats

Live and let live.

Urban delights

Together we are strong!

Down to earth, yet cosmopolitan

47%

Juergen Teller is one of the style-defining and most influential photographers in the world. “Perfection bores me.”

Fresh, flash fashion – Bavaria’s attire is turning heads. „Be cool, be Bavarian!“

Dancing without hearing? Kassandra can.“I feel the beat in my belly!”

The flow of life

Bavaria has ...

70 550 km²

109 000