Regensburg

Regensburg, also called Ratisbon, city, Bavaria Land (state), southeastern Germany. It lies on the right bank of the Danube River along its most northerly course, where it is joined by the Regen River, about 65 miles (105 km) northeast of Munich. Regensburg is an important cultural, industrial, and commercial centre and a road and rail junction with a busy port area on the Danube.

In the area of the old city was a Celtic settlement (Radasbona), which later became the site of a Roman stronghold and legionary camp, Castra Regina (founded ad 179). The Roman north gate (Porta Praetoria) and parts of the walls survive. The capital of the dukes of Bavaria from 530, Regensburg was made a bishopric in 739 and shortly afterward became a capital of the Carolingians. From about 1000 Regensburg was home to a large Jewish population (possibly the first Jewish settlement in Germany), until the Jews were expelled in the 15th century. The only free imperial city in the duchy of Bavaria from 1245, Regensburg was exceedingly prosperous in the 12th and 13th centuries. It was taken by the Swedes and later by imperial troops in the Thirty Years’ War (17th century) and was destroyed by the French in 1809. It passed to Bavaria in 1810.

Despite repeated bombings in World War II, Regensburg sustained little damage, and most of the city’s medieval buildings survived. Its imposing patricians’ houses (12th–14th century) are unique in Germany, and the Steinerne Brücke (Stone Bridge; 1135–46) across the Danube is a medieval constructional marvel that was repaired after the war. The cathedral of St. Peter (1275–1524) is one of the most important Gothic churches in Bavaria, with 14th-century stained-glass windows and two Romanesque chapels in the adjoining cloisters; its Boys’ Choir (Regensburger Domspatzen) is well known. Other notable churches include the Romanesque St. Emmeram’s, parts of which date to the 8th century (interior remodeled in the Baroque style); the Alte Kapelle (Old Chapel), the earliest parts of which date from about 1000, with an elaborate Rococo interior; the 12th-century Romanesque Scottish Church of St. Jakob, founded by Irish monks; the 13th-century Dominican Church; and the Minorite Church (c. 1250–1350), incorporated in the municipal museum. The buildings of St. Emmeram’s Abbey (founded 7th century) have been the palace of the princes of Thurn and Taxis since 1812, and there are remains of the 13th-century Herzogshof, the residence of the Bavarian dukes. The city hall (14th–15th century, with a Baroque extension) contains the Reichssaal (“Imperial Hall”; c. 1350), in which the Imperial Diet was held from 1663 to 1806. Many of these historic buildings are located in Regensburg’s old city section, which was designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2006.

The city is the seat of the University of Regensburg (founded 1962). Regensburg also features museums of shipping and natural history. The astronomer Johannes Kepler died there (1630), and the painter Albrecht Altdorfer (1480–1538) was both a city architect and counselor. Manufactures in the area include electronics and motor vehicles. Regensburg is a tourist base for excursions into the Bavarian Forest. Pop. (2003 est.) 128,604.