The Regenkreis, with

Straubing Straubing () is an independent city in Lower Bavaria, southern Germany. It is seat of the district of Straubing-Bogen. Annually in August the Gäubodenvolksfest, the second largest fair in Bavaria, is held. The city is located on the Danube form ...

and later

Regensburg Regensburg or is a city in eastern Bavaria, at the confluence of the Danube, Naab and Regen rivers. It is capital of the Upper Palatinate subregion of the state in the south of Germany. With more than 150,000 inhabitants, Regensburg is the f ...

as its capital, existed between 1806 and 1837 as one of the 15 districts of 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 ...

. Between 1806 and 1808, the Kingdom of Bavaria was divided into 15 (state) districts named after rivers. In English, Regenkreis means “District of Regen” and was named after the

Regen River The Regen (; ) is a river in Bavaria, Germany, and a left tributary of the Danube, at Regensburg, Germany. The source of its main headstream, the Great Regen (''Großer Regen''), is in the Bohemian Forest on the territory of the Czech Republic, ne ...

which flowed through the district. Regenkreis was the predecessor of the ''

Regierungsbezirk A ' () means "governmental district" and is a type of administrative division in Germany. Four of sixteen ' ( states of Germany) are split into '. Beneath these are rural and urban districts. Saxony has ' (directorate districts) with more res ...

s Oberpfalz'' (Administrative Regional District of

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 ...

Independent cities

Amberg Amberg () is a town in Bavaria, Germany. It is located in the Upper Palatinate, roughly halfway between Regensburg and Bayreuth. In 2020, over 42,000 people lived in the town. History The town was first mentioned in 1034, at that time under t ...

(from 1810) * Regensburg (from 1810) * Straubing

Subdivisions

The district was divided in the following judicial districts ('' Landgerichte'' = LG), according to the original borders of the districts of the former territories (''

Herrschaft The German term ''Herrschaft'' (plural: ''Herrschaften'') covers a broad semantic field and only the context will tell whether it means, "rule", "power", "dominion", "authority", "territory" or "lordship". In its most abstract sense, it refers ...

sgerichte'' = HG): *

Abensberg Abensberg () is a town in the Lower Bavarian district of Kelheim, in Bavaria, Germany, lying around southwest of Regensburg, east of Ingolstadt, northwest of Landshut and north of Munich. It is situated on the river Abens, a tributary of the ...

* Amberg (from 1810) *

Barbing Barbing is a municipality in the district of Regensburg in Bavaria in Germany. It lies on 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 ...

(briefly 1811) *

Burglengenfeld Burglengenfeld is a town in the district of Schwandorf, in Bavaria, Germany. It is situated on the river Naab, 22 km north of Regensburg. Climate Climate in this area has mild differences between highs and lows, and there is adequate rainfal ...

Cham Cham or CHAM may refer to: Ethnicities and languages *Chams, people in Vietnam and Cambodia **Cham language, the language of the Cham people ***Cham script ***Cham (Unicode block), a block of Unicode characters of the Cham script *Cham Albanian ...

Hemau Hemau is a small town in Southern Germany, in the district of Regensburg. The town is situated on the ''Tangrintel'', a ridge which runs between the rivers Altmühl and Schwarze Laber. It lies on the B8 road, north-west of Regensburg, sout ...

* Kastl (from 1810) *

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 ...

* Kötzting *

Laberweinting Laberweinting is a municipality in the district of Straubing-Bogen in Bavaria, Germany. Geography The Große Laaber and the Kleine Laber, the Bayerbach Bayerbach is a municipality in the district of Rottal-Inn in Bavaria in Germany ...

HG (from 1814) * Mitterfels *

Nabburg Nabburg is a municipality in the district of Schwandorf, in Bavaria, Germany. It is situated on the river Naab, 23 km east of Amberg. Town division 28 districts belong to Nabburg.: Climate Climate in this area has mild differences betwee ...

(from 1810) *

Neunburg vorm Wald Neunburg vorm Wald is a municipality in the district of Schwandorf, in Bavaria, Germany. It is situated 21 km east of Schwandorf on the river Schwarzach, a tributary of the Naab. Mayor The mayor is Martin Birner (CSU). He was elected in 2014 ...

(from 1810) *

Parsberg Parsberg is a town in the county of Neumarkt in Bavaria, Germany. It is 23 km southeast of Neumarkt in der Oberpfalz, and 33 km northwest of Regensburg, next to the A3 autobahn, the main route from Nuremberg to Regensburg (and then ...

* Pfaffenberg * Regenstauf (from 1811) *

Riedenburg Riedenburg () is a town in the district of Kelheim, in Bavaria, Germany. It is situated on the river Altmühl, northwest of Kelheim and northeast of Ingolstadt. Prunn Castle ( de) is located in Riedenburg. The town is on the Rhine–Main– ...

(from 1810) * Roding (from 1814) * Stadtamhof * Straubing (until 1810) * Sulzbach (from 1810) *

Viechtach Viechtach is a town in the district of Regen in Bavaria in Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most p ...

Vohenstrauß Vohenstrauß (or ''Vohenstrauss''; ) is a town in Germany, located in the north-eastern part of the Bavarian region Upper Palatinate. The town is situated in the district of Neustadt an der Waldnaab. It is the birthplace of Heribert Illig. Dist ...

(from 1810) *

Waldmünchen Waldmünchen (Central Bavarian: ''Woidminga''), is a town in the district of Cham, in Bavaria, Germany. It is situated near the border with the Czech Republic, 18 km (11 mi) north of Cham, and 18 km (11 mi) southwest of Doma� ...

(from 1810) * Wetterfeld *

Winklarn Winklarn is a market town and municipality in the district of Schwandorf in Bavaria, Germany. In 2006, Winklarn had 1,446 inhabitants. Winklarn lies in the Upper Palatinate. In the North of Winklarn, there is a large forest, the so-called Frauen ...

HG (from 1814) * Wörth (an der Donau) LG (1811-1814, then HG) * Zaitzkofen HG (from 1813)

History

In the years between 1806 and 1808 the Kingdom of Bavaria was divided in 15 (state) districts, whose names were taken from their rivers. The ''Regenkreis'' was initially composed of 13 rural divisions and, since 1809, of the independent city of Straubing. In 1810 it was greatly enlarged to include 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 ...

. Thereafter Regensburg was the headquarters of the District Commissioners-General (''Generalkreiskommissariats''). But the ''Regenkreis'' also gave areas to the ''Unterdonaukreis''. At the request of King

Ludwig I 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 ...

, the Territorial Reorganization (''Gebietsreform'') of 29 November 1837 was made by changing the name of the ''Regenkreis'' to the “''Kreis Oberpfalz und Regensburg''” istrict of the Upper Palatinate and Regensburg now “''Oberpfalz''”.

Literature

* (de) ''Handbuch der bayerischen Ämter, Gemeinden und Gerichte 1799 - 1980'' uide of the Bavarian Districts, Municipalities and Courts 1799 - 1980 written by Richard Bauer, Reinhard Heydenreuter, Gerhard Heyl, Emma Mages, Max Piendl, August Scherl, Bernhard Zittel and edited by Wilhelm Volkert, Senior Professor at the University of Regensburg, Munich, 1983, {{Authority control Kingdom of Bavaria