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Within a chamber of the Royal Library stood King Ludwig I with his highly esteemed historian and cartographer at a wooden table upon which sat an enormous map of the Kingdom of Bavaria, with its many roads and rivers among countless other markings and symbols. Sighing, Ludwig said, “Dearest Günter, truly we must extend our sincerest gratitude to my father Maximilian, for his having organized this geographical nightmare that he had inherited from the French!” The historian let out a sigh of agreement, exclaiming, “Yes, truly, the French idea of dividing the entire realm into the government districts known as Kreis has always caused frustration within the German populace. And such an excessive number of districts, too - fifteen Kreis causes far too much bureaucracy, leading to a sickening number of useless officials. And then there is the issue with naming all of them! From one point of view, it makes sense to name the districts after their nearby rivers, but it does not do justice to them culturally and historically…”
“Thank God,” said Ludwig, “That there are only eight Kreis today. In fact, Günter, could you remind me of the layout of our Bavarian districts?” Picking up a pointer and gesturing to the map, Günter replied, “My pleasure, Your Majesty! As of today we have eight districts. On the southern end we have the Isarkreis named after the Isar River” - the King flinched upon hearing the name - “and in the northern sector we have the Main District or the Mainkreis upon the Main River. The Regenkreis is in the northwest by the Regen River and the Rezatkreis to the West-“ to which the King interrupted, “Let me guess, from the Rezat River...” The historian chuckled to himself and continued, “Of course, Your Majesty! The Danube River has two districts to its name, the Underdonaukreis for the river's lower branch and the upper branch with its Oberdonaukreis. The Lower Main River area Undermainkreis lies on the northeastern border and to the southwest there is the Rhinekreis territory along the Rhine River.” As he said this, the historian pointed out a patch of Rhinekreis territory to the southern end of the map.
With a wave of sadness, the King exclaimed, “Ah, the Rhinekreis - this is what the French called our beautiful Pfalz! The name has nothing to do with the area’s wonderful historical roots. This area belonged to the German Palatinate spread on both sides of the Rhine River, and people lived there together united under One God and One Ruler!” Ludwig closed his eyes with a dreamlike leap through his memories, seeing vivid images of the Palatinate Forest Pfalzerwald with its fragrant pine trees and golden honey and endless rolling fields of wildflowers. All of a sudden he felt gripped by a brilliant idea! “Dear Günter!” He exclaimed with kingly eyes shining. “You are one of the few who remembers the regions’ beautiful Germanic names of old. Perhaps it is time to reinstate the regional names that have been lost to history! Perhaps it is time to rid ourselves of the shameful reminders of French occupation! Let us begin with altering the Rhinekreis back to the good old German Palatinate!” The historian shared his enthusiasm, saying, “An excellent idea! Then the Regenkreis will become the Upper Palatinate, as it was in the good old days!” The King began, “And the Upper Danube Area…” - “Will be Swabia of course!” - “Yes, dear friend, Swabia!”
He began to nervously pace the room in his anxious thrill. “We need to make sure to reinstate the former names of Bavaria and Franconia.” Together with the historian he leaned over the map and eyed the district boundaries thoughtfully. “Upper Bavaria will be Isarkreis and the Unterdonaukreis will be Lower Bavaria. And Mainkreis… That shall be Upper Franconia! Time to forget this French nonsense once and for all - then Rezatkreis could be Middle Franconia and Untermainkreis can be proudly referred to by its historical name - Lower Franconia! And most importantly…” saying this, Ludwig straightened himself to his fullest height, “I can finally justify my full Royal Title as Ludwig, King of Bavaria, Duke of Franconia, Duke of Swabia and Count Palatine of the Rhine! AND - we can celebrate this momentous occasion with a brand new Taler so our people can remember this forever!” Together they remained at the map for a long while, discussing details of this grand project and drawing new district boundaries, smiling and laughing like children that have found a long lost favorite toy they both greatly enjoyed at one time.
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Thus in the year 1838 King Ludwig issued the order returning the historical names to their proper districts. This change was owed purely to his romantic nature and tendency for reform, as well as from his tremendous love for his homeland of Germany. However, certain areas were not acquired correctly according to their historical roots. For example, the New Palatinate was related mostly to the Western part of the historical Electorate of the Palatinate. Even Ludwig’s future plan to unify the land and eventually acquire the Eastern regions failed because that land was already given to Baden. Eventually, following the Austro-Prussian War in 1866 some other parts of the Bavarian Land (such as Lower Franconia) were lost to Prussia and its Allies. But this is a matter for another story, and for the meantime we will celebrate the REAPPORTIONMENT OF THE BAVARIAN LAND with King Ludwig!
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German Talers since 1800 by John S. Davenport.
Bavaria, King Ludwig Series (1825 - 1848).
2 Taler 1838, REAPPORTIONMENT.
Davenport 582, KM 795, Thun 76, AKS 99, J.67, Schw. 23.
To Commemorate Restoration of the Historical Divisions of the Kingdom.
Obverse: Head of the Ludwig to the right, LUDWIG I KOENIG VON BAYERN.
Reverse: DIE EINTHEILUNG D. KONIGREICHS AUF GESCHICHTL GRUNDLAGE ZURUCKGEFURHT 1838,
eight wreaths by circle with the historical names of the districts of the kingdom.
Edge: ** VII E.F.M. ** DREY-EINHALB GULDEN.
37.1200 g., 0.9000 Silver, 1.0740 oz. ASW.
NGC MS 61.
Heavy patchy patina, Mirror fields. Some hairlines from light cleaning.