Regensburg or is a city in eastern
Bavaria
Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...
, at the confluence of the
Danube
The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , pa ...
,
Naab
__NOTOC__
The Naab (Czech: ''Nába'') is a river in Bavaria, Germany, and is a left tributary of the Danube. Including its main source river Waldnaab, it is long. Its average discharge at the mouth is .
The Naab is formed by the confluence of t ...
and
Regen
Regen ( Northern Bavarian: ''Reng'') is a town in Bavaria, Germany, and the district town of the district of Regen.
Geography
Regen is situated on the great Regen River, located in the Bavarian Forest.
Divisions
Originally the town consisted o ...
rivers. It is capital of the
Upper Palatinate
The Upper Palatinate (german: Oberpfalz, , ) is one of the seven administrative districts of Bavaria, Germany, and is located in the east of Bavaria.
Geography
The Upper Palatinate is a landscape with low mountains and numerous ponds and lakes ...
subregion of the state in the south of Germany. With more than 150,000 inhabitants, Regensburg is the fourth-largest city in the State of Bavaria after
Munich
Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...
,
Nuremberg
Nuremberg ( ; german: link=no, Nürnberg ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the second-largest city of the German state of Bavaria after its capital Munich, and its 518,370 (2019) inhabitants make it the 14th-largest ...
and
Augsburg
Augsburg (; bar , Augschburg , links=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swabian_German , label=Swabian German, , ) is a city in Swabia, Bavaria, Germany, around west of Bavarian capital Munich. It is a university town and regional seat of the ' ...
. From its foundation as an imperial Roman river fort, the city has been the political, economic and cultural centre of the surrounding region; it is still known in the
Romance languages
The Romance languages, sometimes referred to as Latin languages or Neo-Latin languages, are the various modern languages that evolved from Vulgar Latin. They are the only extant subgroup of the Italic languages in the Indo-European language fam ...
by a cognate of its Latin name of "Ratisbona" (the version "Ratisbon" was long current in English). Later, under the rule of the
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a Polity, political entity in Western Europe, Western, Central Europe, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its Dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire, dissolution i ...
, it housed the
Perpetual Diet of Regensburg
The Perpetual Diet of Regensburg or the Eternal Diet of Regensburg, (german: Immerwährender Reichstag) also commonly called in English the perpetual Diet of Ratisbon,Jean Berenger, C.A. Simpson, ''The Habsburg Empire 1700-1918'' (2014), p. 134 fr ...
.
The medieval centre of the city was made a
UNESCO World Heritage Site
A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...
in 2006 because of its well-preserved architecture and the city's historical importance for assemblies during the
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a Polity, political entity in Western Europe, Western, Central Europe, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its Dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire, dissolution i ...
.
In 2014, Regensburg was among the top sights and
travel attractions in Germany.
History
Early history
![Regensburg-porta-praetoria 2](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/08/Regensburg-porta-praetoria_2.jpg)
The first settlements in the Regensburg area date from the
Stone Age
The Stone Age was a broad prehistoric period during which stone was widely used to make tools with an edge, a point, or a percussion surface. The period lasted for roughly 3.4 million years, and ended between 4,000 BC and 2,000 BC, with t ...
. The oldest
Celtic
Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to:
Language and ethnicity
*pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia
**Celts (modern)
*Celtic languages
**Proto-Celtic language
* Celtic music
*Celtic nations
Sports Fo ...
name given to a settlement near Regensburg was Radasbona, a site where a
Roman
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...
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
Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (Latin: áːɾkus̠ auɾέːli.us̠ antɔ́ːni.us̠ English: ; 26 April 121 – 17 March 180) was Roman emperor from 161 to 180 AD and a Stoic philosopher. He was the last of the rulers known as the Five Good ...
.
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
Boniface, OSB ( la, Bonifatius; 675 – 5 June 754) was an English Benedictine monk and leading figure in the Anglo-Saxon mission to the Germanic parts of the Frankish Empire during the eighth century. He organised significant foundations of ...
re-established the
Bishopric of Regensburg
The Prince-Bishopric of Regensburg (german: link=no, Fürstbistum Regensburg; Hochstift Regensburg) was a small ecclesiastical principality of the Holy Roman Empire located near the Free Imperial City of Regensburg in Bavaria. It was elevate ...
in 739.
From the early 6th century, Regensburg was the seat of a ruling family known as the
Agilolfings
The Agilolfings were a noble family that ruled the Duchy of Bavaria on behalf of their Merovingian suzerains from about 550 until 788. A cadet branch of the Agilolfings also ruled the Kingdom of the Lombards intermittently from 616 to 712.
They ...
. 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
Charlemagne ( , ) or Charles the Great ( la, Carolus Magnus; german: Karl der Große; 2 April 747 – 28 January 814), a member of the Carolingian dynasty, was King of the Franks from 768, King of the Lombards from 774, and the first Holy ...
. In 792, Regensburg hosted the ecclesiastical section of Charlemagne's General Assembly, the bishops in council who condemned the heresy of
adoptionism
Adoptionism, also called dynamic monarchianism, is an Early Christianity, early Christian Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Diversity in early Christian theology, theological doctrine, which holds that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus was adopted as ...
taught by their Spanish counterparts,
Elipandus
Elipandus (717–805) was a Spanish theologian and the archbishop of Toledo from 782. He was condemned by the Catholic Church as an Adoptionist.
Six letters written by Elipandus survive, including one to Migetius and another on behalf of the bi ...
of
Toledo and
Felix of Urgell
Felix (died 818) was a Christian bishop and theologian. He served as the bishop of Urgell (783–99) and advocated the christology known as Spanish Adoptionism because it originated in the lands of the former Visigothic Kingdom in Spain. He was con ...
. After the partition of the
Carolingian Empire
The Carolingian Empire (800–888) was a large Frankish-dominated empire in western and central Europe during the Early Middle Ages. It was ruled by the Carolingian dynasty, which had ruled as kings of the Franks since 751 and as kings of the Lom ...
in 843, the city became the seat of the Eastern
Frankish
Frankish may refer to:
* Franks, a Germanic tribe and their culture
** Frankish language or its modern descendants, Franconian languages
* Francia, a post-Roman state in France and Germany
* East Francia, the successor state to Francia in Germany ...
ruler,
Louis II the German. Two years later, fourteen
Bohemia
Bohemia ( ; cs, Čechy ; ; hsb, Čěska; szl, Czechy) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. Bohemia can also refer to a wider area consisting of the historical Lands of the Bohemian Crown ruled by the Bohem ...
n princes came to Regensburg to receive
baptism
Baptism (from grc-x-koine, βάπτισμα, váptisma) is a form of ritual purification—a characteristic of many religions throughout time and geography. In Christianity, it is a Christian sacrament of initiation and adoption, almost inv ...
there. This was the starting point of
Christianization
Christianization ( or Christianisation) is to make Christian; to imbue with Christian principles; to become Christian. It can apply to the conversion of an individual, a practice, a place or a whole society. It began in the Roman Empire, conti ...
of the
Czechs
The Czechs ( cs, Češi, ; singular Czech, masculine: ''Čech'' , singular feminine: ''Češka'' ), or the Czech people (), are a West Slavic ethnic group and a nation native to the Czech Republic in Central Europe, who share a common ancestry, c ...
, and the diocese of Regensburg became the mother diocese of that of
Prague
Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...
. 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
Czech may refer to:
* Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe
** Czech language
** Czechs, the people of the area
** Czech culture
** Czech cuisine
* One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus'
Places
*Czech, ...
and
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ger ...
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
Arnulf of Carinthia ( 850 – 8 December 899) was the duke of Carinthia who overthrew his uncle Emperor Charles the Fat to become the Carolingian king of East Francia from 887, the disputed king of Italy from 894 and the disputed emperor from Feb ...
, a descendant of
Charlemagne
Charlemagne ( , ) or Charles the Great ( la, Carolus Magnus; german: Karl der Große; 2 April 747 – 28 January 814), a member of the Carolingian dynasty, was King of the Franks from 768, King of the Lombards from 774, and the first Holy ...
, died at Regensburg.
In 1096, on the way to the
First Crusade
The First Crusade (1096–1099) was the first of a series of religious wars, or Crusades, initiated, supported and at times directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The objective was the recovery of the Holy Land from Islamic ru ...
,
Peter the Hermit
Peter the Hermit ( 1050 – 8 July 1115 or 1131), also known as Little Peter, Peter of Amiens ( fr. ''Pierre d'Amiens'') or Peter of Achères ( fr. ''Pierre d'Achères''), was a Roman Catholic priest of Amiens and a key figure during the militar ...
led a mob of
crusaders
The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known of these Crusades are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291 that were in ...
that attempted to force the mass conversion of the
Jews
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
of Regensburg and killed all those who resisted.
![Braun Regensburg UBHD](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/61/Braun_Regensburg_UBHD.jpg)
Between 1135 and 1146, the
Stone Bridge across the
Danube
The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , pa ...
was built at Regensburg. This bridge opened major international trade routes between northern Europe and
Venice
Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...
, and this began Regensburg's golden age as a residence of wealthy trading families. Regensburg became the
cultural
Culture () is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and Social norm, norms found in human Society, societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, Social norm, customs, capabilities, and habits of the ...
centre of southern Germany and was celebrated for its gold work and fabrics.
Late Middle Ages and early modern period
![Regensburg Prince-Bishopric and Imperial City (18th century)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/65/Regensburg_Prince-Bishopric_and_Imperial_City_%2818th_century%29.png)
In 1245 Regensburg became a
Free Imperial City
In the Holy Roman Empire, the collective term free and imperial cities (german: Freie und Reichsstädte), briefly worded free imperial city (', la, urbs imperialis libera), was used from the fifteenth century to denote a self-ruling city that ...
and was a trade centre before the shifting of
trade route
A trade route is a logistical network identified as a series of pathways and stoppages used for the commercial transport of cargo. The term can also be used to refer to trade over bodies of water. Allowing goods to reach distant markets, a sing ...
s 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
The Duchy of Bavaria (German: ''Herzogtum Bayern'') was a frontier region in the southeastern part of the Merovingian kingdom from the sixth through the eighth century. It was settled by Bavarian tribes and ruled by dukes (''duces'') under Fr ...
, but its independence was restored by the
Holy Roman Emperor
The Holy Roman Emperor, originally and officially the Emperor of the Romans ( la, Imperator Romanorum, german: Kaiser der Römer) during the Middle Ages, and also known as the Roman-German Emperor since the early modern period ( la, Imperat ...
ten years later. The first
Diet of Regensburg Diet of Regensburg may refer any of the sessions of the Imperial Diet, Imperial States, or the prince-electors of the Holy Roman Empire which took place in the Imperial City of Regensburg (Ratisbon), now in Germany.
An incomplete lists of Diets o ...
took place in 1541. The city adopted the
Protestant Reformation
The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...
in 1542 and its Town Council remained entirely
Lutheran
Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched th ...
. 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
The Perpetual Diet of Regensburg or the Eternal Diet of Regensburg, (german: Immerwährender Reichstag) also commonly called in English the perpetual Diet of Ratisbon,Jean Berenger, C.A. Simpson, ''The Habsburg Empire 1700-1918'' (2014), p. 134 fr ...
. Thus, Regensburg was one of the central towns of the Empire, attracting visitors in large numbers.
![Regensburg Reichstag 1711](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3a/Regensburg_Reichstag_1711.jpg)
A minority of the population remained
Roman Catholic
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...
, and Roman Catholics were denied civic rights ('). Although the Imperial city had adopted the Reformation, the town remained the seat of a Roman Catholic bishop and several
abbey
An abbey is a type of monastery used by members of a religious order under the governance of an abbot or abbess. Abbeys provide a complex of buildings and land for religious activities, work, and housing of Christian monks and nuns.
The conce ...
s. 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 ('). So there was the unique situation that the town of Regensburg comprised five independent "states" (in terms of the Holy Roman Empire): the Protestant city itself, the Roman Catholic bishopric, and the three
monasteries
A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer which ...
. In addition, it was seen as the traditional capital of the region Bavaria (not the state), acted as functional co-capital of the Empire (second to the Emperor's court at Vienna) due to the presence of the Perpetual Diet, and 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
The Princely House of Thurn and Taxis (german: link=no, Fürstenhaus Thurn und Taxis ) is a family of German nobility that is part of the ''Briefadel''. It was a key player in the postal services in Europe during the 16th century, until the end ...
, 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
The Principality of Regensburg (german: Fürstentum Regensburg) was a principality of the Holy Roman Empire that was created in 1803. Its capital was Regensburg. Following the dissolution of the Empire in 1806, the principality became a member s ...
. It was handed over to the
Archbishop-Elector of Mainz
The Elector of Mainz was one of the seven Prince-electors of the Holy Roman Empire. As both the Archbishop of Mainz and the ruling prince of the Electorate of Mainz, the Elector of Mainz held a powerful position during the Middle Ages. The Archb ...
and Archchancellor of the Holy Roman Empire
Carl von Dalberg
Karl Theodor Anton Maria von Dalberg (8 February 1744 – 10 February 1817) was Prince- Archbishop of Regensburg, Arch-Chancellor of the Holy Roman Empire, Bishop of Constance and Worms, prince-primate of the Confederation of the Rhine and G ...
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
The Treaty of Lunéville (or Peace of Lunéville) was signed in the Treaty House of Lunéville on 9 February 1801. The signatory parties were the French Republic and Emperor Francis II, who signed on his own behalf as ruler of the hereditary doma ...
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
The Principality of Regensburg (german: Fürstentum Regensburg) was a principality of the Holy Roman Empire that was created in 1803. Its capital was Regensburg. Following the dissolution of the Empire in 1806, the principality became a member s ...
(''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
The Kingdom of Bavaria (german: Königreich Bayern; ; spelled ''Baiern'' until 1825) was a German state that succeeded the former Electorate of Bavaria in 1805 and continued to exist until 1918. With the unification of Germany into the German E ...
, he himself being compensated by the award of
Fulda
Fulda () (historically in English called Fuld) is a town in Hesse, Germany; it is located on the river Fulda and is the administrative seat of the Fulda district (''Kreis''). In 1990, the town hosted the 30th Hessentag state festival.
History ...
and
Hanau
Hanau () is a town in the Main-Kinzig-Kreis, in Hesse, Germany. It is located 25 km east of Frankfurt, Frankfurt am Main and is part of the Frankfurt Rhine-Main, Frankfurt Rhine-Main Metropolitan Region. Its Hanau Hauptbahnhof, station is a ...
to him under the title of "
Grand Duke of Frankfurt
The Grand Duchy of Frankfurt was a German satellite state of Napoleonic creation. It came into existence in 1810 through the combination of the former territories of the Archbishopric of Mainz along with the Free City of Frankfurt itself.
Histor ...
".
Between April 19 and April 23, 1809, Regensburg was the scene of the
Battle of Ratisbon
The Battle of Ratisbon, also called the Battle of Regensburg, was fought on 23 April 1809, during the Napoleonic Wars, between the army of the First French Empire, French Empire, led by Napoleon I, and that of the Austrian Empire, led by Archd ...
between forces commanded by
Henri Gatien Bertrand
Henri-Gatien Bertrand (28 March 1773 – 31 January 1844) was a French general who served during the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. Under the Empire he was the third and last Grand marshal of the palace, the head of the Mi ...
and Napoleon himself and the retreating
Austrian
Austrian may refer to:
* Austrians, someone from Austria or of Austrian descent
** Someone who is considered an Austrian citizen, see Austrian nationality law
* Austrian German dialect
* Something associated with the country Austria, for example: ...
forces. The city was eventually overrun, after supplies and
ammunition
Ammunition (informally ammo) is the material fired, scattered, dropped, or detonated from any weapon or weapon system. Ammunition is both expendable weapons (e.g., bombs, missiles, grenades, land mines) and the component parts of other weap ...
ran out. The city suffered severe damage during the fight, with about 150 houses being burnt and others being looted.
Robert Browning
Robert Browning (7 May 1812 – 12 December 1889) was an English poet and playwright whose dramatic monologues put him high among the Victorian poets. He was noted for irony, characterization, dark humour, social commentary, historical settings ...
'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
![Gedenkstein KZ-Aussenkommando Flossenbürg001](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/af/Gedenkstein_KZ-Aussenkommando_Flossenb%C3%BCrg001.jpg)
The Jewish community was persecuted after the
Nazi Party
The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (german: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that crea ...
came to power in Germany in 1933, many Jews fled in the following years, and some were also expelled to
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...
; thanks, however, to a Polish-German agreement they were allowed to return to the city.
On November 9, 1938, during the
Kristallnacht
() or the Night of Broken Glass, also called the November pogrom(s) (german: Novemberpogrome, ), was a pogrom against Jews carried out by the Nazi Party's (SA) paramilitary and (SS) paramilitary forces along with some participation from ...
, 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
,
, commandant = List of commandants
, known for =
, location = Upper Bavaria, Southern Germany
, built by = Germany
, operated by = ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS)
, original use = Political prison
, construction ...
.
[ During ]World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, many Jews emigrated to various countries, and in 1942, over 200 Jews were deported either to Piaski in German-occupied Poland
German-occupied Poland during World War II consisted of two major parts with different types of administration.
The Polish areas annexed by Nazi Germany following the invasion of Poland at the beginning of World War II—nearly a quarter of the ...
or the Theresienstadt Ghetto
Theresienstadt Ghetto was established by the SS during World War II in the fortress town of Terezín, in the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia ( German-occupied Czechoslovakia). Theresienstadt served as a waystation to the extermination cam ...
in German-occupied Czechoslovakia. In the final months of World War II, in March and April 1945, the Regensburg subcamp
The Regensburg satellite camp (''KZ-Außenlager Regensburg'') ( Stadtamhof, Regensburg, Bavaria, Germany), also known as the Colosseum subcamp (''Außenkommando Colosseum'') in the vernacular at the time, was established in 1945 as the last subca ...
of the Flossenbürg concentration camp
Flossenbürg was a Nazi concentration camp built in May 1938 by the SS Main Economic and Administrative Office. Unlike other concentration camps, it was located in a remote area, in the Fichtel Mountains of Bavaria, adjacent to the town of F ...
was located in the city, with 460 forced laborers
Forced labour, or unfree labour, is any work relation, especially in modern or early modern history, in which people are employed against their will with the threat of destitution, detention, violence including death, or other forms of ex ...
of various nationalities, 40 of whom died.
Regensburg was home to both a Messerschmitt Bf 109
The Messerschmitt Bf 109 is a German World War II fighter aircraft that was, along with the Focke-Wulf Fw 190, the backbone of the Luftwaffe's fighter force. The Bf 109 first saw operational service in 1937 during the Spanish Civil War an ...
aircraft factory and an oil refinery, which were bombed by the Allies on August 17, 1943, in the Schweinfurt-Regensburg mission, and on February 5, 1945, during the Oil Campaign of World War II. Although both targets were badly damaged, Regensburg itself suffered little damage from the Allied strategic bombing campaign, and the nearly intact medieval city centre is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site
A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...
. The city's most important cultural loss was that of the Romanesque church of Obermünster, which was destroyed in a March 1945 air raid and was 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
Ukrainian may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to Ukraine
* Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe
* Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine
* So ...
and 1,000 non-Ukrainian refugees and displaced persons. With the approval of 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 December 11, 1946.
At the beginning of the 1960s, Regensburg invested heavily in technical and social infrastructure
Infrastructure is the set of facilities and systems that serve a country, city, or other area, and encompasses the services and facilities necessary for its economy, households and firms to function. Infrastructure is composed of public and priv ...
to attract industry. Siemens
Siemens AG ( ) is a German multinational conglomerate corporation and the largest industrial manufacturing company in Europe headquartered in Munich with branch offices abroad.
The principal divisions of the corporation are ''Industry'', '' ...
was the first multinational company to come to Regensburg, a significant step in the city's development after World War II. In 1965, Regensburg University
The University of Regensburg (german: link=no, Universität Regensburg) is a public research university located in the medieval city of Regensburg, Bavaria, a city that is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The university was founded on 18 ...
was founded; Regensburg University of Applied Sciences
The Regensburg University of Applied Sciences (german: Ostbayerische Technische Hochschule Regensburg, literally: ''Eastern Bavarian Technical University of Regensburg'') is a university in Regensburg, Germany. It was founded in 1971 as a colleg ...
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 hightech
High technology (high tech), also known as advanced technology (advanced tech) or exotechnology, is technology that is at the cutting edge: the highest form of technology available. It can be defined as either the most complex or the newest te ...
companies have been located in Regensburg, such as Infineon
Infineon Technologies AG is a German semiconductor manufacturer founded in 1999, when the semiconductor operations of the former parent company Siemens AG were spun off. Infineon has about 50,280 employees and is one of the ten largest semicond ...
and OSRAM
Osram Licht AG is a German company that makes electric lights, headquartered in Munich and Premstätten (Austria). Osram positions itself as a high-tech photonics company that is increasingly focusing on sensor technology, visualization and tre ...
, contributing to the city's current wealth.
In 1997, Regensburg was awarded the Europe Prize The Europe Prize is a premium established in 1955 by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe
The Council of Europe (CoE; french: Conseil de l'Europe, ) is an international organisation founded in the wake of World War II to uphold ...
for its outstanding achievements in European integration
European integration is the process of industrial, economic integration, economic, political, legal, social integration, social, and cultural Regional integration, integration of states wholly or partially in Europe or nearby. European integrat ...
.
The World Heritage Committee
The World Heritage Committee selects the sites to be listed as UNESCO World Heritage Sites, including the World Heritage List and the List of World Heritage in Danger, defines the use of the World Heritage Fund and allocates financial assistance ...
listed Regensburg's Old Town a UNESCO World Heritage Site
A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...
in July 2006. It is one of the largest medieval old towns north of the Alps and very well preserved, with the nickname "Italy's most northern city". Close to the Stone Bridge, the city of Regensburg established a World Heritage Centre in the historic Salzstadl in 2007, where detailed information on Regensburg's 2000-year history is given.
Geography
Topography
Regensburg is situated on the northernmost part of the Danube river at the geological crossroads of four distinct landscape
A landscape is the visible features of an area of land, its landforms, and how they integrate with natural or man-made features, often considered in terms of their aesthetic appeal.''New Oxford American Dictionary''. A landscape includes the ...
s:
*to the north and northeast lies the Bavarian Forest
The village of Zell in the Bavarian Forest
The Bavarian Forest (German: ' or ''Bayerwald''; bar, Boarischa Woid) is a wooded, low-mountain region in Bavaria, Germany that is about 100 kilometres long. It runs along the Czech border and is con ...
with granite
Granite () is a coarse-grained (phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies undergro ...
and gneiss
Gneiss ( ) is a common and widely distributed type of metamorphic rock. It is formed by high-temperature and high-pressure metamorphic processes acting on formations composed of igneous or sedimentary rocks. Gneiss forms at higher temperatures an ...
mountains, wide forests and its national park
A national park is a nature park, natural park in use for conservation (ethic), conservation purposes, created and protected by national governments. Often it is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state dec ...
*to the east and south-east is the fertile Danube plain (Gäuboden) which are highly cultivated loess
Loess (, ; from german: Löss ) is a clastic, predominantly silt-sized sediment that is formed by the accumulation of wind-blown dust. Ten percent of Earth's land area is covered by loess or similar deposits.
Loess is a periglacial or aeolian ...
plains
*the south is dominated by the Tertiary Hill Country, a continuation of Alpine Foreland
The Alpine Foreland, less commonly called the Bavarian Foreland,Dickinson, Robert E (1964). ''Germany: A regional and economic geography'' (2nd ed.). London: Methuen, pp. 585-586. . Bavarian Plateau or Bavarian Alpine Foreland (german: Bayerisches ...
*to the West is Franconian Jura
The Franconian Jura ( , , or ) is an upland in Franconia, Bavaria, Germany. Located between two rivers, the Danube in the south and the Main in the north, its peaks reach elevations of up to and it has an area of some 7053.8 km2. Emil Meyne ...
Climate
Regensburg straddles the humid continental
A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers and freezing ...
(''Dfb'') and oceanic
Oceanic may refer to:
*Of or relating to the ocean
*Of or relating to Oceania
**Oceanic climate
**Oceanic languages
**Oceanic person or people, also called "Pacific Islander(s)"
Places
* Oceanic, British Columbia, a settlement on Smith Island, ...
(''Cfb'') climate zones under the Köppen climate classification
The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...
. While the average temperature of in the period from 1971 to 2000 is slightly above the German average (), still only 5 of the 80 cities in Germany above 100,000 inhabitants are colder. The average precipitation of per year ranges slightly below the German average (approximately ). For the newer period from 1981 to 2010 the average temperature and precipitation rose up to respectively . As this increase in the average temperature can also be seen in the other cities, Regensburg still ranks fifth place (shared with Ingolstadt and Kiel) in the above-mentioned ranking. 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. The coolest month of the year, on average, is January.
Main sights
City
Regensburg includes the largest medieval old town north of the Alps with nearly 1,500 listed buildings
In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...
and a picturesque cityscape
In the visual arts, a cityscape (urban landscape) is an artistic representation, such as a painting, drawing, print or photograph, of the physical aspects of a city or urban area. It is the urban equivalent of a landscape. ''Townscape'' is ...
. Its most famous sights are located mainly in the Old Town, such as:
*The ''Dom Dom or DOM may refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Dom (given name), including fictional characters
* Dom (surname)
* Dom La Nena (born 1989), stage name of Brazilian-born cellist, singer and songwriter Dominique Pinto
* Dom people, an et ...
'' (Cathedral) is an example of pure German Gothic
Gothic or Gothics may refer to:
People and languages
*Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes
**Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths
**Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...
and is regarded as the main work of Gothic architecture in Bavaria. It was founded in 1275 and completed in 1634, with the exception of the towers, which were finished in 1869. The interior contains numerous interesting monuments, including one of Peter Vischer
Peter Vischer the Elder (c. 1455January 7, 1529) was a German sculptor, the son of Hermann Vischer, and the most notable member of the Vischer Family of Nuremberg.
Biography
Peter was born in Nuremberg, where he also died. He became "master" in ...
's masterpieces. Adjoining the cloister
A cloister (from Latin ''claustrum'', "enclosure") is a covered walk, open gallery, or open arcade running along the walls of buildings and forming a quadrangle or garth. The attachment of a cloister to a cathedral or church, commonly against a ...
s 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
The Regensburger Domspatzen (literally: Regensburg Cathedral Sparrows) is the cathedral choir at the Regensburg Cathedral in Regensburg, Bavaria, Germany. The boys' choir dates back to 975, and consists of boys and young men only. They perform in ...
("cathedral sparrows").
*The stone bridge, built 1135–1146, is a highlight of medieval bridge building. The knights of the 2nd
A second is the base unit of time in the International System of Units (SI).
Second, Seconds or 2nd may also refer to:
Mathematics
* 2 (number), as an ordinal (also written as ''2nd'' or ''2d'')
* Second of arc, an angular measurement unit ...
and 3rd
Third or 3rd may refer to:
Numbers
* 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3
* , a fraction of one third
* Second#Sexagesimal divisions of calendar time and day, 1⁄60 of a ''second'', or 1⁄3600 of a ''minute''
Places
* 3rd Street (d ...
crusade
The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known of these Crusades are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291 that were i ...
s used it to cross the Danube
The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , pa ...
on their way to the Holy Land
The Holy Land; Arabic: or is an area roughly located between the Mediterranean Sea and the Eastern Bank of the Jordan River, traditionally synonymous both with the biblical Land of Israel and with the region of Palestine. The term "Holy ...
.
*The Regensburg Sausage Kitchen is a major tourist destination, but locals eat there as well. It was originally built as the construction headquarters of the stone bridge and now lies adjacent to it.
*Remains of the Roman fortress' walls including the Porta Praetoria
*The Church of St. James, also called ''Schottenkirche'', a Romanesque basilica
In Ancient Roman architecture, a basilica is a large public building with multiple functions, typically built alongside the town's forum. The basilica was in the Latin West equivalent to a stoa in the Greek East. The building gave its name ...
of the 12th century, derives its name from the monastery of Irish
Irish may refer to:
Common meanings
* Someone or something of, from, or related to:
** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe
***Éire, Irish language name for the isle
** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...
Benedictine
, image = Medalla San Benito.PNG
, caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal
, abbreviation = OSB
, formation =
, motto = (English: 'Pray and Work')
, foun ...
s (Scoti
''Scoti'' or ''Scotti'' is a Latin name for the Gaels,Duffy, Seán. ''Medieval Ireland: An Encyclopedia''. Routledge, 2005. p.698 first attested in the late 3rd century. At first it referred to all Gaels, whether in Ireland or Great Britain, but l ...
) 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, 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 conventual buildings were converted into a palace for the prince of ]Thurn and Taxis
The Princely House of Thurn and Taxis (german: link=no, Fürstenhaus Thurn und Taxis ) is a family of German nobility that is part of the ''Briefadel''. It was a key player in the postal services in Europe during the 16th century, until the end ...
, hereditary postmaster-general of the Holy Roman Empire.[
*The Adler-Apotheke, located nearby the 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 of 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 Charles V may refer to:
* Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor (1500–1558)
* Charles V of Naples (1661–1700), better known as Charles II of Spain
* Charles V of France (1338–1380), called the Wise
* Charles V, Duke of Lorraine (1643–1690)
* Infan ...
made the acquaintance of Barbara Blomberg, the mother of Don John of Austria
John of Austria ( es, Juan, link=no, german: Johann; 24 February 1547 – 1 October 1578) was the natural son born to Holy Roman Emperor Charles V late in life when he was a widower. Charles V met his son only once, recognizing him in a secret ...
.[
*The statue of ]John of Austria
John of Austria ( es, Juan, link=no, german: Johann; 24 February 1547 – 1 October 1578) was the natural son born to Holy Roman Emperor Charles V late in life when he was a widower. Charles V met his son only once, recognizing him in a secret ...
, born 1547 in Regensburg, was erected 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 opened to public and known as VillaPark.
*Among the public institutions of the city are the public ]library
A library is a collection of materials, books or media that are accessible for use and not just for display purposes. A library provides physical (hard copies) or digital access (soft copies) materials, and may be a physical location or a vir ...
, picture gallery, botanical garden
A botanical garden or botanic gardenThe terms ''botanic'' and ''botanical'' and ''garden'' or ''gardens'' are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word ''botanic'' is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens, an ...
, and the institute for the making of stained glass
Stained glass is coloured glass as a material or works created from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant religious buildings. Although tradition ...
. The city's colleges (apart from the University of Regensburg
The University of Regensburg (german: link=no, Universität Regensburg) is a public research university located in the medieval city of Regensburg, Bavaria, a city that is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The university was founded on 18 ...
) include an episcopal
Episcopal may refer to:
*Of or relating to a bishop, an overseer in the Christian church
*Episcopate, the see of a bishop – a diocese
*Episcopal Church (disambiguation), any church with "Episcopal" in its name
** Episcopal Church (United State ...
clerical seminary
A seminary, school of theology, theological seminary, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called ''seminarians'') in scripture, theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as clergy, ...
, and a school of church music
Church music is Christian music written for performance in church, or any musical setting of ecclesiastical liturgy, or music set to words expressing propositions of a sacred nature, such as a hymn.
History
Early Christian music
The onl ...
.[
*]St. Emmeram's Abbey
Saint Emmeram's Abbey (german: Kloster Sankt Emmeram or ''Reichsabtei Sankt Emmeram''), now known as Schloss Thurn und Taxis, Schloss St. Emmeram or St. Emmeram's Basilica, was a Benedictine monastery founded in about 739 at Regensburg in Bavari ...
, now known as Schloss Thurn und Taxis, is a huge castle owned by the powerful Thurn and Taxis family.
*Schloss Höfling
Schloss Höfling is a Baroque castle in Regensburg, Bavaria. In 1985 the castle, which is owned by the House of Thurn and Taxis, was leased for one hundred years to the Walderdorff family.
History
The castle takes its name from the von Höfl ...
, a castle owned by the Thurn und Taxis family
*The City Park, the oldest and largest park in Regensburg with a lot of artwork.
*The Botanischer Garten der Universität Regensburg is a modern botanical garden
A botanical garden or botanic gardenThe terms ''botanic'' and ''botanical'' and ''garden'' or ''gardens'' are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word ''botanic'' is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens, an ...
located on the University of Regensburg
The University of Regensburg (german: link=no, Universität Regensburg) is a public research university located in the medieval city of Regensburg, Bavaria, a city that is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The university was founded on 18 ...
campus.
* Herzogspark also contains several small botanical gardens.
Surroundings
Near Regensburg there are two very imposing classical buildings erected by Ludwig I of Bavaria
en, Louis Charles Augustus
, image = Joseph Karl Stieler - King Ludwig I in his Coronation Robes - WGA21796.jpg
, caption = Portrait by Joseph Stieler, 1825
, succession=King of Bavaria
, reign =
, coronation ...
as national monuments dedicated to German patriotism and greatness:[
*The more imposing of the two is the '' Walhalla'', a costly reproduction of the ]Parthenon
The Parthenon (; grc, Παρθενών, , ; ell, Παρθενώνας, , ) is a former temple on the Athenian Acropolis, Greece, that was dedicated to the goddess Athena during the fifth century BC. Its decorative sculptures are considere ...
, erected as a Teutonic temple of fame on a hill rising from the Danube at Donaustauf
Donaustauf is a market town in Bavaria, east of Regensburg at the foothills of the Bavarian Forest. The ruins of a medieval castle, presumably erected between 914 and 930, tower above the small town. Situated nearby on a hill rising from the Da ...
, to the east. The interior, which is richly decorated with coloured marble
Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or Dolomite (mineral), dolomite. Marble is typically not Foliation (geology), foliated (layered), although there are exceptions. In geology, the ...
, gilding
Gilding is a decorative technique for applying a very thin coating of gold over solid surfaces such as metal (most common), wood, porcelain, or stone. A gilded object is also described as "gilt". Where metal is gilded, the metal below was tradi ...
and sculptures, contains the busts of more than one hundred notable Germans.[
*The second of King Ludwig's buildings is the '']Befreiungshalle
The Befreiungshalle (''"Hall of Liberation"'', ) is a neoclassical monument on the Michelsberg hill above the town of Kelheim in Bavaria, Germany. It stands upstream of Regensburg on the river Danube at the confluence of the Danube and the Al ...
'' at Kelheim
Kelheim () is a town and municipality in Bavaria, Germany. It is the capital of the district Kelheim and is situated at the confluence of the rivers Altmühl and Danube. Kelheim has a population of around 16,750 (2020).
History
Kelheim is t ...
, higher up the Danube. It is a large circular monument built for the glorification of the heroes of the 1813 War of Liberation
Wars of national liberation or national liberation revolutions are conflicts fought by nations to gain independence. The term is used in conjunction with wars against foreign powers (or at least those perceived as foreign) to establish separat ...
.[
]Weltenburg Abbey
Weltenburg Abbey (Kloster Weltenburg) is a Benedictine monastery in Weltenburg near Kelheim on the Danube in Bavaria, Germany.
Geography
The abbey is situated on a peninsula in the Danube, in a section of the river valley called the Weltenbur ...
(Kloster Weltenburg), a Benedictine monastery, is located in Weltenburg near the town of Kelheim
Kelheim () is a town and municipality in Bavaria, Germany. It is the capital of the district Kelheim and is situated at the confluence of the rivers Altmühl and Danube. Kelheim has a population of around 16,750 (2020).
History
Kelheim is t ...
. 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
The village of Zell in the Bavarian Forest
The Bavarian Forest (German: ' or ''Bayerwald''; bar, Boarischa Woid) is a wooded, low-mountain region in Bavaria, Germany that is about 100 kilometres long. It runs along the Czech border and is con ...
and its National Park
A national park is a nature park, natural park in use for conservation (ethic), conservation purposes, created and protected by national governments. Often it is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state dec ...
, one of the most visited protected area
Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural, ecological or cultural values. There are several kinds of protected areas, which vary by level of protection depending on the ena ...
s in Germany.
Regensburg is on the designated heritage route, the Route of Emperors and Kings.
Culture
Museums and exhibitions
There are 20 museums in Regensburg. The Regensburg Museum of History
The Regensburg Museum of History (''Regensburg Historische Museum'') currently resides in a former Minorite monastery, is a museum of the history, art and culture of Regensburg and eastern Bavaria from the Stone Age to the present day.
The f ...
covers the history, culture and arts of Regensburg and Eastern Bavaria from the Stone Age
The Stone Age was a broad prehistoric period during which stone was widely used to make tools with an edge, a point, or a percussion surface. The period lasted for roughly 3.4 million years, and ended between 4,000 BC and 2,000 BC, with t ...
to the present. The Imperial Diet Museum (Reichstagsmuseum) in the Old Town Hall presents life during the Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a Polity, political entity in Western Europe, Western, Central Europe, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its Dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire, dissolution i ...
. 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
Johannes Kepler (; ; 27 December 1571 – 15 November 1630) was a German astronomer, mathematician, astrologer, natural philosopher and writer on music. He is a key figure in the 17th-century Scientific Revolution, best known for his laws ...
. The Municipal Art Gallery (Leerer Beutel) houses art collections, film events and cultural festivals. The city has also added several outdoor museums, known as "Document" sites, which give an overview of specific topics such as Roman
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...
, Jewish
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
and Bavarian history
The history of Bavaria stretches from its earliest settlement and its formation as a stem duchy in the 6th century through its inclusion in the Holy Roman Empire to its status as an independent kingdom and finally as a large ''States of Germany, ...
.
In addition, there are the Diocese
In Ecclesiastical polity, church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop.
History
In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided Roman province, pro ...
Museums (Bistumsmuseen) of Regensburg and a branch of the Bavarian National Museum
The Bavarian National Museum (german: Bayerisches Nationalmuseum, links=no) in Munich is one of the most important museums of decorative arts in Europe and one of the list of largest art museums in the world , largest art museums in Germany. S ...
located in St. Emmeram's Abbey, which contains the Princely Treasure Chamber of the Thurn und Taxis
The Princely House of Thurn and Taxis (german: link=no, Fürstenhaus Thurn und Taxis ) is a family of German nobility that is part of the ''Briefadel''. It was a key player in the postal services in Europe during the 16th century, until the end ...
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
The Regensburg Museum of Danube Shipping (''Donau-Schiffahrts-Museum Regensburg'') is a maritime museum of river shipping on the river Danube and other rivers, sited in the town of Regensburg in Germany
Germany,, officially the Fede ...
(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. There are also guided tours of most of the historical monuments in Regensburg, as well as organized tours of the city available in several languages.
Theaters
The Theater Regensburg
Theater Regensburg (also known as the Stadttheater Regensburg, theatre of the city of Regensburg) is a theatrical organization that produces operas, musicals, ballets, plays, and concerts in Regensburg, Germany. The organization operates sever ...
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 ''Neuhaussaal'' of the theater on the Bismarckplatz, concerts by the Philharmonic Orchestra Regensburg take place. The Velodrom
The Velodrom (velodrome) is an indoor track cycling arena, in the Prenzlauer Berg locality of Berlin, Germany. Holding up to 12,000 people, it was also Berlin's largest concert venue, until the opening of O2 World in 2008.
It is part of a large ...
Theater presents musicals and plays. In the Haidplatz Theater it is mainly literary and modern plays that are performed, whereas the Turmtheater at the Goliathplatz puts on cabarets, musicals and plays for children as well as modern plays.
Music
Regensburg is home to the famous Regensburger Domspatzen
The Regensburger Domspatzen (literally: Regensburg Cathedral Sparrows) is the cathedral choir at the Regensburg Cathedral in Regensburg, Bavaria, Germany. The boys' choir dates back to 975, and consists of boys and young men only. They perform in ...
. The Regensburger Schlossfestspiele has been held in the inner courtyard of the St. Emmeram's Abbey
Saint Emmeram's Abbey (german: Kloster Sankt Emmeram or ''Reichsabtei Sankt Emmeram''), now known as Schloss Thurn und Taxis, Schloss St. Emmeram or St. Emmeram's Basilica, was a Benedictine monastery founded in about 739 at Regensburg in Bavari ...
every July from 2003, sponsored by the former princely house of Thurn und Taxis
The Princely House of Thurn and Taxis (german: link=no, Fürstenhaus Thurn und Taxis ) is a family of German nobility that is part of the ''Briefadel''. It was a key player in the postal services in Europe during the 16th century, until the end ...
. Meanwhile, those were attracting musicians like Elton John
Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, pianist and composer. Commonly nicknamed the "Rocket Man" after his 1972 hit single of the same name, John has led a commercially successful career a ...
, David Garrett
David Christian Bongartz (born 4 September 1980), known by his stage name David Garrett, is a German classical and crossover violinist and recording artist.
Early life
When Garrett was four years old his father purchased a violin for his ol ...
, Tom Jones, or Plácido Domingo
José Plácido Domingo Embil (born 21 January 1941) is a Spanish opera singer, conductor, and arts administrator. He has recorded over a hundred complete operas and is well known for his versatility, regularly performing in Italian, French, ...
. Modern music styles, especially jazz
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...
, 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
A short film is any motion picture that is short enough in running time not to be considered a feature film. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes ...
season is hosted annually in Regensburg. It is a non-profit event and takes place every March, being one of the most important of its type in Germany. Aside, there are several cinemas, such as CinemaxX
Vue International (, like "view"), is a multinational cinema holding company based in London, England. It operates in the United Kingdom and Ireland as Vue, with international operations in Denmark and Germany (as CinemaxX); Italy (as The Space ...
, the largest one showing blockbuster
Blockbuster or Block Buster may refer to:
*Blockbuster (entertainment) a term coined for an extremely successful movie, from which most other uses are derived.
Corporations
* Blockbuster (retailer), a defunct video and game rental chain
** Bl ...
s and arthouse film
An art film (or arthouse film) is typically an independent film, aimed at a niche market rather than a mass market audience. It is "intended to be a serious, artistic work, often experimental and not designed for mass appeal", "made primarily f ...
s, and smaller independent cinemas such as Garbo, Ostentor Kino and Regina Filmtheater. Regensburg has two open air cinemas An outdoor cinema consists of a digital or analog movie projector, scaffolded construction or inflatable movie screen, and sound system.
History
Outdoor cinemas first began at around 1916 in Berlin, Germany. During the 1920s, many "rooftop theatr ...
as well.
Dialect
Although the German language
German ( ) is a West Germanic languages, West Germanic language mainly spoken in Central Europe. It is the most widely spoken and Official language, official or co-official language in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and the Ita ...
is Germany's official language, Regensburg is considered a part of the Bavarian dialect
Bavarian (german: Bairisch , Bavarian: ''Boarisch'') or alternately Austro-Bavarian, is a West Germanic language, part of the Upper German family, together with Alemannic and East Franconian.
Bavarian is spoken by approximately 12 million peop ...
language area (') which encompasses much of Bavaria
Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...
, Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
, and the South Tyrolean
it, Provincia Autonoma di Bolzano – Alto Adige lld, Provinzia Autonoma de Balsan/Bulsan – Südtirol
, settlement_type = Autonomous area, Autonomous Provinces of Italy, province
, image_skyline = ...
region of northern Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
. More specifically, the dialect attributed to Regensburg is called Central Bavarian
Central Bavarian form a subgroup of Bavarian dialects in large parts of Austria and the German state of Bavaria along the Danube river, on the northern side of the Eastern Alps. They are spoken in the ' Old Bavarian' regions of Upper Bavaria (wi ...
('). 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 '. 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 ' for "to complain," writes a weekly satirical column solely in Bavarian for the '.
Buildings
The Old Town of Regensburg with nearly 1,500 listed buildings
In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...
offers a huge cultural diversity from Roman to modern times.
Recreation
The Old Town of Regensburg is surrounded completely by a green belt
A green belt is a policy and land-use zone designation used in land-use planning to retain areas of largely undeveloped, wild, or agricultural land surrounding or neighboring urban areas. Similar concepts are greenways or green wedges, which hav ...
. Numerous inner-city parks like the City Park (''Stadtpark''), the ''Herzogspark'', the ''Dörnbergpark'', the ''Villapark'' or the university's botanical garden
A botanical garden or botanic gardenThe terms ''botanic'' and ''botanical'' and ''garden'' or ''gardens'' are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word ''botanic'' is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens, an ...
are a source for recreation and leisure.
Memorial sites
The city of Regensburg has erected several memorials to combat racism
Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one race over another. It may also mean prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism ...
, intolerance
Intolerance may refer to:
* Hypersensitivity
Hypersensitivity (also called hypersensitivity reaction or intolerance) refers to undesirable reactions produced by the normal immune system, including allergies and autoimmunity. They are usual ...
towards minorities, and all other forms of contempt for human dignity
Dignity is the right of a person to be valued and respected for their own sake, and to be treated ethically. It is of significance in morality, ethics, law and politics as an extension of the Enlightenment-era concepts of inherent, inalienable ...
:
* Memorial for victims of the Holocaust
The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; a ...
* Memorial for victims of forced "euthanasia
Euthanasia (from el, εὐθανασία 'good death': εὖ, ''eu'' 'well, good' + θάνατος, ''thanatos'' 'death') is the practice of intentionally ending life to eliminate pain and suffering.
Different countries have different eut ...
"
* Memorial for concentration camp
Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simply ...
inmates and prisoners of war
A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held Captivity, captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610.
Belligerents hold priso ...
* Memorial for violence against women
Violence against women (VAW), also known as gender-based violence and sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV), are violent acts primarily or exclusively committed against women or girls, usually by men or boys. Such violence is often consi ...
Particular to Regensburg are the so-called ''Stolpersteine'' (stumbling stones) in honor of Jews deported during Nazism
Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Na ...
.
Events
Twice a year the Regensburg Dult takes place. This is the city's Volksfest
A Volksfest ( ; German for "people's festival")Cognate of "folk festival" in English is a large event in German-speaking countries which usually combines a beer festival or wine festival and a travelling funfair. Attractions may include amusement ...
, which is Bavaria's fourth largest. The Bürgerfest (citizen celebration) in the Old Town is held every two years, attracting 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
A Christmas market, also known as ''Christkindlmarkt'' (literally: '' Christ Child Market'', but the term "Christkind" usually refers to an angel-like "spirit of Christmas" rather than literally the Christ Child), ''Christkindlesmarkt'', ''Chri ...
all over the city.
Nightlife
With over 500 bars, restaurants, clubs, and other venues in the inner city alone, Regensburg provides a rich and diverse nightlife
Nightlife is a collective term for entertainment that is available and generally more popular from the late evening into the early hours of the morning. It includes pubs, bars, nightclubs, parties, live music, concerts, cabarets, theatre, c ...
due to its young population.
Demographics
Population
In May 2017, Regensburg had 164,896 inhabitants
Domicile is relevant to an individual's "personal law," which includes the law that governs a person's status and their property. It is independent of a person's nationality. Although a domicile may change from time to time, a person has only one ...
, making it the fourth largest city in Bavaria. Over the last hundred years, the city has experienced a strong increase in population, surpassing 100,000 inhabitants in 1945 due to 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
Nearly 12% of the total population are foreign residents. Most of them come from Middle east
The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...
and Southeastern Europe
Southeast Europe or Southeastern Europe (SEE) is a geographical subregion of Europe, consisting primarily of the Balkans. Sovereign states and territories that are included in the region are Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia (al ...
:
Religion
A majority of Regensburg's population is Catholic
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
. In 2017, about 51.4% of the city's inhabitants identified with the Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
, 13.1% were registered Protestants
Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...
and about 35.5% identified with other religions or did not have any registered religious affiliation.
Politics
The city of Regensburg falls within the Regensburg electoral district, a constituency of the German federal parliament in Berlin (the Bundestag
The Bundestag (, "Federal Diet") is the German federal parliament. It is the only federal representative body that is directly elected by the German people. It is comparable to the United States House of Representatives or the House of Commons ...
).
Government
The mayor and the City Council
A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural counc ...
are elected for a period of six years. Both elections take place at the same time. The City Council is composed of 51 members and includes the mayor, two deputy mayors, five counsellors and the other council members.
The municipal elections
In many parts of the world, local elections take place to select office-holders in local government, such as mayors and councillors. Elections to positions within a city or town are often known as "municipal elections". Their form and conduct vary ...
in Bavaria
Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...
of 2020 delivered the following results:
Boroughs
Regensburg is subdivided into 18 borough
A borough is an administrative division in various English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely.
History
In the Middle Ag ...
s (Stadtbezirke): Innenstadt, Stadtamhof, Steinweg-Pfaffenstein, Sallern-Gallingkofen, Konradsiedlung-Wutzlhofen, Brandlberg-Keilberg, Reinhausen, Weichs, Schwabelweis, Ostenviertel, Kasernenviertel, Galgenberg, Kumpfmühl-Ziegetsdorf-Neuprüll, Großprüfening-Dechbetten-Königswiesen, Westenviertel, Ober- und Niederwinzer-Kager, Oberisling-Graß, Burgweinting-Harting. Each borough contains a number of localities (Ortsteile), which can have historic roots in older municipalities that became urbanized and incorporated into the city.
Twin towns – sister cities
Regensburg is twinned with:
* Aberdeen
Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...
, Scotland, United Kingdom (1955)
* Brixen
Brixen (, ; it, Bressanone ; lld, Porsenù or ) is a town in South Tyrol, northern Italy, located about north of Bolzano.
Geography
First mentioned in 901, Brixen is the third largest city and oldest town in the province, and the artistic and ...
, Italy (1969)
* Clermont-Ferrand
Clermont-Ferrand (, ; ; oc, label=Auvergnat (dialect), Auvergnat, Clarmont-Ferrand or Clharmou ; la, Augustonemetum) is a city and Communes of France, commune of France, in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes regions of France, region, with a population ...
, France (1969)
* Tempe, United States (1976)
* Plzeň
Plzeň (; German and English: Pilsen, in German ) is a city in the Czech Republic. About west of Prague in western Bohemia, it is the Statutory city (Czech Republic), fourth most populous city in the Czech Republic with about 169,000 inhabita ...
, Czech Republic (1993)
* Odessa
Odesa (also spelled Odessa) is the third most populous city and municipality in Ukraine and a major seaport and transport hub located in the south-west of the country, on the northwestern shore of the Black Sea. The city is also the administrativ ...
, Ukraine (1980)
* Budavár (Budapest), Hungary (2005)
* Qingdao
Qingdao (, also spelled Tsingtao; , Mandarin: ) is a major city in eastern Shandong Province. The city's name in Chinese characters literally means " azure island". Located on China's Yellow Sea coast, it is a major nodal city of the One Belt ...
, China (2009)
Economy
Regensburg's economy counts among the most dynamic and fastest growing in Germany. Focus is on manufacturing industries, such as automotive, industrial
Industrial may refer to:
Industry
* Industrial archaeology, the study of the history of the industry
* Industrial engineering, engineering dealing with the optimization of complex industrial processes or systems
* Industrial city, a city dominate ...
and electrical engineering
Electrical engineering is an engineering discipline concerned with the study, design, and application of equipment, devices, and systems which use electricity, electronics, and electromagnetism. It emerged as an identifiable occupation in the l ...
.
Companies
There are several multinational corporation
A multinational company (MNC), also referred to as a multinational enterprise (MNE), a transnational enterprise (TNE), a transnational corporation (TNC), an international corporation or a stateless corporation with subtle but contrasting senses, i ...
s located in Regensburg, such as BMW, Continental
Continental may refer to:
Places
* Continent, the major landmasses of Earth
* Continental, Arizona, a small community in Pima County, Arizona, US
* Continental, Ohio, a small town in Putnam County, US
Arts and entertainment
* ''Continental'' (al ...
, E.ON, General Electric
General Electric Company (GE) is an American multinational conglomerate founded in 1892, and incorporated in New York state and headquartered in Boston. The company operated in sectors including healthcare, aviation, power, renewable energ ...
, Infineon
Infineon Technologies AG is a German semiconductor manufacturer founded in 1999, when the semiconductor operations of the former parent company Siemens AG were spun off. Infineon has about 50,280 employees and is one of the ten largest semicond ...
, Osram
Osram Licht AG is a German company that makes electric lights, headquartered in Munich and Premstätten (Austria). Osram positions itself as a high-tech photonics company that is increasingly focusing on sensor technology, visualization and tre ...
, Schneider Electric
Schneider Electric SE is a French multinational company that specializes in digital automation and energy management. It addresses homes, buildings, data centers, infrastructure and industries, by combining energy technologies, real-time automation ...
, Siemens
Siemens AG ( ) is a German multinational conglomerate corporation and the largest industrial manufacturing company in Europe headquartered in Munich with branch offices abroad.
The principal divisions of the corporation are ''Industry'', '' ...
, Telekom and Toshiba
, commonly known as Toshiba and stylized as TOSHIBA, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Its diversified products and services include power, industrial and social infrastructure system ...
as well as hidden champions Hidden champions are relatively small but highly successful companies that are concealed behind a curtain of inconspicuousness, invisibility, and sometimes secrecy. The term was coined by Hermann Simon. He first used the term as a title of a public ...
(Krones
Krones AG is a German packaging and bottling machine manufacturer. It produces lines for filling beverages in plastic and glass bottles or beverage cans. The company manufactures stretch Blow molding, blow-moulding machines for producing polyethy ...
, MR).
BMW operates an automobile production plant in Regensburg; the Regensburg BMW plant produces 3 Series
The BMW 3 Series is a line of compact executive cars manufactured by the German automaker BMW since May 1975. It is the successor to the 02 Series and has been produced in seven generations.
The first generation of the 3 Series was only avail ...
, 1 Series and (previously) Z4 vehicles. Continental AG
Continental AG, commonly known as Continental or colloquially as Conti, is a German multinational automotive parts manufacturing company specializing in tires, brake systems, interior electronics, automotive safety, powertrain and chassis compo ...
, with the headquarters of its car component business, Osram
Osram Licht AG is a German company that makes electric lights, headquartered in Munich and Premstätten (Austria). Osram positions itself as a high-tech photonics company that is increasingly focusing on sensor technology, visualization and tre ...
Opto-Semiconductors, SGB-SMIT Group
The SGB-SMIT Group is a manufacturer of power transformers going back to 1913. The company is headquartered in Regensburg, Germany and has production sites and branches in 20 countries. In 2017 the company was acquired by One Equity Partners.
...
transformers and Siemens as well as Infineon
Infineon Technologies AG is a German semiconductor manufacturer founded in 1999, when the semiconductor operations of the former parent company Siemens AG were spun off. Infineon has about 50,280 employees and is one of the ten largest semicond ...
, the former Siemens semiconductor branch, provide a high level of innovation
Innovation is the practical implementation of ideas that result in the introduction of new goods or services or improvement in offering goods or services. ISO TC 279 in the standard ISO 56000:2020 defines innovation as "a new or changed entity ...
and technical development in Regensburg. Other well known international companies, such as AREVA
Areva S.A. is a French multinational group specializing in nuclear power headquartered in Courbevoie, France. Before its 2016 corporate restructuring, Areva was majority-owned by the French state through the French Alternative Energies and Atom ...
, Schneider Electric and Toshiba, have built plants in or near Regensburg. GE Aviation
GE Aviation, a subsidiary of General Electric, is headquartered in Evendale, Ohio, outside Cincinnati. GE Aviation is among the top aircraft engine suppliers, and offers engines for the majority of commercial aircraft. GE Aviation is part of the ...
founded a greenfield site to innovate, develop and produce turbine machinery components with a new manufacturing casting technology. Amazon.com
Amazon.com, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational technology company focusing on e-commerce, cloud computing, online advertising, digital streaming, and artificial intelligence. It has been referred to as "one of the most influential economi ...
located its first German customer service centre in Regensburg. The hidden champions Maschinenfabrik Reinhausen (MR) and Krones
Krones AG is a German packaging and bottling machine manufacturer. It produces lines for filling beverages in plastic and glass bottles or beverage cans. The company manufactures stretch Blow molding, blow-moulding machines for producing polyethy ...
both are headquartered in or close to Regensburg and are among the major employers.
Aside from the industrial sector, tourism
Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring (disambiguation), touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tour (disambiguation), tours. Th ...
contributes a lot to Regensburg's economical growth, especially since 2006, when the city gained status as UNESCO World Heritage Site
A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...
. The University of Regensburg
The University of Regensburg (german: link=no, Universität Regensburg) is a public research university located in the medieval city of Regensburg, Bavaria, a city that is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The university was founded on 18 ...
, the Regensburg University of Applied Sciences
The Regensburg University of Applied Sciences (german: Ostbayerische Technische Hochschule Regensburg, literally: ''Eastern Bavarian Technical University of Regensburg'') is a university in Regensburg, Germany. It was founded in 1971 as a colleg ...
and mercantile trade also play major roles in Regensburg's economy. Increasingly, biotech
Biotechnology is the integration of natural sciences and engineering sciences in order to achieve the application of organisms, cells, parts thereof and molecular analogues for products and services. The term ''biotechnology'' was first used b ...
companies were founded in Regensburg over the last two decades and have their headquarters and laboratories in the city's "BioPark". Another focus is on information technology
Information technology (IT) is the use of computers to create, process, store, retrieve, and exchange all kinds of data . and information. IT forms part of information and communications technology (ICT). An information technology system (I ...
, with the city running a start-up centre for IT firms. One of these former start-ups, CipSoft
CipSoft GmbH is a German video game developer based in Regensburg. Founded in 2001, it is the developer of ''Tibia''. As of January 2023, the company employs 95 people.
History
CipSoft was founded on 8 June 2001 by Guido Lübke, Stephan Payer ...
, now is a known video game company still based in Regensburg.
OTTI, the Eastern Bavaria Technology Transfer-Institut e.V., is headquartered in Regensburg.
Tourism
The city recorded 912,238 overnight hotel stays and 531,943 hotel guests in 2012. Tourism figures have nearly doubled within the last 15 years and Regensburg has become one of the most-visited German cities from 100,000 to 500,000 residents. In 2014, Regensburg was ranked as a Top-30 travel attraction in Germany by international tourists.
Infrastructure
Transport
Regensburg Hauptbahnhof
Regensburg Hauptbahnhof is the main railway station in the city of Regensburg in southern Germany.
Location
Regensburg Hauptbahnhof is located on the southern edge of the old city (''Altstadt'') in the immediate vicinity of Schloss St. Emmera ...
(central station) is connected to lines to Munich
Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...
, Nuremberg
Nuremberg ( ; german: link=no, Nürnberg ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the second-largest city of the German state of Bavaria after its capital Munich, and its 518,370 (2019) inhabitants make it the 14th-largest ...
, Passau
Passau (; bar, label=Central Bavarian, Båssa) is a city in Lower Bavaria, Germany, also known as the Dreiflüssestadt ("City of Three Rivers") as the river Danube is joined by the Inn from the south and the Ilz from the north.
Passau's popu ...
, Weiden and Hof and Ingolstadt and Ulm. The city lies also on two motorways, the A3 from Cologne
Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 m ...
and Frankfurt
Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...
to Vienna
en, Viennese
, iso_code = AT-9
, registration_plate = W
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code =
, timezone = CET
, utc_offset = +1
, timezone_DST ...
, and the A93 from Holledau to Hof.
The local transport is provided by a bus network run by the RVV (Regensburger Verkehrsverbund).
Energy
Regensburg's energy is mainly supplied by the German company E.ON, one of the world's largest electric utility
An electric utility is a company in the electric power industry (often a public utility) that engages in electricity generation and distribution of electricity for sale generally in a regulated market. The electrical utility industry is a major pr ...
service providers. Its subsidiary Bayernwerk runs the local hydropower station
Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other renewable sources combined and ...
in the Danube River. In 2012, about 9.1% of the total electricity consumption
Electric energy consumption is the form of energy consumption that uses electrical energy. Electric energy consumption is the actual energy demand made on existing electricity supply for transportation, residential, industrial, commercial, and o ...
was generated by renewable energy
Renewable energy is energy that is collected from renewable resources that are naturally replenished on a human timescale. It includes sources such as sunlight, wind, the movement of water, and geothermal heat. Although most renewable energy ...
sources, about 5.1% of the total heat consumption were generated by renewables. Both figures show, that Regensburg is behind other Bavarian cities in this context. Therefore, the municipal government presented an energy plan in 2014, which should enhance the transformation towards renewable energy sources over the next decade.
Health
Regensburg has one of the most modern university hospitals
A teaching hospital is a hospital or medical centre that provides medical education and training to future and current health professionals. Teaching hospitals are almost always affiliated with one or more universities and are often co-located ...
in Europe, the ''Universitätsklinikum Regensburg''. In addition there are several other well-known hospitals such as the ''Krankenhaus Barmherzige Brüder'' and the ''St. Josef-Krankenhaus''. Psychiatric illnesses are treated in the ''Bezirksklinikum''. With 19.4 hospital bed
A hospital bed or hospital cot is a bed specially designed for hospitalized patients or others in need of some form of health care. These beds have special features both for the comfort and well-being of the patient and for the convenience of he ...
s per 1000 residents, Regensburg has the fourth-highest ratio of beds to residents in Germany as well as the third-highest ratio of medical doctor
A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...
s to residents in Germany (339 per 100,000 residents).
The city's BioPark, home to Bavaria's second largest biotech
Biotechnology is the integration of natural sciences and engineering sciences in order to achieve the application of organisms, cells, parts thereof and molecular analogues for products and services. The term ''biotechnology'' was first used b ...
cluster, hosts numerous research institutions
A research institute, research centre, research center or research organization, is an establishment founded for doing research. Research institutes may specialize in basic research or may be oriented to applied research. Although the term often i ...
and biotech companies.
Education
Universities and academia
Regensburg is known for its higher education institutions, the largest being the University of Regensburg
The University of Regensburg (german: link=no, Universität Regensburg) is a public research university located in the medieval city of Regensburg, Bavaria, a city that is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The university was founded on 18 ...
. Founded in 1962, it is one of Germany's newest universities and ranked among the Top 400 universities worldwide. Among the prominent intellectuals associated with the university are Pope Benedict XVI
Pope Benedict XVI ( la, Benedictus XVI; it, Benedetto XVI; german: link=no, Benedikt XVI.; born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, , on 16 April 1927) is a retired prelate of the Catholic church who served as the head of the Church and the sovereign ...
, Udo Steiner
Udo Steiner (born September 16, 1939 in Bayreuth) was a justice of the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany from 1995 to 2007.
He grew up in Franconia, and went on to study law in Erlangen, Saarbrücken and Cologne. In 1965, he earned a doctor ...
and Wolfgang Wiegard
Wolfgang Wiegard (born 17 February 1946) is a German economist and member of the German Council of Economic Experts. He served as chairman of the council from April 2002 to March 2005.
Born in Berlin, Wiegard studied at the University of Heidelbe ...
. The campus is situated in a single location together with the Regensburg University of Applied Sciences
The Regensburg University of Applied Sciences (german: Ostbayerische Technische Hochschule Regensburg, literally: ''Eastern Bavarian Technical University of Regensburg'') is a university in Regensburg, Germany. It was founded in 1971 as a colleg ...
.
Since 1874 there has been a College of Catholic Music in the city, the Hochschule für Katholische Kirchenmusik und Musikpädagogik Regensburg.
Research
In addition to the research centres and institutes of the universities, there are several research institutions
A research institute, research centre, research center or research organization, is an establishment founded for doing research. Research institutes may specialize in basic research or may be oriented to applied research. Although the term often i ...
situated in the city of Regensburg. Among them are the Leibniz-Institute for East and Southeast European Studies (IOS), the Regensburg Centre for Interventional Immunology (RCI), the Fraunhofer Institute for Toxicology and Experimental Medicine (ITEM) and the BioPark, the Bavarian biotech
Biotechnology is the integration of natural sciences and engineering sciences in order to achieve the application of organisms, cells, parts thereof and molecular analogues for products and services. The term ''biotechnology'' was first used b ...
cluster.
Schools
There are eighteen elementary schools
A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ed ...
in Regensburg. The city also has several secondary education
Secondary education or post-primary education covers two phases on the International Standard Classification of Education scale. Level 2 or lower secondary education (less commonly junior secondary education) is considered the second and final pha ...
institutions, both public and private, representing all levels of the German school system. There are eight ''Gymnasien'', five ''Realschulen'', six ''Hauptschulen'' and four vocational schools
A vocational school is a type of educational institution, which, depending on the country, may refer to either secondary or post-secondary education designed to provide vocational education or technical skills required to complete the tasks ...
(''Berufsschulen''). In addition, there are several folk high schools with different specialisations.
The SIS Swiss International School
The SIS Swiss International Schools are a group of 17 private day schools in Switzerland, Germany and Brazil offering continuous education from kindergarten through to college
A college (Latin: ''collegium'') is an educational inst ...
provides international educational. Founded in 2002, the ''Sportinternat Regensburg'' was Europe's first baseball boarding school.
Sports
Football
SSV Jahn Regensburg
Sport- und Schwimmverein Jahn Regensburg e. V., commonly known as SSV Jahn Regensburg, Jahn Regensburg, SSV Jahn or simply Jahn is a German football club based in Regensburg, Bavaria. The club is based on a gymnastics club founded in 1886 a ...
is the local football club and attracts a fairly large local following. The team was part of a larger sports club founded in 1889 as ''Turnerbund Jahn Regensburg'' which took its name from Friedrich Ludwig Jahn
(11August 177815October 1852) was a German gymnastics educator and nationalist whose writing is credited with the founding of the German gymnastics (Turner) movement as well as influencing the German Campaign of 1813, during which a coalition of ...
, whose ideas of gymnastics greatly influenced German sport in the 19th century. The football department was created in 1907. The footballers and swimmers left their parent club in 1924 to form ''Sportbund Jahn Regensburg''.
Ice hockey
is the local ice hockey
Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...
club, currently playing in the Oberliga Süd Oberliga ( en, Premier league) may refer to:
Association football
* Oberliga (football), currently the fifth tier of the German football league system, formerly the first
* DDR-Oberliga, the first tier of football in East Germany until 1990, re ...
, Germany's third highest professional league.
Baseball
Regensburg Legionäre is the baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...
and softball
Softball is a game similar to baseball played with a larger ball on a smaller field. Softball is played competitively at club levels, the college level, and the professional level. The game was first created in 1887 in Chicago by George Hanc ...
club from Regensburg. The team is also known as Buchbinder Legionäre, following a sponsorship of the Buchbinder company. The club plays in the German Bundesliga
The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footba ...
and is one of the most famous and most successful baseball clubs in Germany. Several players now in the MLB
Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...
formerly played at the club. Its arena, Armin-Wolf-Arena, was built in 1996 and has a capacity of 10,000 spectators, making it to Germany's largest baseball stadium
A ballpark, or baseball park, is a type of sports venue where baseball is played. The playing field is divided into the infield, an area whose dimensions are rigidly defined, and the outfield, where dimensions can vary widely from place to pla ...
.
Athletics
The local athletics
Athletics may refer to:
Sports
* Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking
** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport
* Athletics (physical culture), competiti ...
club, LG TELIS FINANZ Regensburg, offers a wide range of different competitions and is counted among the most successful clubs in Germany.
Notable people
* Pope Benedict XVI
Pope Benedict XVI ( la, Benedictus XVI; it, Benedetto XVI; german: link=no, Benedikt XVI.; born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, , on 16 April 1927) is a retired prelate of the Catholic church who served as the head of the Church and the sovereign ...
, professor of theology
Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...
at the University of Regensburg
The University of Regensburg (german: link=no, Universität Regensburg) is a public research university located in the medieval city of Regensburg, Bavaria, a city that is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The university was founded on 18 ...
from 1969 to 1977, who retains the title honorary professor; he is not a former resident of the city
A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...
of Regensburg, but his house, less than 1 kilometer from the city, lies in Pentling
Pentling is a municipality in the Regensburg district of Bavaria in Germany. It lies on the river Danube.
Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI
Pope Benedict XVI ( la, Benedictus XVI; it, Benedetto XVI; german: link=no, Benedikt XVI.; born Joseph A ...
in the district of Regensburg. He has been an honorary citizen since 2006
* The Princely House of Thurn und Taxis, a German noble family
Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy (class), aristocracy. It is normally ranked immediately below Royal family, royalty. Nobility has often been an Estates of the realm, estate of the realm with many e ...
and one of Europe's largest landowners
In common law systems, land tenure, from the French verb "tenir" means "to hold", is the legal regime in which land owned by an individual is possessed by someone else who is said to "hold" the land, based on an agreement between both individual ...
* John of Austria
John of Austria ( es, Juan, link=no, german: Johann; 24 February 1547 – 1 October 1578) was the natural son born to Holy Roman Emperor Charles V late in life when he was a widower. Charles V met his son only once, recognizing him in a secret ...
(1547–)
* Joseph Hanisch
Joseph Hanisch (24 March 1812 9 October 1892) was a Bavarian, Roman Catholic organist and conductor. Hanisch was based in Regensburg from 1829 until his death in 1892.
Son of the organist Anton Franz Hanisch.
Life
Joseph Hanisch was born in ...
, musician, composer and organist
* Albrecht Altdorfer
Albrecht Altdorfer (12 February 1538) was a German painter, engraver and architect of the Renaissance working in Regensburg, Bavaria. Along with Lucas Cranach the Elder and Wolf Huber he is regarded to be the main representative of the Danube Sc ...
(printmaker, painter of landscapes, historical and Biblical subjects of the Renaissance
The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...
)
* Benjamin Appl
Benjamin Appl (born 26 June 1982) is a German-British lyric baritone, a classical singer who has appeared world-wide in opera houses and concert halls, particularly known as a Lieder singer.
Early life and education
Born in Regensburg, Appl ...
(born 1982), German-British lyric baritone
* Willie Duncan (Spider Murphy Gang)
* Ulrich Eberl
Ulrich Eberl (born 1962 in Regensburg, Germany) is a science and technology journalist. After four years as a journalist, he took a position with Diemler from 1992 to 1995 working on their technology publications. In 1995, he took a position as D ...
, science and technology journalist
* The Rev. Dr. Franz Xaver Haberl
Franz Xaver Haberl (12 April 1840, in Oberellenbach (today Mallersdorf-Pfaffenberg), Lower Bavaria – 5 September 1910, in Ratisbon) was a German musicologist, friend of Liszt, Perosi, and Singenberger, cleric, and student of Proske.
He m ...
, one of the most important Roman Catholic musicians in history, teacher of Perosi Perosi is an Italian surname. Notable people with the surname include:
* Carlo Perosi (1868–1930), Italian cardinal
*Lorenzo Perosi
Monsignor Lorenzo Perosi (21 December 1872 – 12 October 1956) was an Italian composer of sacred music and ...
(see also Cecilian Movement
The Cecilian Movement for church music reform began in Germany in the second half of the 1800s as a reaction to the liberalization of the Enlightenment.
The Cecilian Movement received great impetus from Regensburg, where Franz Xaver Haberl had a ...
)
* Johann Georg Gichtel
Johann Georg Gichtel (March 14, 1638 – January 21, 1710) was a German mystic and religious leader who was a critic of Lutheranism. His followers ultimately separated from this faith.
Biography
Gichtel was born at Regensburg, where his father wa ...
(1638–1710), was a German mystic
The Friends of God (German: Gottesfreunde; or gotesvriunde) was a medieval mystical group of both ecclesiastical and lay persons within the Catholic Church (though it nearly became a separate sect) and a center of German mysticism. It was founde ...
and religious leader who was a critic of Lutheranism
* Johannes Kepler
Johannes Kepler (; ; 27 December 1571 – 15 November 1630) was a German astronomer, mathematician, astrologer, natural philosopher and writer on music. He is a key figure in the 17th-century Scientific Revolution, best known for his laws ...
(mathematician and astronomer)
* Konrad of Megenberg
Conrad of Megenberg (german: Konrad von Megenberg, la, Conradus Megenbergensis; 1309–1374) was a German Catholic scholar, and a writer.
Biography
Conrad was born in either Mainberg or Mebenburg, both in Bavaria. He was born on 2 February 13 ...
, scholar and academic
* Simone Laudehr
Simone Melanie Laudehr (born 12 July 1986) is a German former footballer who played as a central midfielder or winger.
Career Club
Laudehr began her career at the age of three at FC Tegernheim. In 1996, she joined SC Regensburg, before playing ...
(German national team footballer, women's world cup champion 2007)
* Albertus Magnus
Albertus Magnus (c. 1200 – 15 November 1280), also known as Saint Albert the Great or Albert of Cologne, was a German Dominican friar, philosopher, scientist, and bishop. Later canonised as a Catholic saint, he was known during his life ...
(13th century polymath
A polymath ( el, πολυμαθής, , "having learned much"; la, homo universalis, "universal human") is an individual whose knowledge spans a substantial number of subjects, known to draw on complex bodies of knowledge to solve specific pro ...
)
* Judah ben Samuel of Regensburg
Judah ben Samuel of Regensburg (1150 – 22 February 1217), also called Yehuda HeHasid or 'Judah the Pious' in Hebrew, was a leader of the Chassidei Ashkenaz, a movement of Jewish mysticism in Germany considered different from the 18th-century H ...
, a 12th–13th century rabbi
A rabbi () is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi – known as ''semikha'' – following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of ...
and mystic, founder of Chassidei Ashkenaz
The Hasidim of Ashkenaz ( he, חסידי אשכנז, trans. ''Khasidei Ashkenaz''; "German Pietists") were a Jewish mystical, ascetic movement in the German Rhineland during the 12th and 13th centuries.
Background
The leaders of the community o ...
* Maximilian Oberst, physician who introduced the Oberst method of block anesthesia
* Petachiah of Ratisbon Petachiah of Regensburg, also known as Petachiah ben Yakov, Moses Petachiah, and Petachiah of Ratisbon, was a German rabbi of the twelfth and early thirteenth centuries CE. At some point he left his place of birth, Regensburg in Bavaria, and settl ...
, a 12th–13th century rabbi
A rabbi () is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi – known as ''semikha'' – following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of ...
, best known for his extensive travels throughout Eastern Europe, the Caucasus, and the Middle East
* Elise Barensfeld (1796–after 1820), soprano
* Hisham Zreiq
Hisham Zreiq ( ar, هشام زريق, he, הישאם זרייק; born 9 February 1968 in Nazareth), also spelled Zrake, is an award-winning Palestinian Christian- Israeli Independent filmmaker, poet, animator and visual artist. He began working ...
(born 1968), award-winning Palestinian Christian Independent filmmaker, poet and visual artist
* Walter Röhrl
Walter Röhrl (; born 7 March 1947) is a German rally and auto racing driver, with victories for Fiat, Opel, Lancia and Audi as well as Porsche, Ford and BMW. Röhrl has scored 14 victories over his career, with his notable achievements including ...
(born 1947), (racing driver)
* Saint Emmeram
Saint Emmeram of Regensburg (also ''Emeram(m)us'', ''Emmeran'', ''Emmerano'', ''Emeran'', ''Heimrammi'', ''Haimeran'', or ''Heimeran'') was a Christian bishop and a martyr born in Poitiers, Aquitaine. Having heard of idolatry in Bavaria, Emmeram ...
, Christian bishop and a martyr, St. Emmeram's Abbey
Saint Emmeram's Abbey (german: Kloster Sankt Emmeram or ''Reichsabtei Sankt Emmeram''), now known as Schloss Thurn und Taxis, Schloss St. Emmeram or St. Emmeram's Basilica, was a Benedictine monastery founded in about 739 at Regensburg in Bavari ...
* Andrea Maria Schenkel
Andrea Maria Schenkel (born 21 March 1962 in Regensburg, West Germany) is a German writer. She received the Corine Literature Prize (2007).
Biography
She published her debut novel '' Tannöd'' in 2006. Based on the Hinterkaifeck murder in th ...
(born 1962), best-selling author of Tannöd and other works
* Emanuel Schikaneder
Emanuel Schikaneder (born Johann Joseph Schickeneder; 1 September 1751 – 21 September 1812) was a German impresario, dramatist, actor, singer, and composer. He wrote the libretto of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's opera ''The Magic Flute'' and was t ...
(Librettist of The Magic Flute
''The Magic Flute'' (German: , ), K. 620, is an opera in two acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to a German libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder. The work is in the form of a ''Singspiel'', a popular form during the time it was written that inclu ...
)
* Oskar Schindler
Oskar Schindler (; 28 April 1908 – 9 October 1974) was a German industrialist, humanitarian and a member of the Nazi Party who is credited with saving the lives of 1,200 Jews during the Holocaust by employing them in his enamelware and amm ...
(1908–1974), German industrialist (after World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
until his emigration to Argentina
Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...
)
* Ulrich Schmidl
Ulrich Schmidl or Schmidel (1510 in Straubing - 1579 in Regensburg) was a German Landsknecht, conquistador, explorer, chronicler and councilman. Schmidl was, beside Hans Staden, one of the few Landsknechts who wrote down their experiences of tr ...
(supposed co-founder of Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...
)
* Anton Vilsmeier
Dr. Anton Vilsmeier (12 June 1894 – 12 February 1962) was a German chemist who together with Albrecht Haack discovered the Vilsmeier-Haack reaction.
Early life
Anton Vilsmeier was born to the mill owner, Wolfgang Vilsmeier, and his wife, Ph ...
(1894–1962), German chemist best known for the Vilsmeier-Haack reaction, born in Burgweinting, which is now part of Regensburg, and attended the ''Altes Gymnasium'' in Regensburg
* Charles von Hügel
Charles von Hügel (born Carl Alexander Anselm Baron von Hügel; 25 April 1795 – 2 June 1870), sometimes spelt in English Huegel, was an Austrian nobleman, army officer, diplomat, botanist, and explorer, now primarily remembered for his tra ...
(1795–1870), Austrian army officer
An officer is a person who holds a position of authority as a member of an armed force or uniformed service.
Broadly speaking, "officer" means a commissioned officer, a non-commissioned officer, or a warrant officer. However, absent contextu ...
, diplomat
A diplomat (from grc, δίπλωμα; romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state or an intergovernmental institution such as the United Nations or the European Union to conduct diplomacy with one or more other states or internati ...
, botanist
Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek wo ...
, and explorer
Exploration refers to the historical practice of discovering remote lands. It is studied by geographers and historians.
Two major eras of exploration occurred in human history: one of convergence, and one of divergence. The first, covering most ...
* Ulrich of Zell
Ulrich of Zell, also known as Wulderic, sometimes of Cluny or of Regensburg (c. 1029 – 1093), was a Cluniac
The Cluniac Reforms (also called the Benedictine Reform) were a series of changes within medieval monasticism of the Western Chur ...
, Cluniac
The Cluniac Reforms (also called the Benedictine Reform) were a series of changes within medieval monasticism of the Western Church focused on restoring the traditional monastic life, encouraging art, and caring for the poor. The movement began wit ...
reformer of Germany, abbot, founder and saint
* Wolfgang of Regensburg
Saint Wolfgang of Regensburg ( la, Wolfgangus; 934 – October 31, 994 AD) was bishop of Regensburg in Bavaria from Christmas 972 until his death. He is a saint of the Catholic (canonized in 1052) and Eastern Orthodox churches. He is regarded ...
, Bishop of Regensburg
The Bishops of Regensburg (Ratisbon) are bishops of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Regensburg, Bavaria, Germany.
* Elisabeth Elli Erl
Elisabeth Maria Erl (born 25 May 1979) is a German singer-songwriter. She came to fame as the winner of the second season of the television show ''Deutschland sucht den Superstar'', the German ''Idol'' series adaptation. With ''DSDS'', Erl a ...
, winner of German Pop Idol 2004 – singer and teacher at a German secondary school in Düsseldorf
* Ludwig Bemelmans
Ludwig Bemelmans (April 27, 1898 – October 1, 1962) was an Austrian-American writer and illustrator of children's books and adult novels. He is known best for the ''Madeline'' picture books. Six were published, the first in 1939.
Early life
B ...
(1898–1962), Austro-Hungarian born American writer of children's books and internationally renowned gourmet, spent his early life in Regensburg
* Anton Hackl
Anton "Toni" Hackl (25 March 1915 – 10 July 1984) was a German Luftwaffe military aviator during World War II, a fighter ace credited with 192 enemy aircraft shot down in over 1,000 combat missions. The majority of his victories were claimed ...
(1915–1984), Luftwaffe Flying Ace
* Christian Jagodzinski
Christian Jagodzinski is a German multi-millionaire Internet entrepreneur and real estate investor. He has developed and turned around many businesses, most notably Telebuch.de, the first online book retailer.
Career
Jagodzinski began his entrep ...
, multimillionaire, entrepreneur, and investor; Co-founder of Telebuch.de which later became Amazon.com
Amazon.com, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational technology company focusing on e-commerce, cloud computing, online advertising, digital streaming, and artificial intelligence. It has been referred to as "one of the most influential economi ...
's presence in Germany; grew up in Regensburg, now Miami
Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...
* Allan Zeman
Allan Zeman GBM, GBS, JP (Chinese name: 盛智文; born 18 July 1949) is a Hong Kong business magnate.
Background and personal life
Allan Zeman was born into a Jewish family in Regensburg, Germany; and was raised in Montreal, Quebec, Canad ...
(born 1949), Hong Kong businessman
Gallery
File:Dom St. Peter.JPG, The Interior of Regensburg Cathedral
Regensburg Cathedral (german: Dom St. Peter or Regensburger Dom), also known as St. Peter's Cathedral, is an example of important Gothic architecture within the German state of Bavaria. It is a landmark for the city of Regensburg, Germany, and ...
File:Regensburg-steinerne-Bruecke.jpg, The Stone Bridge and Regensburg Cathedral
Regensburg Cathedral (german: Dom St. Peter or Regensburger Dom), also known as St. Peter's Cathedral, is an example of important Gothic architecture within the German state of Bavaria. It is a landmark for the city of Regensburg, Germany, and ...
by night
File:210704 regensburg-neupfarrplatz-aus-richtung-kassiansplatz 1-480x640.jpg, New Parish Church (Neupfarrkirche)
File:270404 regensburg-kapelle-st-georg-und-afra 1-640x480.jpg, The romanic chapel ''St. George and Afra''
File:RegensburgDonauAnsicht2012.JPG, The Danube
The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , pa ...
seen from the Stone Bridge
File:020704 regensburg-reichstagssaal-erker 1-480x640.jpg, The bay window of the Old Town Hall
File:Regensburg Goliathhaus 06 2006.JPG,
File:130404 regensburg-don-juan-d'austria 1-480x640.jpg, Monument of Don Juan de Austria
File:Kloster Sankt Emmeram 01.jpg, St. Emmeram's Abbey
Saint Emmeram's Abbey (german: Kloster Sankt Emmeram or ''Reichsabtei Sankt Emmeram''), now known as Schloss Thurn und Taxis, Schloss St. Emmeram or St. Emmeram's Basilica, was a Benedictine monastery founded in about 739 at Regensburg in Bavari ...
File:DampfnudelbaeckereiRegensburg 0047.jpg, Dampfnudel
A ' ( lit. "steam-noodle"; plural ', Alsatian: ) is a dumpling eaten as a meal or as a dessert in Germany, Austria and in France (Alsace- Moselle). It is a typical dish in southern Germany.
History
There are ' city gates in Freckenfeld a ...
bakery in the Baumburger Turm
File:Regensburg - Steinerne Bruecke ohne Dom.jpg, The Stone Bridge
File:Regensburg Bruckmanndl 07 2006.JPG, Little Boy (Bruckmandl) on the Stone Bridge
File:Old city gate.jpg, Old city gate
See also
* History of the Jews in Regensburg
The history of the Jews in Regensburg, Germany reaches back over 1,000 years. The Jews of Regensburg are part of Bavarian Jewry; Regensburg was the capital of the Upper Palatinate and formerly a free city of the German empire. The great ...
* List of mayors of Regensburg
This is a list of mayors of Regensburg. It includes the First Mayors (''Erster Bürgermeister'') and Lord Mayors of Regensburg (''Oberbürgermeister der Stadt Regensburg'') since 1811/1818.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mayors of Regensburg
Regensburg
Polit ...
*
* Regensburg (district)
Regensburg is a ''Landkreis'' (district) in Bavaria, Germany. It is bounded by (from the north, in clockwise direction) the districts of Schwandorf, Cham, Straubing-Bogen, Kelheim and Neumarkt. The city of Regensburg is enclosed by it, but is not ...
Notes
References
Sources
* David L. Sheffler, ''Schools and Schooling in Late Medieval Germany: Regensburg, 1250–1500'' (Leiden, Brill, 2008) (Education and Society in the Middle Ages and Renaissance, 33).
External links
Old town of Regensburg with Stadtamhof
UNESCO Official Website
Explore the Old town of Regensburg with Stadtamhof in the UNESCO collection on Google Arts and Culture
*
Virtual tour of Regensburg
Stone Bridge of Regensburg Digital Media Archive
(creative commons-licensed photos, laser scans, panoramas), mainly covering the medieval Stone Bridge but also including surrounding areas, with data from a Christofori und Partner/CyArk
CyArk (from "cyber archive") is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization located in Oakland, California, United States founded in 2003. CyArk's mission is to "digitally record, archive and share the world's most significant cultural heritage and ensure ...
research partnership
Regensburg
– Pictures, Sights and more
Great privilege for Regensburg by King Philip of Swabia for Regensburg from 1207
taken from the collections of the Lichtbildarchiv älterer Originalurkunden at Marburg University
The Philipps University of Marburg (german: Philipps-Universität Marburg) was founded in 1527 by Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse, which makes it one of Germany's oldest universities and the oldest still operating Protestant university in the wor ...
"Here Their Stories Will Be Told…" The Valley of the Communities at Yad Vashem, Regensburg
at Yad Vashem
Yad Vashem ( he, יָד וַשֵׁם; literally, "a memorial and a name") is Israel's official memorial to the victims of the Holocaust. It is dedicated to preserving the memory of the Jews who were murdered; honoring Jews who fought against th ...
website.
{{Authority control
1803 disestablishments
States and territories established in 1245
Populated places on the Danube
Bavarian Circle
Medieval German architecture
Displaced persons camps in the aftermath of World War II
World Heritage Sites in Germany
Roman fortifications in Raetia
States and territories disestablished in 1803