Bavaria Through Time

“Follow Bavaria’s past, mapped across the region.”
Bavaria Through Time

What it is about

‘Bavaria through Time’ provides a look at Bavarian history through a series of interactive maps. Users can choose an era that is interesting to them, and then take a ‘journey’ through different parts of the region, each one with a historically relevant story and accompanying places that can be visited in person today. The map is catered towards anyone looking for inspiration for their next vacation, but also those who wish to learn more about Bavarian history from the comfort of their homes. More importantly, the map is catered towards non-experts - written using language that isn’t confusing and with a level of detail that is interesting but not overwhelming.

How we built it

The data collection process involved collecting qualitative historical data from various sources (academic journals, blogs, museum websites, archives), breaking it down into different eras of Bavarian history, and finally choosing, locationally, which cities and places would be included, based on factors such as closeness, historical importance, and modern-day relevance. The map visualization is web-based with Javascript using Mapbox library as the foundation. Using the Mapbox console, we adjusted the basemap (using Mapbox Standard which supports 3D terrain and buildings), selected the fonts and colors to give a medieval look, and adjusted the layers to show notable city/town names in the map. The UI elements for the rest of the site were created using the React framework.

Challenges we ran into

One challenge that we encountered was the amount of information that exists on this topic, and we struggled with how to narrow down the subject or how to design our interface to include everything that we hoped it would.

Another challenge was finding a nice way to visualize the transition from one location to another. Initially we hoped to use actual driving navigation directions when moving between locations to simulate a real road trip in real life. However, this posed a challenge mainly for places that are far away from each other which resulted in a long animation duration making the transition less engaging. In the end, we decided to just use a simple straight line flying animation, which helps the user to better orient themselves, and makes the animation simpler and faster.

What we're proud of

We are proud to have created an interface which showcases how valuable maps can be as a teaching tool. By leveraging the 3D maps and models from Mapbox, we were able to make an engaging and interesting map, just like playing a video game. Users can have a bird's eye view of the location, enjoy the cities, buildings, locations, and the terrain. We also managed to give the entire interface a medieval look with our choices of fonts, colors, and decorations, matching the theme of our project.

What we learned

This project was a great opportunity for us to learn more about the region that we have been living in for the past few months, and about the rich history that has made Bavaria what it is today.

We also learned, through practice, the amount of work that it takes to make an interface that works, not just through coding, but through user experience as well. We were always finding ways to make things look and feel better in miniscule ways, which we believe made all the difference in the end.

What's next

Because this project is focused specifically on one region, it could easily be expanded by applying the idea to other regions, in any part of the world. It could also be narrowed to a specific subset of history, possibly changing the intended user to someone who is more of a historical expert, rather than non-experts. In addition to that, our project is currently optimized for desktop devices only. Further improvement could include adding better support for mobile devices with smaller screens.
The home page of the interface.
Each location appears on the map and features an accompanying image + description.
Users can toggle to different locations in list form.

Sources

Data by © Mapbox (2026)
Data by © OpenStreetMap (2026)
Bavarian Studies in History and Culture. (2026). Bavarian Studies in History and Culture. [online] Available at: https://www.bavarian-studies.org/.
Couser, J. (2010). The Changing Fortunes of Early Medieval Bavaria to 907 AD. History Compass, 8(4), pp.330–344. doi:https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1478-0542.2009.00671.x.
Historisches Lexikon Bayerns. [online] Available at: https://www.historisches-lexikon-bayerns.de/Lexikon/Artikel_A-Z#R.
Historyfiles.co.uk. (2026). Kingdoms of Germany - Bavaria (Bavarii). [online] Available at: https://www.historyfiles.co.uk/KingListsEurope/GermanyBavarians.htm.
Landtag.de. (2025). History | Bayerischer Landtag. [online] Available at: https://www.bayern.landtag.de/en/parliament/history/.
Students
Tess Beekley and Richard Sudaryono Andyloa

15th intake
Supervisor
Juliane Cron, M.Sc.
Keywords
Bavaria, historical, travel
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