'''La Franconie''' est une région géographique et historique du centre de l'Allemagne. Elle se situe pour sa majeure partie dans le nord de la Bavière, où elle correspond aux régions administratives (''Regierungsbezirke'') de Moyenne-Franconie (''Mittelfranken''), Basse-Franconie (''Unterfranken'') et Haute-Franconie (''Oberfranken'').

''voir aussi pour la partie historique Duché de Franconie.''

== Gastronomie ==
left|thumb|400px|carte de région viticole Franken
La Franconie est à la fois une région viticole (le ''Frankenwein'') et une grande productrice de bières.
Les principales spécialités sont :
* ''Karpfen blau'' ou ''gebacken'' (carpe au bleu ou au four)
* ''Sauerbraten'' (bœuf braisé avec une sauce aigre-douce et servi avec du chou rouge. Le repas est souvent accompagné de gelée d'airelles rouges. À la sauce on ajoute un genre de pain d'épice.)
* ''Bocksbeutel'' (Les vins de Franconie sont vendus dans des bouteilles de forme ventrue, appelées  "Bocksbeutel", ce qui signifie "panse ou bourse de bouc".)

==Tourisme==
La Franconie attire chaque année de nombreux touristes. Son paysage pittoresque et son histoire intéressante qui se reflète dans l'architecture de ses bâtiments historiques ainsi que dans les manifestations culturelles, contribuent à la popularité de cette région. De nombreux châteaux forts et bâtisses médiévales sont reliés par La Route des Châteaux Forts qui traverse entièrement la Franconie.

La région offre de multiples activités sportives aux vacanciers. Avant tout, la ''Frankenalb'', le ''Fichtelgebirge'', la ''Fränkische Schweiz'' et le ''Steigerwald'' sont traversés par de nombreux sentiers de randonnées. Des fleuves, comme la ''Pegnitz'' ou ''la Wiesent'' sont régulièrement fréquentés par des canoéistes. Un réseau de pistes cyclables a été créé le long de quelques fleuves, comme par exemple le ''Main'' ou la ''Tauber''. Concernant l'escalade de rocher, la ''Fränkische Schweiz'' compte parmi les régions les plus populaires de l'Allemagne.

----
''voir aussi pour la partie historique Duché de Franconie.''

thumb|right|The Franconian coat of arms
'''Franconia''' (German: ''Franken'') is a historic region of Worms (west of the Rhine). 

Franconia was one of the five original "younger" stem duchies that grew up in the Holy Roman Empire in the late 9th and early 10th centuries. The tribal nature of the region consisted in that it contained the Frankish territories east of the Rhine.

==Duchy of Franconia==
thumb|right|The Holy Roman Empire at the beginning of the [[Salic dynasty.]]
Sometime around 906, Conrad of the King of the Germans, largely because of his weak position in his own duchy. Franconia, like Saxony or Bavaria and the position of duke was often disputed between the chief families. 

Conrad had granted Franconia to his brother Eberhard on his succession; but when Eberhard rebelled against Otto I in 938, he was deposed from his duchy, and, rather than appoint a new duke from his own circle, Otto divided the threatening power of the duchy among the great ecclesiastics with and through whom he ruled, who had remained faithful to his cause: the Bamberg. 

Thenceforth the great abbeys and episcopal seats that Saint Boniface and his successors had established in southwestern Germany had a monopoly on temporal office in Franconia, on a par with the counts of lands further west. They had another virtue in the Ottonian scheme: as celibates they were less likely to establish hereditary lineages. By contrast, Otto's son-in-law, Conrad the Red, whom he had installed as Duke of Lorraine in 944, extended his power base in Franconia.

==Divided Franconia==
In the High Middle Ages, Franconia came to be divided into two distinct regions, though these regions were not coherent territories with distinct governments. Rather, they were culturally different regions which came to be dominated by different political and religious forces and thus came under the ''de facto'' "rule" of different bodies. 

===Rhenish Franconia===

Henry III, Henry IV, and Henry V. Rhenish Franconia contained the ancient cities of Mainz, Speyer, and Worms, the latter two being countships within the hands of the descendants of Conrad the Red (the Salians). These counts were sometimes referred to informally, on account of the great power in the region, as dukes of Franconia. 

Rhenish Franconia was actually governed, however, as a constellation of small states, like the Frankfurt and Worms), the bishoprics (Mainz, Speyer, and Worms), and the Rhenish Palatinate. In this way, Rhenish Franconia was divided and extinguished.

===Eastern Franconia===
In 1115, Henry V awarded the territory of Eastern Franconia (''Ostfranken'') to his nephew Conrad of Hohenstaufen, who used the title "Duke of Franconia." Franconia remained a Hohenstaufen power base until 1168, when the Bishop of Würzburg was formally ceded the ducal rights in Eastern Franconia. The name "Franconia" fell out of usage, but the bishop revived it in his own favour in 1442 and held it until the reforms of Napoleon Bonaparte abolished it. It should be noted that the Bishop of Würzburg was the Duke ''in'' Franconia (''Herzog in Franken'') rather than the Duke ''of'' Franconia (''Herzog von Franken'') during this time. 