Appendices
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When in Franconia, you hear “Franken” all the time…………the newspaper “The Fränkischer Tag”, the Franconian International School, Fränkische Schweiz, you see the red and white flags. But you don´t know what that means? Paßt sho or Bass´d scho (Fränkisch for everything from, that´s okay! to great). It´s a bit confusing. In Franconia, a citizen is not just Bavarian, a citizen is FRÄNKISCH.
History
To simplify and make a long, long story short, just prior to 1803, the area was broken up – Each area governing themselves, by rule of Dukes, Bishops or Kings. In the time between 1803 and 1806 most of what we now know as Franconia was given to the Kingdom of Bavaria. And, they are still mad about it. The Frankisch Hymn is sometimes played before sporting events, not the Bavarian Song. The Frankisch people take great pride in their culture and heritage, which is why while you will see the blue and white flags of Bavaria on official state or government buildings, but you won´t see them too often in the private sphere at beer gardens, restaurants or festivals . That´s also why blue and white is a decorating color combination you don´t see often in Franconia. While, in other areas of Bavaria it´s almost all you see.
Today, the map of Bavaria looks like this:
The Franconia area shown in red is divided into Upper Franconia/Ober Franken (capital: Bayreuth), Middle Franconia/Mittel Franken (Ansbach) and Lower Franconia/Unter Franken (Würzburg).
While it is all “Franken”, each area has it´s own character, regional specialties and dialect (a variation on Hoch Deutsch, or the high German). In spoken Fränkisch, you won´t hear a “t” sound, for instance, with the exception of “Senft” (mustard), which actually doesn´t have a “t” in it. Go figure. There are also many dialect variations between the Fränkisch regions. The regional differences range from pronunciation (Main River pronounced Mai or Mee) to those you will never figure out on your own (like “Gimmer?” for Gehen wir jetzt? or Want to go now?). In the Bamberg area, which has it´s own specific dialect, the book Bamberg dialect in German and English is recommended.
This makes it very difficult for a new German speaker. But there is a reason. In pre-Bavaria, each area was self-governed, and also had their own dialect. The “Bavarian” dialect also has variations, although not as vast, as it was a Kingdom since around 550 AD, though with various borders.
Fränkisch Cousine
Fränkisch cuisine is an umbrella term for the food in the Franconian region. While it is similar to Bavarian food, you won´t find much of the Bavarian Weisswurst (white sausage) served here, or Weizenn (wheat) beer. Conversely, the Southern portions of Bavaria don´t serve much Pils beer. Franken is known for pork dishes (esp. Schaüferla – pork shoulder), Franconian Bratwurst (made from pork shoulder) and Kloß (potato dumplings), as well as carp, but each Franken region has it´s own specialties.
Upper Franconia (capital: Bayreuth)
- Beer c