Franconia 10 x 15 cm

Franconia (German: Franken) is a region of Germany comprising the northern parts of the modern state of Bavaria and a much smaller region in northeastern Baden-Württemberg called Heilbronn-Franken. The Bavarian part is made up of the administrative regions of Lower Franconia (Unterfranken), Middle Franconia (Mittelfranken), and Upper Franconia (Oberfranken).

Franconia (just like France) is named after the Germanic tribe of the Franks. This tribe played a major role after the breakdown of the Roman Empire and colonised large parts of medieval Europe.

Modern day Franconia comprises only a very tiny, and rather remote part of the settlement area of the ancient Franks. In German "Franken" is used for both, modern day Franconians and historic Franks which leads to some confusion. The historic Frankish Empire (Francia) is actually the common precursor of France and Germany. In 843 the Treaty of Verdun lead to the partition of Francia in West Francia (modern day France) and East Francia (modern day Germany). "Frankreich", the German word for France, means actually nothing else than Frankish Empire.

reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franconia