Mainkreis (Bavaria)


The Mainkreis was one of the 15 administrative districts of the Kingdom of Bavaria between 1806 and 1837. The district was named after its main river Main and renamed Obermainkreis in 1817. It was the predecessor of the Regierungsbezirk Oberfranken.

Independent cities

Subdivisions

The district was divided in the following judicial districts, according to the original borders of the districts of the former territories :

History

In the years between 1806 and 1808 the Kingdom of Bavaria was divided in 15 districts, whose names were taken from their rivers. The Mainkreis, with Bamberg as its capital, was initially composed of 18 rural divisions and, since 1809, of the independent cities of Bamberg and Schweinfurt. In 1810 it grew significantly with the annexation of the Naabkreis. It was again enlarged when it received 12 rural divisions from the former Principality of Bayreuth, whereupon the district administration was moved to Bayreuth. In 1817, the Mainkreis was renamed Obermainkreis and slightly expanded. At the same time, a new district with the name of Untermainkreis was created downriver. The Territorial Reorganization of 29 November 1837, implemented at the request of King Ludwig I, split the judicial districts of the former Naabkreis from the Obermainkreis, assigning them to Oberpfalz instead, and renamed the shrunken Obermainkreis “Oberfranken”.

Literature

Handbuch der bayerischen Ämter, Gemeinden und Gerichte 1799–1980, written by Richard Bauer, Reinhard Heydenreuter, Gerhard Heyl, Emma Mages, Max Piendl, August Scherl, Bernhard Zittel and edited by Wilhelm Volkert, Senior Professor at the University of Regensburg, Munich, 1983,