Regensburg (historically known in English as Ratisbon, RAT-is-bon) is a city in eastern Bavaria, at the confluence of the rivers Danube, Naab and Regen, Danube's northernmost point. It is the capital of the Upper Palatinate subregion of the state. With more than 150,000 inhabitants, Regensburg is the fourth-largest city in the State of Bavaria after Munich, Nuremberg and Augsburg and the eighth-largest of all cities on the river Danube. From its foundation as an imperial Roman river fort, the city has been the political, economic, and cultural centre of the surrounding region. Later, under the rule of the Holy Roman Empire, it housed the Perpetual Diet of Regensburg. The medieval centre of the city was made a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2006 because of its well-preserved architecture, being the biggest medieval city site north of the Alps, and the city's historical importance for assemblies during the Holy Roman Empire. In 2014, Regensburg was among the top sights and travel attractions in Germany.
History
Early history
The first settlements in the Regensburg area date from the Stone Age. The oldest Celtic name given to a settlement near Regensburg was Radasbona, a site where a Roman fort was built around AD 90. In 179, a major new Roman fort, called Castra Regina ("fortress by the river Regen"), was built for Legio III Italica during the reign of Emperor Marcus Aurelius. It was an essential camp at the most northerly point of the Danube; it corresponds to what is today the core of Regensburg's Old City or Altstadt east of the Obere and Untere Bachgasse and west of the Schwanenplatz. It is believed that as early as the late Roman period, the city was the seat of a bishop. From the early 6th century, Regensburg was the seat of the ruling family, the Agilolfings. From about 530 to the first half of the 13th century, it was the capital of Bavaria. The bishopric established by the Romans was re-established by St Boniface as the Bishopric of Regensburg in 739. In the late 8th century, Regensburg remained an important city during the reign of Charlemagne. In 792, Regensburg hosted the ecclesiastical section of Charlemagne's General Assembly, the bishops in council who condemned the heresy of the nontrinitarian adoptionism doctrine taught by their Spanish counterparts, Elipandus of Toledo and Felix of Urgell. After the partition of the Carolingian Empire in 843, the city became the seat of the Eastern Frankish ruler, Louis the German. Two years later, 14 Bohemian princes came to Regensburg to receive baptism there. This was the starting point of the Christianization of the Czechs, and the diocese of Regensburg became the mother diocese of that of Prague. These events had a wide impact on the cultural history of the Czech lands, as they were consequently part of the Roman Catholic and not the Slavic-Orthodox world. On 8 December 899, Arnulf of Carinthia, a descendant of Charlemagne, died at Regensburg. By the High Middle Ages in the year 1000, the population increased to 40,000 from 23,000 inhabitants in 800. In 1096, on the way to the First Crusade, Gottschalk (a local priest) led a mob of crusaders who attempted to force the mass conversion of Jews in Regensburg. They then killed all those who resisted. Between 1135 and 1146, the Stone Bridge across the Danube was built at Regensburg. This bridge opened major international trade routes between northern Europe and Venice, thereby beginning Regensburg's golden age as a residence of wealthy trading families. Regensburg became the cultural centre of southern Germany and was celebrated for its gold work and fabrics.
Late Middle Ages and early modern period
In 1245, Regensburg became a Free Imperial City and was a trade centre before the shifting of trade routes in the late Middle Ages. Regensburg has always been a place where international meetings were held. This was also the case in 1471 when a war against the Turks was to be decided. In 1486, Regensburg became part of the Duchy of Bavaria, but its independence was restored by the Holy Roman Emperor ten years later.
In 1519, the medieval Jewish community of Regensburg — one of the largest and most significant in southern Germany — was expelled following the death of Emperor Maximilian I, who had previously protected the city's Jews. Without imperial oversight, the city council and local guilds moved quickly to remove the community, citing economic grievances and long-standing religious hostility. About 500 Jews were forced to leave the city, their property was confiscated, and the centuries-old synagogue and much of the Jewish quarter were demolished. The medieval Jewish cemetery, one of the oldest in the region, was also destroyed; many of its gravestones were removed, broken, or reused in construction around the city. The 1519 expulsion marked the end of Jewish life in Regensburg for several centuries, until Jews were permitted to resettle in the city in the early modern period. The first Diet of Regensburg took place in 1541. The city adopted the Protestant Reformation in 1542, and its Town Council remained entirely Lutheran. From 1663 to 1806, the city was the permanent seat of the Imperial Diet of the Holy Roman Empire, which became known as the Perpetual Diet of Regensburg. Thus, Regensburg was one of the Empire's central towns, attracting large numbers of visitors. A minority of the population remained Roman Catholic, and Roman Catholics were denied civic rights (Bürgerrecht). Although the Imperial city had adopted the Reformation, the town remained the seat of a Roman Catholic bishop and several abbeys. Three of these, St. Emmeram, Niedermünster and Obermünster, were free imperial estates within the Holy Roman Empire, meaning that they were granted a seat and a vote at the Imperial Diet (Reichstag). So there was the unique situation in which the town of Regensburg comprised five independent "states" (in the Holy Roman Empire): the Protestant city itself, the Roman Catholic bishopric, and the three monasteries. In addition, it was seen as the traditional capital of the region of Bavaria (not the state) and served as a functional co-capital of the Empire (second to the Emperor's court at Vienna) due to the presence of the Perpetual Diet. It was the residence of the Emperor's Commissary-Principal to the same diet, who, with one very brief exception, was a prince himself (for many years the Prince of Thurn and Taxis, still resident in the town).
Late modern period
In 1803, the city lost its status as an imperial city following its incorporation into the Principality of Regensburg. It was handed over to the Archbishop-Elector of Mainz and Archchancellor of the Holy Roman Empire Carl von Dalberg in compensation for the territory of the Electorate of Mainz located on the left bank of the Rhine which had been annexed by France under the terms of the Treaty of Lunéville in 1801. The Archbishopric of Mainz was formally transferred to Regensburg. Dalberg united the bishopric, the monasteries, and the town itself, making up the Principality of Regensburg (Fürstentum Regensburg). Dalberg strictly modernized public life. Most importantly, he awarded equal rights to Protestants and Roman Catholics alike. In 1810, Dalberg ceded Regensburg to the Kingdom of Bavaria, and he himself was compensated by the award of Fulda and Hanau under the title of "Grand Duke of Frankfurt". Between 19 and 23 April 1809, Regensburg was the scene of the Battle of Ratisbon between forces commanded by Henri Gatien Bertrand and Napoleon himself and the retreating Austrian forces. The city was eventually overrun, after supplies and ammunition ran out. The city suffered severe damage during the fight, with about 150 houses being burnt and others being looted. Robert Browning's poem Incident at the French Camp describes the battle from the French perspective, but is filled with historical errors.
Nazism and World War II
The Jewish community was persecuted after the Nazi Party came to power in Germany in 1933, many Jews fled in the following years, and some were also expelled to Poland; thanks, however, to a Polish-German agreement they were allowed to return to the city. On 9 November 1938, during the Kristallnacht, the Regensburg Synagogue and several Jewish homes and stores were destroyed, and around 220 Jews were arrested, some were also deported to the Dachau concentration camp. During World War II, many Jews emigrated to various countries, and in 1942, over 200 Jews were deported either to Piaski in German-occupied Poland or the Theresienstadt Ghetto in German-occupied Czechoslovakia. In the final months of World War II, in March and April 1945, the Regensburg subcamp of the Flossenbürg concentration camp was located in the city, with 460 forced laborers of various nationalities, 40 of whom died. Regensburg was home to both a Messerschmitt Bf 109 aircraft factory and an oil refinery, which were bombed by the Allies on 17 August 1943, in the Schweinfurt-Regensburg mission, and on 5 February 1945, during the Oil Campaign of World War II. Although both targets were severely damaged, Regensburg itself suffered minor damage from the Allied strategic bombing campaign, and the nearly intact medieval city centre is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The city's most important cultural loss was the Romanesque church of Obermünster, which was destroyed in a March 1945 air raid and not rebuilt (the belfry survived). Also, Regensburg's slow economic recovery after the war ensured that historic buildings were not torn down and replaced by newer ones. When the upswing in restoration reached Regensburg in the late 1960s, the prevailing mindset had turned in favour of preserving the city's heritage.
History after 1945
Between 1945 and 1949, Regensburg was the site of the largest displaced persons (DP) camp in Germany. At its peak in 1946–1947, the workers' district of Ganghofersiedlung housed almost 5,000 Ukrainian and 1,000 non-Ukrainian refugees and displaced persons. With the approval of the U.S. Military Government in the American Allied Occupation Zone, Regensburg and other DP camps organised their own camp postal service. In Regensburg, the camp postal service began operation on 11 December 1946. At the beginning of the 1960s, Regensburg invested heavily in technical and social infrastructure to attract industry. Siemens was the first multinational company to establish a presence in Regensburg, a significant step in the city's post-World War II development. In 1965, Regensburg University was founded; Regensburg University of Applied Sciences was established in 1971. The second multinational company, BMW, arrived in 1986 and set up a large production plant. Since the 1990s, several well-known high-tech companies have been based in Regensburg, including Infineon and OSRAM, contributing to the city's current wealth. In 1997, Regensburg was awarded the Europe Prize for its outstanding achievements in European integration. The World Heritage Committee listed Regensburg's Old Town as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in July 2006.
Geography
=== Topography === Regensburg is situated on the northernmost part of the river Danube at the geological crossroads of four distinct landscapes:
to the north and northeast lies the Bavarian Forest with granite and gneiss mountains, wide forests and its national park to the east and southeast is the fertile Danube plain (Gäuboden), which is a highly cultivated loess plain the south is dominated by the Tertiary Hill Country, a continuation of Alpine Foreland to the West is Franconian Jura
=== Climate === Regensburg straddles the humid continental (Dfb) and oceanic (Cfb) climate zones under the Köppen climate classification. While the average temperature of 8.5 °C (47.3 °F) during the period from 1971 to 2000 is slightly above the German average (7.8 °C or 46.0 °F), only 5 of the 80 cities in Germany with more than 100,000 inhabitants are colder. The average precipitation of 636 millimetres (25.0 inches) per year ranges slightly below the German average (approximately 700 millimetres or 28 inches). For the more recent period from 1981 to 2010, the average temperature and precipitation rose to 8.9 °C (48.0 °F) and 658 millimetres (25.9 inches), respectively. Although this increase in average temperature is evident in other cities as well, Regensburg still ranks fifth (shared with Ingolstadt and Kiel) in the ranking above. With a total of 1670 sunshine hours per year, Regensburg is roughly 120 hours above German average. The warmest month of the year, on average, is July. On average, the coolest month of the year is January.
Main sights
City
Regensburg includes the largest medieval old town north of the Alps with nearly 1,500 listed buildings and a picturesque cityscape. Its most famous sights are located mainly in the Old Town, such as:
The Dom (Cathedral) is an example of pure German Gothic and is regarded as the main work of Gothic architecture in Bavaria. It was founded in 1275 and completed in 1634, except for the towers, which were finished in 1869. The interior contains numerous interesting monuments, including one of Peter Vischer's masterpieces. Adjoining the cloisters are two chapels which predate the cathedral. One of these, known as the old cathedral, goes back perhaps to the 8th century. The official choir for the liturgical music at St Peter's Cathedral is the famous Regensburger Domspatzen ("cathedral sparrows"). The stone bridge, built 1135–1146, is a highlight of medieval bridge building. The knights of the 2nd and 3rd crusades used it to cross the Danube on their way to the Holy Land. The Regensburg Sausage Kitchen is a major tourist destination, but locals eat there as well. It was initially built as the construction headquarters of the stone bridge and now lies adjacent to it. Remains of the Roman fortress's walls, including the Porta Praetoria. The Church of St. James, also called Schottenkirche, a Romanesque basilica of the 12th century, derives its name from the monastery of Irish Benedictines (Scoti) to which it was attached; the principal doorway is covered with very unusual grotesque carvings. It stands next to the Jakobstor, a medieval city gate named after it. The old parish church of St. Ulrich is a good example of the Transition style of the 13th century, and contains a valuable antiquarian collection. It houses the diocesan museum of religious art. Examples of the Romanesque basilica style are the church of Obermünster, dating from 1010, and the abbey church of St. Emmeram, built in the 13th century, is remarkable as one of the few German churches with a detached bell tower. The cloisters of the ancient abbey, one of the oldest in Germany, are still in a fair state of preservation. In 1809, the conventional buildings were converted into a palace for the prince of Thurn and Taxis, hereditary postmaster-general of the Holy Roman Empire. The Adler-Apotheke, located near Regensburg Cathedral, was founded in 1610 and is one of the oldest pharmacies in Regensburg. The ancient interior and historical vessels can be viewed. Wealthy patrician families competed against each other to see who could build the highest tower in the city. In 1260, the Goldener Turm (golden tower) was built on Wahlenstrasse. The Old Town Hall, dating in part from the 14th century, contains the rooms occupied by the Imperial Diet from 1663 to 1806. The Gasthof zum Goldenen Kreuz (Golden Cross Inn) is also of historical interest: it is where Charles V made the acquaintance of Barbara Blomberg, the mother of Don John of Austria. The statue of John of Austria, born 1547 in Regensburg, was erected in 1978 on the fourth centenary of his death and is a copy of a monument in Messina, Italy. Perhaps the most pleasant modern building in the city is the Gothic villa of the king of Bavaria on the bank of the Danube. The grounds are now open to the public and known as VillaPark. Among the public institutions of the city are the public library, picture gallery, botanical garden, and the institute for the making of stained glass. The city's colleges (apart from the University of Regensburg) include an episcopal clerical seminary, and a school of church music. St. Emmeram's Abbey, now known as Schloss Thurn und Taxis, is a huge castle owned by the powerful Thurn and Taxis family. Schloss Höfling, a castle owned by the Thurn und Taxis family The City Park, the oldest and largest park in Regensburg, has a lot of artwork. The Botanischer Garten der Universität Regensburg is a modern botanical garden located on the University of Regensburg campus. Herzogspark also contains several small botanical gardens.
Surroundings
Near Regensburg, there are two classical buildings erected by Ludwig I of Bavaria as national monuments dedicated to German patriotism and greatness:
The more imposing of the two is the Walhalla, a costly reproduction of the Parthenon, erected as a Teutonic temple of fame on a hill rising from the Danube at Donaustauf, 10 kilometres (6.2 miles) to the east. The interior, which is richly decorated with coloured marble, gilding and sculptures, contains the busts of more than one hundred notable Germans. The second of King Ludwig's buildings is the Befreiungshalle at Kelheim, 25 kilometres (16 miles) higher up the Danube. It is a large circular monument built for the glorification of the heroes of the 1813 War of Liberation. Weltenburg Abbey (Kloster Weltenburg), a Benedictine monastery, is located in Weltenburg near the town of Kelheim. The abbey is situated on a peninsula of the Danube, by what are known as the "Weltenburg Narrows" or "Danube Gorge". The monastery, founded by Irish or Scottish monks in about 620, is said to be the oldest monastery in Bavaria. To the east of Regensburg lies the Bavarian Forest and its National Park, one of the most visited protected areas in Germany. Regensburg is on a designated heritage route, the Route of Emperors and Kings.
Culture
=== Museums and exhibitions === There are 20 museums in Regensburg. The Regensburg Museum of History covers the history, culture, and arts of Regensburg and Eastern Bavaria from the Stone Age to the present. The Imperial Diet Museum (Reichstagsmuseum) in the Old Town Hall presents life during the Holy Roman Empire. Its main attractions are an original torture chamber and the Reichssaal, the rooms occupied by the Imperial Diet from 1663 to 1806. The Kepler Memorial House (Keplergedächtnishaus) illustrates the life of the famous astronomer and mathematician Johannes Kepler. The Municipal Art Gallery (Leerer Beutel) hosts art exhibitions, film screenings, and cultural festivals. The city has also added several outdoor museums, known as "Document" sites, that provide overviews of topics such as Roman, Jewish, and Bavarian history. In addition, there are the Diocese Museums (Bistumsmuseen) of Regensburg and a branch of the Bavarian National Museum located in St. Emmeram's Abbey, which contains the Princely Treasure Chamber of the Thurn und Taxis family. The Domschatzmuseum, where church treasures, monstrances, and tapestries are displayed, is in St. Peter's Cathedral. Other museums include the Kunstforum Ostdeutsche Galerie, the Naturkundemuseum Ostbayern, the Reptile Zoo, the Regensburg Museum of Danube Shipping (Donau-Schiffahrts-Museum), the Public Observatory Regensburg, as well as the Watch Museum (Uhrenmuseum), the Golf Museum, the Post Museum, and the Dinoraeum. To celebrate its centenary in 2018, the State of Bavaria opened the Museum of Bavarian History in Regensburg. In 2023, a Dackelmuseum (Dachshund museum) opened. There are also guided tours of most of Regensburg's historical monuments, as well as organized city tours available in several languages.
Theaters
The Theater Regensburg on the Bismarckplatz was established in 1804 and is the city's most important theater. Operas, operettas, musicals, and ballets are performed there. In the summer, open-air performances also take place. While the theater on the Bismarckplatz is the city's oldest and largest, the Theater Regensburg also has four other stages with programmes that complement each other. In the theater's Neuhaussaal on the Bismarckplatz, the Philharmonic Orchestra Regensburg performs. The Velodrom Theater presents musicals and plays. At the Haidplatz Theater, mainly literary and modern plays are performed, whereas the Turmtheater at the Goliathplatz puts on cabarets, musicals, plays for children, and modern plays.
=== Music === Regensburg is home to the famous Regensburger Domspatzen, the cathedral choir that specializes in liturgy but has toured internationally with a wide variety of music. The Regensburger Schlossfestspiele has been held in the inner courtyard of the St. Emmeram's Abbey every July from 2003, sponsored by the former princely house of Thurn und Taxis. Meanwhile, those were attracting musicians like Elton John, David Garrett, Tom Jones, or Plácido Domingo. Modern music styles, especially jazz, are presented every summer during the Bavarian Jazz weekend, during which over a hundred bands, combos, and soloists perform in the Old Town. In 2015, the House of Music was opened, giving a home to skilled musicians and their education.
=== Film and cinema === The international short film season is hosted annually in Regensburg. It is a non-profit event held every March and is among the most important of its kind in Germany. Aside, there are several cinemas, such as CinemaxX, the largest, which shows blockbusters and arthouse films, and smaller independent cinemas such as Garbo, Ostentor Kino and Regina Filmtheater. Regensburg has two open-air cinemas as well.
=== Dialect === Although the German language is Germany's official language, Regensburg is considered a part of the Bavarian dialect language area (bairischer Sprachraum) which encompasses much of Bavaria, Austria, and the South Tyrolean region of northern Italy. More specifically, the dialect attributed to Regensburg is called Central Bavarian (Mittelbairisch). A 2019 report estimates that about half of Bavaria's 12 million inhabitants speak a variation of the Bavarian dialect. The first dictionary of a German dialect was Johann Ludwig Prasch's Glossarium Bavaricum. Published in Regensburg in 1689, it contains 500 words from the Bavarian variation spoken in Regensburg. Regensburg's Bauerntheater, a type of farmers' or folk theater, has staged plays delivered in Bavarian for over 90 years. Moreover, premiering in 2011, Joseph Berlinger's play "Mei Fähr Lady", a story about three "students" taking a crash course in Bavarian dialect, has been performed at Regensburg's Turmtheater over 300 times. In fact, the role of the dialect professor is played by Ludwig Zehetner, professor emeritus in Bavarian dialectology at University of Regensburg. Manfred Rohm, whose pen name Sepp Grantelhauer takes on the Bavarian verb granteln for "to complain", wrote a weekly satirical column solely in Bavarian for the Regensburger Rundschau.
=== Buildings === The Old Town of Regensburg, with nearly 1,500 listed buildings, offers a rich cultural diversity from Roman to modern times.
=== Recreation === The Old Town of Regensburg is surrounded by a green belt. Numerous inner-city parks, such as the City Park (Stadtpark), the Herzogspark, the Dörnbergpark, the Villapark, or the university's botanical garden, are sources of recreation and leisure.
=== Memorial sites === The city of Regensburg has erected several memorials to combat racism, intolerance towards minorities, and all other forms of contempt for human dignity:
Memorial for victims of the Holocaust Memorial for victims of forced "euthanasia" Memorial for concentration camp inmates and prisoners of war Memorial for violence against women Particular to Regensburg are the so-called Stolpersteine (stumbling stones) in honor of Jews deported during Nazism.
=== Events === Twice a year, the Regensburg Dult takes place. This is the city's Volksfest, Bavaria's fourth-largest. The Bürgerfest (citizen celebration) in the Old Town is held every two years and attracts over 100,000 visitors. Every second weekend in July, people dressed as knights and other medieval characters come together at the Regensburg Spectaculum, a medieval market, near the Stone Bridge. Every December, there are several Christmas markets all over the city.
Demographics
=== Population === In 2023, Regensburg had 178,577 inhabitants, making it the fourth largest city in Bavaria. Over the last hundred years, the city's population has grown rapidly, exceeding 100,000 in 1945 due to the influx of Germans who were expelled from various Eastern and Central European countries at the end of the war. Today, Regensburg is one of the fastest-growing cities in Germany.
=== International communities === As of 2024, just over 22% of the total population was of foreign origin. As of 2022, most came from Ukraine, the Middle East and Southeastern Europe:
=== Religion === A relative majority of Regensburg's population is Catholic. In 2020, about 48% of the city's inhabitants identified with the Catholic Church, 12.4% were registered Protestants, and about 39.6% identified with other religions or had no registered religious affiliation.