COUNTRY: GERMANY
DATE: 2nd JULY 2018
I saw Regensburg on the map while organising where to drive next for the night and after seeing some of the photos online, I just had to do a pit stop here! I decided we had around 1.5hrs only as it was close to later in the afternoon already.
We parked at a nearby carpark called “Dultplatz”(purple dot below) and crossed over the bridge to get to the main city centre. the green dots below on the map is our walk around the city.
Some History about Regensburg
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 important 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 in late Roman times the city was the seat of a bishop, and St Boniface re-established the Bishopric of Regensburg in 739.
From the early 6th century, Regensburg was the seat of a ruling family known as the Agilolfings. From about 530 to the first half of the 13th century, it was the capital of Bavaria. 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 adoptionism 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 II the German. Two years later, fourteen Bohemian princes came to Regensburg to receive baptism there. This was the starting point of 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. A memorial plate at St John’s Church (the alleged place of the baptism) was unveiled a few years ago, commemorating the incident in the Czech and German languages.
In 800 the city had 23,000 inhabitants, and by 1000 this had increased to 40,000.
On 8 December 899 Arnulf of Carinthia, descendant of Charlemagne, died at Regensburg.
In 1096, on the way to the First Crusade, Peter the Hermit led a mob of crusaders that attempted to force the mass conversion of the Jews of Regensburg and killed all those who resisted.
Schloss Thurn und Taxis (St Emmeram’s Abbey)
St. Emmeram’s Abbey, now known as Schloss Thurn und Taxis, was a Benedictine monastery founded in about 739 at the grave of the itinerant Frankish bishop Saint Emmeram. Its a huge castle owned by the powerful Thurn and Taxis family.
Saint Wolfgang, who was made bishop in 972, ordered that a library be constructed at St. Emmeram shortly after his arrival in Regensburg. An active scriptorium had existed at St. Emmeram in the Carolingian period, but it is not known whether it occupied a special building, and it appears that relatively few manuscripts of poor quality were produced there during the early tenth century. Over time, some works in the scriptorium were copied by monks, some works were preserved from the Carolingian period, and others were acquired as gifts.
The details in the Abbey of the art work and the statues was incredible! every area had some sort of beauty of art created into this gorgeous building
There seemed to be a lot of young people in this city! I believe its a university city
We noticed that there were so many churches all over this small city – I didnt want to leave without seeing as many as I could – it was a shame as I had to quickly walk around and view them from the outside due to not having enough time
A gothic church, on this spot the first church was built in the year 700
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regensburg_Cathedral
Walking back over the bridge towards our campervan, we reluctantly had to leave Regensburg, for such a small city there was just so much to see! The amount of churches was phenominal! I coudlnt get to all of them which was annoying even though we did extend staying here for another 30 mins or so, also we had bought a parking ticket and that was expiring as well
I would recommend to anyone to do a half day here at Regensburg, well worth the time and effort, I really enjoyed it here!
The Wandering Passport 