Commission for Bavarian History with Institute of Bavarian Folklore Studies
The task of the Commission is to promote and coordinate methodical research into the history of Bavaria. Currently the Commission consists of 62 elected scholars, who in the main work full-time at Bavarian universities and other academic institutions. The members of the Commission are in charge of the various projects (e.g. Historisches Ortsnamenbuch [Book of historical place names], Quelleneditionen [source publications]) and entrust special topics to junior academics, often in the form of doctoral dissertations.
Since 1948 the most important task of the Commission has been the Historischer Atlas von Bayern (Historical Atlas of Bavaria) with its series Old Bavaria, Franconia and Swabia. This long-term project is unique in Germany and involves describing the state historically and topographically. Based on the state courts and districts, the structures of ownership, rule and administration in every place in the State of Bavaria are presented statistically and documented by maps from the Middle Ages up to the present day.
The main forum for academic discussion is the Zeitschrift für bayerische Landesgeschichte (Journal for the History of Bavaria), published by the Commission, with numerous book reviews and a total of more than 1,000 pages a year. Many book reviews are also published online at www.ZBLG-ONLINE.de. Source editions, conference reports and studies on particular aspects of Bavarian history are also published in various series. The Commission works in close cooperation with the Society for Franconian History and the Swabian Research Association.
The Institute of Folklore Studies makes accessible records of cultural history from the late Middle Ages up to the present day which, taken together, provide insights into the ways of life and daily actions of our forebears and contemporaries, as well as their thought processes and cultural values. The Institute has a reference library open to the public, an archive of written and pictorial sources and a folk music archive with printed music of songs, music and dances as well as acoustic recordings. It publishes the Bayerisches Jahrbuch für Volkskunde (Bavarian Yearbook for Folklore Studies) as well as several series of publications.
Holy Kilian, Würzburg (about 1266), the Augsburg humanist and scribe Konrad Peutinger (1543) and King Louis I (1786-1868).