The Reinheitsgebot (German pronunciation: [ˈʁaɪnhaɪtsɡəboːt] (listen), literally "purity order"), is a series of regulations limiting the ingredients in beer in Germany and the states of the former Holy Roman Empire. The best-known version of the law was adopted in Bavaria in 1516, but similar regulations predate the Bavarian order, and modern regulations also significantly differ from the 1516 Bavarian version.