About an hour and a half’s drive from Munich Airport is the small university town and former capital of Bavaria, Regensburg. This UNESCO World Heritage site is Germany’s best preserved medieval town and was once the northernmost outpost of the Roman Empire, when a fort, Castra Regina, was built during the reign of Emperor Marcus Aurelius in AD 179. Some of its ruins can still be seen around the city today, roughly outlining the area surrounding Regensburg’s main cathedral, or Dom, of St Peter’s.
Regensburg is consistently ranked as one of the top sights in Germany because of its historical importance during the Holy Roman Empire and its remarkably preserved architecture. After St Boniface, an English Benedictine monk, established a bishopric in AD 739, it remained an important city under the reign of Charlemagne, who was the King of the Franks and widely considered to be the forerunner to the line of the Holy Roman Emperors. In 1146, with the opening of the historical stone bridge – reputably one of the oldest in Europe and also a feat of medieval engineering – the city thrived as an important trading centre between northern Europe and Venice.
After becoming a free imperial city for 600 years, in the late Middle Ages of the 15th-century, Regensburg was subsumed under the Duchy of Bavaria before regaining independence under a succession of Holy Roman Emperors. It then gained a permanent seat in the Imperial Diet, a sort of deliberative body in the Holy Roman Empire that also included other Diets in the city of Worms and Nuremberg. A truly remarkable feature, and therefore its importance, is that Regensburg was the only city bestowed as a Perpetual Diet, meaning that the Diet met there permanently. This small town had five separate seats and votes: the city itself, the Bishopric, and the three monasteries of St Emmeram, Niedermunster and Obermunster – we’ll visit one of these later. During this period, the city amassed such serious wealth that it was able to embark on a frenzied spat of architectural masterpieces, such as the revival of St Peter’s in high gothic style and the erection of bricked towers for no other reason than to trumpet one’s status.
Regensburg’s old town is compact and pleasantly walkable along its pedestrianised cobblestone streets. The entire town can be traversed end-to-end on foot within 20 minutes. While driving and parking within the preserved old town’s one-way streets can be tricky, there are many parking options on the island of Stadtamhof or at the Regensburg Arcaden (a shopping mall) near the Hauptbahnhof, which serves trains going to Hamburg, Frankfurt and even Vienna in Austria.
The beauty about parking at the island of Stadhamhof, which is also part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site, is that it allows one to enter the city via the medieval stone bridge, just as travellers and pilgrims did in the past. This is best done, as we did, during the early morning when the bridge is quiet and the wintry air is cool and crisp. Few things come finer than this experience.
Walking along the stone bridge, or steinernebrucke, with its charming black street lamps on either side, affords one with a panoramic view of the town’s roofline, punctuated by the twin spires of St Peter’s Cathedral, the iconic city gate Brückturm and several bricked towers, or turms as they are called. Along the sides are picturesque views of the fast flowing Danube and the trees shedding their last autumn leaves.
At the southern end of the bridge, the bright pink Brückturm with its clock tower and stone statues announces the entrance to the medieval city. The clock tower and the building beside, the Salzstadel, houses the Brückturm Museum (Bridge Tower Museum) (daily, 10am – 6pm, free) which provides details on the history and construction of this almost 900 year old medieval masterpiece, the oldest in Germany and a city landmark. In the museum, exhibits and information panels tell the history of this city, from an important Roman outpost, to its expansion over the years with the influx of trade and visitors, the part it played in the Holy Roman Empire, and the process of how it received its deserving UNESCO award in 2006. The bridge tower, formerly a lookout post for the night watchmen guarding the city, now allows visitors to climb up for amazing views of the bridge and town. There are free toilets on the second floor.
Just beside the bridge is the oldest restaurant in Germany and a beloved Regensburg institution, the Historische Wurstkuchl (Daily, 10am – 7pm). It started out as a kitchen in 1135, serving meals to the men who laboured on the construction of the stone bridge, and then became a food stall serving boiled meat for workers who laboured on other projects such as St Peter’s Cathedral or worked at the docks. Since then, this place has been feeding Regenburg’s iconic mini wurst to fawning locals and tourists alike.
While the outside has long wooden tables and benches for al-fresco dining, inside, past the working kitchen with a large griller full of sausages, is a warm and cozy seating area with a ceiling criss-crossed with dark wooden beams. It is a perfect spot for lunch during winter.
On the menu here is the Regensburg speciality – pure ham pork sausage from their own butcher shop (and only their master butcher knows the recipe), homemade mustard and sauerkraut. Don’t be alarm when you see the portions listed in the menu – Regensburg’s sausages are small (possibly the smallest besides Nuremberg’s) and hence it is not surprising for a person to order 6, 8 or 10 sausages in one sitting. Pair the sausages with a sweet and mildly hot mustard found in a small pot on every table. This mustard, Händlmaier, is sold throughout Germany but only produced in Regensburg. It is my favourite mustard, and I always make it a point to pick up a couple of plastic tubes at major supermarkets every time I’m in the country.
Cutting through the narrow passageway just after the Brückturm, one comes face to face with a large mural on a building named Goliathhaus. The mural was completed in 1573 and depicts, in vibrant colours, the biblical battle between David (welding the slingshot) and Goliath. Constructed in 1260, Goliathhaus is situated along the aptly named Goliathstrasse. Despite the epic scene on the facade, the building’s name was likely not derived from the bible, but rather from the word Goliards, to refer to the theology students who stayed at this exact location during the 12th-century during their travels within Europe. They were called Goliards because the believed in their guardian angel, Golias. According to the website, this current house would over time belong to many patrician and wealthy families in Regensburg, including the Nuremberger family.
A short detour to the left on Goliathstrasse leads onto Unter den Schwibböggen and the ruins of Porta Praetoria and Reste Legionslagermauer, the remains of only two arched gates (the other, Porta Nigra, is in the city of Trier) harking back to when Regensburg was a former Roman outpost.
The mosaic of ruins forms part of Castra Regina that was built in AD179 during the reign of Emperor Marcus Aurelius. By facing the river, the gate is strategically positioned to provide a defensive structure to the Roman camp. Presently, fragments of stone are encased into the structure of a building, seeming to blend harmoniously into the surrounding neighbourhood.
Doing a u-turn and walking back along Goliathstrasse to the other end leads to a small square called the Rathausplatz. This is home to Regensburg’s medieval Altes Rathaus (Old Town Hall) and the city’s Tourist Information. The collection of cream-coloured buildings actually consists of three parts: the Imperial Hall building with the bay window, the portal building with the staircase and gate, and, the oldest of the three, the tower with its belfry and large clock face. At 55-meters tall, it was constructed in early gothic style in the 13th-century and modelled on Patrician house castles.
The Imperial Hall building, with the Imperial Hall, was built around 1320 and was originally intended as a dance hall. The building gained exclusive importance from 1663 onwards, when the Perpetual Imperial Diet met in this building for almost 150 years (probably because of its proximity to the sausage kitchen!) until it was dissolved in 1806. During this time, the buildings were expanded successively to house the Diet’s delegation. For centuries, not only did the heart of the Free Imperial City of Regensburg beat here, but the Reichstag Hall is considered to be the beacon of democracy and the forerunner of the German parliaments, and even the European Union! Within the Old Town Hall is the Reichstag Museum (daily, 10am – 6pm, tickets) with various rooms such as the College of Electors, Imperial Hall and Princely College open to the public. There are guided tours here every 30 minutes.
The Old Town Hall in Regensburg was probably the most important building in Europe at the time, and even sported a love affair between the emperor and a citizen’s daughter. The statue of his famous offspring, Don Juan de Austria, can be admired just around the corner at Zieroldsplatz.
Directly opposite is the regal Prinzess Confiserie & Cafe, one of Germany’s oldest cafes. Opened in 1686, it was patronised by Bishops and Princes back when Regensburg was an Imperial Diet (and good location too, for they met directly opposite in the Rathaus). Although staffed with rather indifferent servers and thronging with tourists, is a good place to stop for sweet treats at its ground floor shop that sells homemade praline chocolates (most with alcohol), pastries and confectionery. Upstairs is a cafe where you can have a coffee and examine the fine facade and clock tower of the Old Town Hall in detail.
Further along is another small square, Haidplatz, with the Justiabrunnen (Justice Fountain) as its centrepiece. This is a Baroque style fountain created by sculptor Leoprand Hilmer in 1656. During the Christmas season, Haidplatz is filled with Christmas market stalls.
A wander around this area also brings you face to face with some of the bricked towers (or turms) constructed during the 13th-century for wealthy landowners to show off their fortune. These can rise up to seven stories high and tower over the city, and are the next tallest towers after the Cathedral. Some of the more famous ones include the Goldener Turm along Wahlenstrasse, which when I saw last was turned into a student dormitory, as well as the Baumburger Turm nearby. The fact that they are still standing after 700 years is a testament to the engineering prowess of that time.
Backtrack to the Domplatz and the magnificent St Peter’s Cathedral (daily, 10am – 6pm, free) comes into focus, with its twin Gothic spires and intricate carvings on the western facade: the statues of St Peter and Paul are etched above the door. Built near the Roman fort of Castra Regina and on the original site of an old church in AD 700, the previous cathedral burned down in 1273. In 1280, it was rebuilt in high gothic style (which was all the rage then) by an architect trained in France, and it is the only Gothic Cathedral standing in Bavaria. Although the builders aspired to erect taller spires, due to the lack of funds, construction on the towers stopped midway, and were only added 350 years later in the 19th-century upon order of King Ludwig I. Luckily, they were completed in the same style so as to give the entire Cathedral a homogenous appearance. To upkeep its appearance and prevent severe erosion, as it is with all old churches, some parts of the Cathedral is perpetually clad in scaffolding.
Stepping inside via the entrance at the side, look up towards the rear of the nave. At the back is the world’s largest hanging organ, a massive jumble of 5,871 silver pipes constructed in 2009 and attached by four wire ropes from a steel framework in the roof structure.
Some other sights worth seeing within the cathedral include the baroque alter at the apse, set against a beautiful backdrop of 1,100 panes of stained-glass windows dating from 1310 to 1450; the statue of St Peter with his large key; and the Cathedra – the bishop’s chair and where the word “Cathedral” comes from. Within the compound, the cloister, once the burial place of Regensburg’s citizens and famed by its gothic ribbed vault from the 15th-century, as well as the All Saints Chapel built by Italian workers in the 12th-century, are prominent areas to visit.
To learn more about these fascinating objects, a guided cathedral tour, including the cloister (daily, 230pm, 75mins, €10) is recommended and can be booked online. If not, just sitting by the pew for some quiet reflection allows an appreciation of its serenity and beauty. If you happen to be here on a Sunday, the Regensburger Domspatzen, the oldest boys’ choir in the world founded in 975 AD, usually sings in the cathedral for church services.
The adjacent two-story Domschatz Museum (11am – 5pm) has some interesting relics, crucifixes and embroidery robes from the Cathedral. The online website (https://domplatz-5.de/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/2023-Domflyer-English.pdf) has some interesting information on the various monuments, statues and stained glass in the cathedral. For more religious art, just behind is St Ulrich, a museum in a 13th-century church displaying Christian art, including vault paintings & sculptures.
Nearby is the unassuming Alte Kirche (Basilica of the Nativity of our Lady Regensburg), one of the oldest Catholic churches in Bavaria when it was founded in 1000 AD. In the 19th-century, the interior was given a facelift in a heavy Baroque and Rococo style, a design typical to many of churches in the south. The interior, looking like a palace, is lavishly decorated, complete with gilded and overwrought frescos, rich paintings of Kings and Saints on the ceiling, and an immensely golden and ornate alter centrepiece. The church was closed during our visit but we could still peer through the wrought iron gates separating the nave from the narthex.
Back on Domplatz and a left turn onto Residenzstrasse is the Neupfarrplatz, a pleasant market square surrounding a 16th-century church. The square is steeped in history when in 1995, construction works in the area uncovered a former Jewish ghetto, built around the 10th-century, that was constructed on top of the ruins of an even older Roman settlement. The expulsion of Jews was not a recent phenomenon during WWII, as it actively occured in the past when the town’s citizens destroyed their homes and the synagogue.
The Neupfarrkirche (New Parish Church) which stands on the square today was originally built as a Catholic pilgrimage church directly after the destruction of the synagogue, but was later converted to its current Lutheran Evangelical denomination when the city council converted during the Reformation of 1542. The church, built in a modest Romanesque style, is squat but tall, with beautiful stained glass windows and two bell towers. The outline of the former synagogue and old Jewish homes are laid out in the adjacent square.
Every Christmas, the square gives way to one of the largest Christmas markets in Regensburg. It is always a lively and magical event, with makeshift stores selling everything from mulled wine and the city’s famous wurst in bread, to chocolate heart cookies, wood-carved ornaments, tree trinkets and wooly accessories. People gather early to drink a uniquely decorative cup of mulled wine and a Regensburger wurst sandwich.
A walk further south from the river is the Basilica of St Emmeram (didn’t we hear this name before?) and Schloss Emmeram, Thurn und Taxis (St Emmeram’s Palace). Both are located between the old town and the train station in the large expanse of green known as Schlosspark. St. Emmeram’s Palace, the largest privately inhabited palace in Germany, is the residence of the princely Thurn und Taxis family and has more than 500 rooms. This magnificent palace is built on the extensive complex of one of Europe’s most important Benedictine abbeys, the Imperial Abbey of St. Emmeram, with the oldest sections dating back to the 12th-century.
The family of Thurn und Taxis, whose descendants still live in the palace, were formally running a postal service. The palace and the basilica (as part of the secularised monastery complex) was awarded to them in 1812 as part of the compensation paid by the Kingdom of Bavaria when the Thurn und Taxis postal service was nationalised. Since then, there were further expansions and refurbishments lasting 100 years, creating what is now the principal residence. Albert II, Prince of Thurn und Taxis, is the 12th prince to reside at the complex.
Some of the noteworthy rooms inside the palace are the magnificent ballroom, done up in a breathtaking Baroque style. Measuring 190 square metres and over seven metres high, the architect Max Schultze blended the Rococo décor of the Thurn und Taxis palace in Frankfurt with neo-Rococo elements to create an extravagantly festive design. Others include the silver saloon, designed in 1873 to emulate the Blue Cabinet room at the Nymphenburg Palace, as well as the conservatory, a greenhouse styled area with lush foliage all year round.
Within the complex, the monastery, established near the grave of the Franconian bishop Emmeram, is amongst Europe’s most venerated cultural sites for centuries. Christian faith, including research into art and science, were cultivated here for 1,200 years, but this came an end when the imperial abbey was secularised in 1810. The crypt chapel, in the medieval cloister gardens, was commissioned for the princely family between 1835 and 1841 and it is considered the most important neo-Gothic mausoleum in German history.
We didn’t manage to enter the palace on account of it being closed for a Christmas event, so I could only take some screenshots of the building and interior from their excellent and informative online page (photo credits https://www.thurnundtaxis.com/information/st-emmeram-palace). They do guided tours of their palace’s state rooms and cloisters (daily, 1030am, 1230 and 230pm, €17) . If you can’t make it for the guided tour, the treasury and stables are open (11am – 4pm, €5) and can be accessed without a guide. Audio guides are available.
However, we did manage to enter the Basilica of St Emmeram, probably the gem in the entire complex and my vote for one of the spookiest places in the world. Its entrance is via a small gated archway along Emmeramsplatz into a narrow courtyard with tombstones lining the bricked walls. At the end is the doorway into the basilica, looking as though it leads into another dimension or portal. This is the oldest part of the schloss complex, dating back to the early 12th-century when the first Benedictine monks settled here at the grave of the Frankish Bishop St. Emmeram around AD 800, and established a monastic tradition of over 1,000 years. The Papal Basilica of St. Emmeram is one of the oldest and most important Baroque churches in Bavaria, and in turn, the former monastery of St. Emmeram is one of the most important abbeys in Germany. It is still the Thurn und Taxis’ family place of worship.
The Romanesque basilica has three aisles and three choirs. Its interior is decked out in a late Baroque style, with statues of saints lining the pillars, floral and vines on the arches surrounding the high windows, and biblical paintings on the ceiling depicting Saint Benedict of Nursia. The oldest part of the building is the ring crypt under the choir of the northern aisle. The three carved stone reliefs on the north portal are medieval and date from about 1052, which are among the oldest of their type in Germany. They represent Christ, Saint Emmeram and Saint Denis.
Inside the church and next to Saint Denis’s altar in the northern aisle, is the tomb of Hemma, Queen of the East Franks, who died in 876 AD. There are also other notable burials within the basilica, as well as the full skeletons of the catacomb saints Maximianus and Calcidonius, decked out in full regalia, which can be found in glass shrines (as I said, one of the creepiest churches I’d been to). The high altar is relatively young and dates from 1669. Between 1731 and 1733, the abbey church was elaborately refurbished by the unique stylist of the Asam brothers (a duo of architects, painters and sculptors in the late Baroque period who were also responsible for Asamkirche in Munich) with stucco work, figures and wall paintings.
Back out into the 21st-century (and heaving a big sigh of relief), a few streets north is the shopping street of Konigstrasse, which comes alive with tourists and locals on weekends and early evenings. Along one of the small lanes is the ruins of an old stone wall which has no business in modern day Regensburg. this is the Legionslagermauer, one of the remains of an unearthed Roman wall running along the length of a shopping mall and visitors can usually access the gated underground passage (closed and locked when we were there).
Ambling along the main thoroughfare of D Martin Lutherstrasse, the city office building in a light orange facade stands to the right, with its second floor office extending out into the street to allow traffic to pass through an archway.
Nearby is the Historisches Museum Regensburg (closed Mon, 10am – 4pm, €7.50). Housed in a building adjacent to the former monastery Minoritenkirche St. Salvator, it displays exhibits from the Stone Age to the 19th-century. The museum gives a nice historical context to the sights around the city, through the descriptions of exhibits from the Roman era when Castra Regina was constructed, to stone sculptures from the Middle Ages. It also talks about life and trade in medieval Regensburg when it was a Perpetual Diet, and showcases some astonishing sacred art from the 15th and 16th-century. It is said that the finds from the Bronze Age grave furnishings are one of the best in Europe. The adjacent former Minorite monastery is worth viewing especially for the faded artwork on the interior walls.
Further down and tucked into a small road on the right is the Restaurant Leerer Beutal, housed in a beautiful building with a slopping roof, typical of Germanic construction, and a good place to reserve if you crave Italian cuisine.
Walking down Thundorferstrasse along the Danube brings you past the Donau-Schiffahrts floating museum, comprising two of the region’s historic ships: the wheel train steamer Ruthof, built in 1922/23, and the motorised tug Freuenau, built in 1942. While both ships saw some war time action, these fully functioning boats offer visitors a chance to see the engine rooms and living quarters, but most importantly, a view of the stone bridge and the Danube from a different vantage point.
The sleek and modern glass and concrete building at the junction is the Haus der Bayerischen Geschichtequaint (House of Bavarian History) (closed Mon, 9am – 6pm, €7). The first permanent museum of its kind after putting on successful Bavarian State Exhibitions around the region, it attempts to answer the questions about Bavaria, specifically on its history and importance, how it become a free state in the Middle Ages, to its role in WWI and WWII, and the reconstruction years thereafter.
For a scenic view of the stone bridge, cross the Eiserne Brucke to the island in the middle. Along Wohrdstrasse are apartments with a quiet vibe and a local feel. At the very tip of the island, near the old wooden lock and away from the hustle and bustle of tourist hoards, are some of the best views of the old town.
This magnificent medieval city should definitely be on your list of places to visit in small town Bavaria, and it is doable as a day trip from either Munich or Nuremberg. We only managed to cover Regensburg in a day, but what a day it was, and what a good start to our south Germany adventure. If you have more time, staying a night allows you to cover some of the excellent museums and take in a guided tour of the St Emmeram Palace, not to mention a tranquil stroll along the banks of the Danube, with the silhouette of St Peter’s Cathedral and the stone bridge in the background. Das ist perfekt.
