Regensburg (historically known in English as Ratisbon, RAT-is-bon) is a city in eastern Bavaria, at the confluence of the rivers Danube, Naab and Regen, Danube's northernmost point. It is the capital of the Upper Palatinate subregion of the state. With more than 150,000 inhabitants, Regensburg is the fourth-largest city in the State of Bavaria after Munich, Nuremberg and Augsburg and the eighth-largest of all cities on the river Danube. From its foundation as an imperial Roman river fort, the city has been the political, economic, and cultural centre of the surrounding region. Later, under the rule of the Holy Roman Empire, it housed the Perpetual Diet of Regensburg.
The medieval centre of the city was made a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2006 because of its well-preserved architecture, being the biggest medieval city site north of the Alps, and the city's historical importance for assemblies during the Holy Roman Empire. In 2014, Regensburg was among the top sights and travel attractions in Germany.
History
Early history
The first settlements in the Regensburg area date from the Stone Age. The oldest Celtic name given to a settlement near Regensburg was Radasbona, a site where a Roman fort was built around AD 90. In 179, a major new Roman fort, called Castra Regina ("fortress by the river Regen"), was built for Legio III Italica during the reign of Emperor Marcus Aurelius. It was an essential 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 the late Roman period, the city was the seat of a bishop.
From the early 6th century, Regensburg was the seat of the ruling family, the Agilolfings. From about 530 to the first half of the 13th century, it was the capital of Bavaria. The bishopric established by the Romans was re-established by St Boniface as the Bishopric of Regensburg in 739. In the late 8th century, 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 the nontrinitarian adoptionism doctrine 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 the German. Two years later, 14 Bohemian princes came to Regensburg to receive baptism there. This was the starting point of the 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. On 8 December 899, Arnulf of Carinthia, a descendant of Charlemagne, died at Regensburg.
By the High Middle Ages in the year 1000, the population increased to 40,000 from 23,000 inhabitants in 800. In 1096, on the way to the First Crusade, Gottschalk (a local priest) led a mob of crusaders who attempted to force the mass conversion of Jews in Regensburg. They then 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, thereby beginning 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.
Late Middle Ages and early modern period
In 1245, Regensburg became a Free Imperial City and was a trade centre before the shifting of trade routes 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, but its independence was restored by the Holy Roman Emperor ten years later.
In 1519, the medieval Jewish community of Regensburg — one of the largest and most significant in southern Germany — was expelled following the death of Emperor Maximilian I, who had previously protected the city's Jews. Without imperial oversight, the city council and local guilds moved quickly to remove the community, citing economic grievances and long-standing religious hostility. About 500 Jews were forced to leave the city, their property was confiscated, and the centuries-old synagogue and much of the Jewish quarter were demolished. The medieval Jewish cemetery, one of the oldest in the region, was also destroyed; many of its gravestones were removed, broken, or reused in construction around the city. The 1519 expulsion marked the end of Jewish life in Regensburg for several centuries, until Jews were permitted to resettle in the city in the early modern period.
The first Diet of Regensburg took place in 1541. The city 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 Empire's central towns, attracting large numbers of visitors.
A minority of the population remained Roman Catholic, and Roman Catholics were denied civic rights (Bürgerrecht). 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 (Reichstag). So there was the unique situation in which the town of Regensburg comprised five independent "states" (in the Holy Roman Empire): the Protestant city itself, the Roman Catholic bishopric, and the three monasteries. In addition, it was seen as the traditional capital of the region of Bavaria (not the state) and served as a functional co-capital of the Empire (second to the Emperor's court at Vienna) due to the presence of the Perpetual Diet. 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, 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. 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 (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, and he himself was compensated by the award of Fulda and Hanau under the title of "Grand Duke of Frankfurt".
Between 19 and 23 April 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 Jewish community was persecuted after the Nazi Party came to power in Germany in 1933, many Jews fled in the following years, and some were also expelled to Poland; thanks, however, to a Polish-German agreement they were allowed to return to the city. On 9 November 1938, during the Kristallnacht, 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. During World War II, many Jews emigrated to various countries, and in 1942, over 200 Jews were deported either to Piaski in German-occupied Poland or the Theresienstadt Ghetto in German-occupied Czechoslovakia. In the final months of World War II, in March and April 1945, the Regensburg subcamp of the Flossenbürg concentration camp was located in the city, with 460 forced laborers of various nationalities, 40 of whom died.
Regensburg was home to both a Messerschmitt Bf 109 aircraft factory and an oil refinery, which were bombed by the Allies on 17 August 1943, in the Schweinfurt-Regensburg mission, and on 5 February 1945, during the Oil Campaign of World War II. Although both targets were severely damaged, Regensburg itself suffered minor 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 the Romanesque church of Obermünster, which was destroyed in a March 1945 air raid and 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 and 1,000 non-Ukrainian refugees and displaced persons. With the approval of the 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 11 December 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 establish a presence in Regensburg, a significant step in the city's post-World War II development. In 1965, Regensburg University was founded; Regensburg University of Applied Sciences 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 high-tech companies have been based in Regensburg, including 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 as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in July 2006.
Geography
Topography
Regensburg is situated on the northernmost part of the river Danube at the geological crossroads of four distinct landscapes:
Climate
Regensburg straddles the humid continental (Dfb) and oceanic (Cfb) climate zones under the Köppen climate classification. While the average temperature of 8.5 °C (47.3 °F) during the period from 1971 to 2000 is slightly above the German average (7.8 °C or 46.0 °F), only 5 of the 80 cities in Germany with more than 100,000 inhabitants are colder. The average precipitation of 636 millimetres (25.0 inches) per year ranges slightly below the German average (approximately 700 millimetres or 28 inches). For the more recent period from 1981 to 2010, the average temperature and precipitation rose to 8.9 °C (48.0 °F) and 658 millimetres (25.9 inches), respectively. Although this increase in average temperature is evident in other cities as well, Regensburg still ranks fifth (shared with Ingolstadt and Kiel) in the ranking above. 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. On average, the coolest month of the year 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: