Settled post-Napoleonic territorial adjustments between Austria and Bavaria, exchanging Salzburg and Tyrolean lands for Rhenish territories.
Key Facts
- Date signed
- 14 April 1816
- Location
- Munich, Kingdom of Bavaria
- Bavarian cession to Austria
- Salzburg, Innviertel, Hausruckviertel parts, bailiwick of Vils
- Austrian cession to Bavaria
- Rhenish arrondissements of Kaiserslautern, Speyer, Zweibrücken and cantons
- Austrian signatory
- Baron de Wacquant-Geozelles (for Emperor Francis I)
- Bavarian signatories
- Count Montgelas and Count Rechberg (for King Maximilian I)
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
The Napoleonic Wars and subsequent treaties, including the Treaty of Schönbrunn (1809), had left unresolved territorial overlaps between Austria and Bavaria. The Congress of Vienna's reshaping of Europe in 1815 created an opportunity to regularize borders, particularly regarding Bavarian holdings in the Inn and Salzach regions and Austrian-held Rhenish territories.
On 14 April 1816, Austrian and Bavarian negotiators signed the Treaty of Munich, exchanging several territories. Bavaria returned Salzburg, the Innviertel and Hausruckviertel portions, and the bailiwick of Vils to Austria. In return, Austria transferred to Bavaria several former French arrondissements and cantons on both banks of the Rhine, most recently acquired by Austria via the Treaty of Paris (1815).
The treaty stabilized the Austrian–Bavarian border following decades of shifting arrangements and established Bavaria's significant presence in the Rhineland Palatinate region. Austria also pledged diplomatic assistance to help Bavaria acquire additional bailiwicks from Hesse and Baden, signaling a cooperative post-Congress relationship between the two German powers.
Political Outcome
Territorial normalization achieved through mutual cessions; Bavaria gained Rhenish lands while Austria recovered Salzburg and former Inner Austrian territories.
Contested territorial arrangements left from the Napoleonic era, including Bavarian control of Salzburg and Austrian possession of Rhenish territories
Austria regained Salzburg and Inn/Salzach territories; Bavaria secured consolidated Rhenish holdings in the Palatinate region