The Free State of Bavaria

Friday, November 20th

Today we met with Andreas Kolitsch, of the Bayerisches Staatsministerium fur Unterricht und Kultus. We listened to a lecture about Munich and the Free State of Bavaria. We discussed the structure of the German government and touched on some differences with the US system. What was more interesting to me however, was Andreas’ description of Bavaria’s role in foreign policy. I am conducting my independent study on foreign policy and Germany’s role in the international community and I was interested to hear about Bavaria’s role in formation of foreign policy both within the federal government and independently throughout the world. Bavaria sends representatives to the EU to lobby for its own interests, not only those of Germany. I was surprised to learn that Bavaria also acts unilaterally in foreign policy, going as far as establishing independent offices in foreign countries. Bavaria has developed a coalition with South Africa in order to fight AIDS in Africa, and has representatives employed there in permanent positions. I asked Mr. Kolitsch if he would be willing to answer a few further questions via email as I work on my independent study project, and he was happy to provide me with his contact information. He will surely prove to be a valuable resource, as I plan to discuss the growing importance of the Lander and their role in German foreign