Berchtesgaden Provostry
| (Prince-)Provostry of Berchtesgaden | ||||||||||
| (Fürst-)Propstei Berchtesgaden (German) | ||||||||||
| State of the Holy Roman Empire | ||||||||||
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 Berchtesgaden Provostry and Archbishopric of Salzburg, 1789
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| Capital | Berchtesgaden | |||||||||
| Languages | Central Bavarian | |||||||||
| Government | Principality | |||||||||
| Historical era | Middle Ages | |||||||||
| • | Provostry founded | 1102 | ||||||||
| • | Imperial immediacy | 1194 | ||||||||
| • | Joined Bavarian Circle | 1500 | ||||||||
| • | Prince-Provostry | 1559 | ||||||||
| • | Mediatised to Salzburg | 1803 | ||||||||
| • | Joined Kingdom of Bavaria | 1810 | ||||||||
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Coat of arms
Berchtesgaden Provostry or the Prince-Provostry of Berchtesgaden (German: Fürstpropstei Berchtesgaden) was an immediate (reichsunmittelbar) principality of the Holy Roman Empire, held by a canonry, i.e. a collegiate foundation, of Canons Regular led by a Prince-Provost.
The territory comprised the Alpine Berchtesgaden hollow, that is, the modern communities of Berchtesgaden, Bischofswiesen, Marktschellenberg, Ramsau and Schönau am Königssee, located in the present-day German state of Bavaria, as well as a number of estates further afield.
The location of the monastery was strategically important. Firstly, it is in an area possessing immensely valuable salt deposits, and was situated in such a way that it was able to act as a buffer state between its much larger neighbours, the Duchy of Bavaria and the Archbishopric of Salzburg, and to make this situation work to its advantage. Secondly, the Berchtesgaden valley is almost entirely enclosed by high mountains, except for a single point of access to the north, and is thus virtually impregnable.
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