OBERPFALZ

English Upper Palatinate Regierungsbezirk (administrative district), east-central Bavaria (or Bayern) Land (state), southern Germany. Oberpfalz is bordered by the Czech Republic to the east and the Regierungsbezirke of Niederbayern (Lower Bavaria) and Oberbayern (Upper Bavaria) to the south, Mittelfranken (Middle Franconia) to the west, and Oberfranken (Upper Franconia) to the north. The district's current boundaries were first established as a Bavarian province in 1838 and include the historic Upper Palatinate region, the former free imperial city of Regensburg and its territories, and several small principalities. The region received the name Oberpfalz (Upper Palatinate) as a result of dynastic relationship. In 1329 the Compact of Pavia divided German lands under the rule of the house of Wittelsbach into Bavarian and Palatinate branches. The latter branch comprised the Rhenish Palatinate (Rheinische Pfalz), lands extending east and west of the middle Rhine River, together with the Bavarian North Mark farther east along the Naab River. In order to differentiate them from the Rhenish, or Lower, Palatinate, the eastern lands became known as the Upper Palatinate. The Upper Palatinate was not reunited with Bavaria until 1628, when the ruler Maximilian I (15971651) secured the territory as a reward for his victories in the Thirty Years' War. The Naab River rises in the Fichtel Hills and the northern Oberpfalz part of the Bohemian Forest and drains the district southward through a valley of varying width. The river joins the Danube River above Regensburg, the district's administrative seat. Some 100 late medieval castles remain along the Naab valley, which was once a major traffic route between central Germany and Bohemia. Situated in the wider valley basins are larger towns such as Weiden, important for its production of fine china and industrial ceramics. The old walled town of Amberg, the former capital (until 1810) of the Upper Palatinate, lies in the fertile valley of the Vils River, a western tributary of the Naab. The western portion of Oberpfalz comprises the Franconian Jura, an extensive plateau of Jurassic limestones and dolomites. Its steep scarp slope faces east and southeast toward the Naab and Danube valleys, while its rear slope dips imperceptibly into the Mittelfranken area to the west. The low hills and dry valleys of the plateau are covered with short grasses interspersed with stretches of fir forests. The population density in much of this area is among the lowest in Bavaria. East of the Naab River valley, the graduated gneiss ridges of the Oberpflzerwald Mountains rise to between 2,300 and 3,000 feet (700 and 900 m) in elevation along the Czech frontier. The forest extends south some 55 miles (90 km) from the Fichtel Hills at the district's northern border to the Furth Depression. The thinly populated region is dotted by meadows, hamlets, and isolated farmsteads, but agricultural output is limited because of thin, poor soils and the short growing season. Lumbering, glassblowing, and the ceramics industry, based on local kaolin and china clays, have developed as a means of economic support. The Furth Depression, a natural gap 9 miles (15 km) wide, provides the main transportation route across the eastern Bavarian border hills between Bavaria and the Czech Republic. Industry in Oberpfalz is concentrated in the cities of Regensburg and Amberg and in a few smaller cities along the Naab and Vils rivers. Regensburg, a major transportation junction, produces electrical equipment, steel, motor vehicles, textiles and clothing, and wood. Amberg's industries include electrical engineering, iron-ore mining, steelworking, glass grinding, and the manufacture of machinery. Sulzbach-Rosenberg, Maxhtte-Haidhof, and Schwandorf are minor ironworking and steelworking centres. The people of Oberpfalz speak Bavarian, one of three main German dialects in Bavaria. Higher education in the Regierungsbezirk is centred in Regensburg and includes the University of Regensburg, founded in 1962, and a state technical college. Regensburg is regarded as the centre of Gothic-style architecture in Bavaria, with its famous Cathedral of St. Peter (12751524) and two mendicant-order churches. More than three-quarters of the population of Oberpfalz are Roman Catholics. Area 3,742 square miles (9,691 square km). Pop. (1991 est.) 1,008,999.