Regensburg


Regensburg is a city in south-east Germany, at the confluence of the Danube, Naab and Regen rivers. With more than 150,000 inhabitants, Regensburg is the fourth-largest city in the State of Bavaria after Munich, Nuremberg and Augsburg. The city is the political, economic and cultural centre and capital of the Upper Palatinate.
The medieval centre of the city is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. In 2014, Regensburg was among the top sights and travel attractions in Germany.

History

Early history

The first settlements in Regensburg date from the Stone Age. The Celtic name Radasbona was the oldest given to a settlement near the present city. Around AD 90, the Romans built a fort there.
In 179, a new Roman fort, called Castra Regina, was built for Legio III Italica during the reign of Emperor Marcus Aurelius. It was an important camp at the most northerly point of the Danube; it corresponds to what is today the core of Regensburg's Old City or Altstadt east of the Obere and Untere Bachgasse and west of the Schwanenplatz. It is believed that as early as in late Roman times the city was the seat of a bishop, and St Boniface re-established the Bishopric of Regensburg in 739.
From the early 6th century, Regensburg was the seat of a ruling family known as the Agilolfings. From about 530 to the first half of the 13th century, it was the capital of Bavaria. Regensburg remained an important city during the reign of Charlemagne. In 792, Regensburg hosted the ecclesiastical section of Charlemagne's General Assembly, the bishops in council who condemned the heresy of adoptionism taught by their Spanish counterparts, Elipandus of Toledo and Felix of Urgell. After the partition of the Carolingian Empire in 843, the city became the seat of the Eastern Frankish ruler, Louis II the German. Two years later, fourteen Bohemian princes came to Regensburg to receive baptism there. This was the starting point of Christianization of the Czechs, and the diocese of Regensburg became the mother diocese of that of Prague. These events had a wide impact on the cultural history of the Czech lands, as they were consequently part of the Roman Catholic and not the Slavic-Orthodox world. A memorial plate at St John's Church was unveiled a few years ago, commemorating the incident in the Czech and German languages.
In 800 the city had 23,000 inhabitants, and by 1000 this had increased to 40,000.
On 8 December 899 Arnulf of Carinthia, descendant of Charlemagne, died at Regensburg.
In 1096, on the way to the First Crusade, Peter the Hermit led a mob of crusaders that attempted to force the mass conversion of the Jews of Regensburg and killed all those who resisted.
Between 1135 and 1146, the Stone Bridge across the Danube was built at Regensburg. This bridge opened major international trade routes between northern Europe and Venice, and this began Regensburg's golden age as a residence of wealthy trading families. Regensburg became the cultural centre of southern Germany and was celebrated for its gold work and fabrics.

Middle Ages

In 1245 Regensburg became a Free Imperial City and was a trade centre before the shifting of trade routes in the late Middle Ages. In 1486, Regensburg became part of the Duchy of Bavaria, but its independence was restored by the Holy Roman Emperor ten years later. In the city took place the Diet of 1541, was adopted the Protestant Reformation in 1542 and its Town Council remained entirely Lutheran. From 1663 to 1806, the city was the permanent seat of the Imperial Diet of the Holy Roman Empire, which became known as the Perpetual Diet of Regensburg. Thus, Regensburg was one of the central towns of the Empire, attracting visitors in large numbers.
A minority of the population remained Roman Catholic, 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 abbeys. Three of these, St. Emmeram, Niedermünster and Obermünster, were free imperial estates within the Holy Roman Empire, meaning that they were granted a seat and a vote at the Imperial Diet. So there was the unique situation that the town of Regensburg comprised five independent "states" : the Protestant city itself, the Roman Catholic bishopric, and the three monasteries. In addition, it was seen as the traditional capital of the region Bavaria, acted as functional co-capital of the Empire 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.

Modern history

In 1803 the city lost its status as an imperial city following its incorporation into the Principality of Regensburg. It was handed over to the Archbishop-Elector of Mainz and Archchancellor of the Holy Roman Empire Carl von Dalberg in compensation for the territory of the Electorate of Mainz located on the left bank of the Rhine which had been annexed by France under the terms of the Treaty of Lunéville in 1801. The Archbishopric of Mainz was formally transferred to Regensburg. Dalberg united the bishopric, the monasteries, and the town itself, making up the Principality of Regensburg. 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, he himself being compensated by the award of Fulda and Hanau to him under the title of "Grand Duke of Frankfurt".
Between April 19 and April 23, 1809, Regensburg was the scene of the Battle of Ratisbon between forces commanded by Henri Gatien Bertrand and Napoleon himself and the retreating Austrian forces. The city was eventually overrun, after supplies and ammunition ran out. The city suffered severe damage during the fight, with about 150 houses being burnt and others being looted. Robert Browning's poem "Incident at the French Camp" describes the battle from the French perspective, but is filled with historical errors.

Nazism and World War II

The Regensburg Synagogue was destroyed on November 9, 1938, during Kristallnacht.
Regensburg was home to both a Messerschmitt Bf 109 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. 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. 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 camp in Germany. At its peak in 1946–1947, the workers' district of Ganghofersiedlung housed almost 5,000 Ukrainian and 1,000 non-Ukrainian refugees and displaced persons. With the approval of 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 to attract industry. Siemens was the first multinational company to come to Regensburg, a milestone in the city's development after World War II. In 1965, Regensburg University was founded; Regensburg University of Applied Sciences was established in 1971. The second multinational company, BMW, came in 1986 to build up a large production plant. Since the 1990s, several well-known hightech companies have been located in Regensburg, such as Infineon and OSRAM, contributing to the city's current wealth.
In 1997, Regensburg was awarded the Europe Prize for its outstanding achievements in European integration.
The World Heritage Committee listed Regensburg's Old Town a UNESCO World Heritage Site in July 2006. It is the largest medieval old town 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 landscapes:
Regensburg straddles the humid continental and oceanic climate zones under the Köppen climate classification. While the average temperature of in the period from 1971–2000 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. For the newer period from 1981–2010 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 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 and a picturesque cityscape. Its most famous sights are located mainly in the Old Town, such as:

Surroundings

Near Regensburg there are two very imposing Classical buildings, erected by Ludwig I of Bavaria as national monuments to German patriotism and greatness:
Besides, there is the famous Weltenburg Abbey, a Benedictine monastery in Weltenburg near Kelheim on the Danube. The abbey is situated on a peninsula in the Danube, on the so-called "Weltenburg Narrows" or "Danube Gorge". The monastery, founded by Irish or Scottish monks in about 620, is held to be the oldest monastery in Bavaria.
To the east of Regensburg lies the Bavarian Forest with its National Park, one of the most visited protected areas in Germany.
Regensburg is on the designated heritage route, the Route of Emperors and Kings.

Culture

Museums and exhibitions

Altogether Regensburg is home to 20 museums. Among the most prominent museums are for instance the Regensburg Museum of History which shows history, culture and arts of Regensburg and Eastern Bavaria from the Stone Age to the present. Then there is the Imperial diet museum in the Old Town Hall describing the life during the Holy Roman Empire. Its main attractions are an original torture chamber and the Reichssaal, the rooms occupied by the Imperial diet from 1663 to 1806. The Kepler Memorial House illustrates the life of the famous astronomer and mathematician Johannes Kepler. The Municipal Art Gallery Leerer Beutel offers art collections, film events and cultural festivals. Over the last years, the city added several outdoor museums to its cultural landscape, the so-called document sites. These give an overview on specific topics such as Roman, Jewish and Bavarian history.
Besides, there are the diocese museums of Regensburg and a branch of the Bavarian National Museum located in the St. Emmeram's Abbey, which contains the Princely Treasure Chamber of the family Thurn and Taxis. The Domschatzmuseum where church treasures, monstrances and tapestries are displayed is in St. Peter's Cathedral. Other museums are the Kunstforum Ostdeutsche Galerie, the Naturkundemuseum Ostbayern, the reptile zoo, the Regensburg Museum of Danube Shipping, the Public Observatory Regensburg as well as the watch museum, the golf museum, the post museum and the Dinoraeum. To celebrate its centenary, the State of Bavaria will open the museum of Bavarian history in Regensburg in May 2018. Besides, there are guided tours in most of the historical monuments of Regensburg, as well as organized tourist tours through the city available in several languages.

Theaters

The Regensburg Theater at the Bismarckplatz is 200 years old and is the most important theater of the city. Operas, operettas, musicals and ballets are shown. In summer, open-air performances are carried out as well. With the theater at the Bismarckplatz as the oldest and largest one, the Regensburg theater has four other stages with programmes that complement each other: in the Neuhaussaal of the theater at the Bismarckplatz, concerts by the Philharmonic Orchestra Regensburg take place. The Velodrom Theater presents musicals and plays. In the Haidplatz Theater mainly literary and modern plays are performed, whereas the Turmtheater at the Goliathplatz shows modern plays as well, but also cabarets, musicals and plays for children.

Music

Regensburg is home to the famous Regensburger Domspatzen. The Regensburger Schlossfestspiele has been held in the inner courtyard of the St. Emmeram's Abbey every July from 2003, sponsored by the former princely house of Thurn und Taxis. Meanwhile, those were attracting musicians like Elton John, David Garrett, Tom Jones, or Plácido Domingo. Modern music styles, especially jazz, are presented every summer during the Bavarian Jazz weekend during which over a hundred bands, combos, and soloists perform in the Old Town. In 2015, the House of Music was opened, giving a home to skilled musicians and their education.

Film and cinema

The international short film season is hosted annually in Regensburg. It is a non-profit event and takes place every March, being one of the most important of its type in Germany. Aside, there are several cinemas, such as CinemaxX, the largest one showing blockbusters and arthouse films, and smaller independent cinemas such as Garbo, Ostentor Kino and Regina Filmtheater. Regensburg has two open air cinemas as well.

Dialect

Although the German language is of course Germany's official language, Regensburg is considered a part of the Bavarian dialect language area which encompasses much of Bavaria, Austria, and the South Tyrolean region of northern Italy. More specifically, the dialect attributed to Regensburg is called Central Bavarian. A 2019 report estimates that about half of Bavaria's 12 million inhabitants speak a variation of the Bavarian dialect.
Regarding the dialect, Regensburg has a rich history and culture. The oldest dictionary in the world based on a dialect is thought to be Johann Ludwig Prasch's Glossarium Bavaricum. Published in Regensburg in 1689, it contains 500 words from the Bavarian variation spoken in Regensburg. Regensburg's Bauerntheater, a type of farmers' or folk theater, has staged plays delivered in Bavarian for over 90 years. Moreover, premiering in 2011, Joseph Berlinger's play "Mei Fähr Lady," a story about three "students" taking a crash course in Bavarian dialect, has been performed at Regensburg's Turmtheater over 300 times. In fact, the role of the dialect professor is played by Ludwig Zehetner, professor emeritus in Bavarian dialectology at University of Regensburg. Manfred Rohm, whose pen name Sepp Grantelhauer takes on the Bavarian verb granteln for "to complain," writes a weekly satirical column solely in Bavarian for the Regensburger Rundschau.

Buildings

The Old Town of Regensburg with nearly 1,500 listed buildings offers a huge cultural diversity from Roman to modern times.

Recreation

The Old Town of Regensburg is surrounded completely by a green belt. Numerous inner-city parks like the City Park, the Herzogspark, the Dörnbergpark, the Villapark or the university's botanical garden are a source for recreation and leisure.

Memorial sites

The city of Regensburg has erected several memorials to combat racism, intolerance towards minorities, and all other forms of contempt for human dignity:
Particular to Regensburg are the so-called Stolpersteine in honor of Jews deported during Nazism.

Events

Twice a year the Regensburg Dult takes place. This is the city's Volksfest, which is Bavaria's fourth largest. The Bürgerfest 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 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 due to its young population.

Demographics

Population

In May 2017, Regensburg had 164,896 inhabitants, 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 ethnically cleansed from eastern parts of the Third Reich, especially from the Sudetenland. 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 Turkey and Central and Eastern Europe:

NationPopulation
2,660
1,970
1,605
1,535
1,480
Total:30,535

Religion

A majority of Regensburg's population is Roman Catholic. In 2017, about 51.4% of the city's inhabitants identified with the Roman Catholic Church, 13.1% were registered Protestants and about 35.5% identified with other religions or did not have any registered religious affiliation.

Politics

Government

The mayor and the City Council 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 Bavaria of 2014 delivered the following results:
Partyvoteschangeseatschangecooperation
Social Democratic Party33,7%+12,217+6X
Christian Social Union32,8%–7,116–4
The Greens10,5%-0,15-X
Free Voters6,9%-0,23-1X
Ecological Democratic Party6,4%-0,5 3-
The Left3,1%-1,52-
Free Democratic Party3,0%-2,42-1X
Pirate Party2,3%+2,31+1X
Christian Social Federation1,5%-2,31-1

After 18 years of a City Council with conservative majority, the social-democratic candidate, Joachim Wolbergs, became mayor of Regensburg in May 2014. He was succeeded by Gertrud Maltz-Schwarzfischer in May 2020, who is also a social-democratic politician.

Boroughs

Regensburg is subdivided into 18 boroughs : 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, which can have historic roots in older municipalities that became urbanized and incorporated into the city.

Twin towns – sister cities

Regensburg is twinned with:

  • Plzeň, Plzeň Region, Czech Republic, since 1993
  • Odessa, Odessa Oblast, Ukraine, since 1980
  • Qingdao, Shandong, China, since 2009
  • Budavar, Hungary, since May 2005

    • Economy

    Regensburg's economy counts among the most dynamic and fastest growing in Germany. Focus is on manufacturing industries, such as automotive, industrial and electrical engineering.

    Companies

    There are several multinational corporations located in Regensburg, such as BMW, Continental, E.ON, General Electric, Infineon, Osram, Schneider Electric, Siemens, Telekom and Toshiba as well as hidden champions.
    BMW operates an automobile production plant in Regensburg; the Regensburg BMW plant produces 3 Series, 1 Series and Z4 vehicles. Continental AG, with the headquarters of its car component business, Osram Opto-Semiconductors and Siemens as well as Infineon, the former Siemens semiconductor branch, provide a high level of innovation and technical development in Regensburg. Other well known international companies, such as AREVA, Schneider Electric and Toshiba, have built plants in or near Regensburg. GE Aviation founded a greenfield site to innovate, develop and produce turbinemachinery components with a new manufacturing casting technology. Amazon.com located its first German customer service centre in Regensburg. The hidden champions Maschinenfabrik Reinhausen and Krones both are headquartered in or close to Regensburg and are among the major employers.
    Aside from the industrial sector, tourism contributes a lot to Regensburg's economical growth, especially since 2006, when the city gained status as UNESCO World Heritage site. The University of Regensburg, the Regensburg University of Applied Sciences and mercantile trade also play major roles in Regensburg's economy. Increasingly, biotech 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, with the city running a start-up centre for IT firms. One of these former start-ups, CipSoft GmbH, 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

    is connected to lines to Munich, Nuremberg, Passau, Weiden and Hof and Ingolstadt and Ulm. The city lies also on two motorways, the A3 from Cologne and Frankfurt to Vienna, and the A93 from Holledau to Hof.
    The local transport is provided by a bus network run by the .

    Energy

    Regensburg's energy is mainly supplied by the German company E.ON, one of the world's largest electric utility service providers. Its subsidiary Bayernwerk runs the local hydropower station in the Danube River. In 2012, about 9.1% of the total electricity consumption was generated by 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 hosts one of the most modern university hospitals in Europe, the Universitätsklinikum Regensburg. Aside, there are several other renowned hospitals such as the Krankenhaus Barmherzige Brüder and the St. Josef-Krankenhaus. In the Bezirksklinikum, mental diseases are treated. With 19.4 hospital beds per 1000 residents, Regensburg owns the fourth highest density of beds per residents in Germany. Concerning medical doctors per residents, Regensburg obtains the third place in Germany.
    The city's BioPark, representing Bavaria's second largest biotech cluster, hosts numerous research institutions and biotech companies.

    Education

    Universities and academia

    Regensburg is known for its institutions of higher education. The biggest of those is the University of Regensburg. Founded in 1962, it is one of Germany's youngest institutions and ranked among the Top 400 universities worldwide. Among the prominent thinkers associated with the institution are Pope Benedict XVI, Udo Steiner and Wolfgang Wiegard. The campus is situated in one area together with the Regensburg University of Applied Sciences.
    Since 1874 there has been a College of Catholic Music, 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 situated in the city of Regensburg. Among them are the Leibniz-Institute for East and Southeast European Studies, the Regensburg Centre for Interventional Immunology, the Fraunhofer Institute for Toxicology and Experimental Medicine and the BioPark, the Bavarian biotech cluster.

    Schools

    Regensburg is home to 18 elementary schools. There are several institutions of secondary education, both public and private, representing all levels of the German school system. There are eight Gymnasien in Regensburg, five Realschulen, six Hauptschulen and four vocational schools. In addition, there are several folk high schools with different specialisations. Moreover, the SIS Swiss International School offers families an international educational infrastructure. Founded in 2002, the Sportinternat Regensburg was Europe's first baseball boarding school.

    Sports

    Football

    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, 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 club, currently playing in the Oberliga Süd, Germany's third highest professional league.

    Baseball

    is the baseball and softball 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 and is one of the most famous and most successful baseball clubs in Germany. Several players now in the MLB 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.

    Athletics

    The local athletics club, LG TELIS FINANZ Regensburg, offers a wide range of different competitions and is counted among the most successful clubs in Germany.

    Notable residents