Bayreuth (district)

Bayreuth is a Landkreis (district) in Bavaria, Germany. It surrounds, but does not include the city of Bayreuth. The district is bounded by (from the north and clockwise) the districts of Kulmbach, Hof, Wunsiedel, Tirschenreuth, Neustadt an der Waldnaab, Amberg-Sulzbach, Nürnberger Land, Forchheim and Bamberg.

History
The district was established in 1972 by merging the former districts of Bayreuth and Pegnitz, adding the town Gefrees of the former district of Münchberg and the town of Speichersdorf of the former district of Kemnath.

Geography
The sources of the White Main and the Red Main are both located in the district. The Red Main rises in the very south in the hills of the Frankish Alb, the White Main has its source in the Fichtel Mountains in the east. Both rivers run to the northwest, but do not meet within the district's borders.

The valley of the Red Main separates the two major geographical regions of the district from each other: the hilly countryside of the Franconian Jura and the much higher Fichtel Mountains.

Within the county lies the Veldenstein Forest, one of the largest contiguous areas of woodland in Bavaria.

Coat of arms
The arms display the heraldic eagle of the Hohenzollern dynasty together with the white and blue pattern of Bavaria.