Romantic Danube: Regensburg, Germany

Romantic Danube: Overview
Romantic Danube: Flying United from Chicago to Brussels
Romantic Danube: Brussels and continuing to Prague
Romantic Danube: Marriott Courtyard Prague
Romantic Danube: Exploring Prague
Romantic Danube: Boscolo, Autograph Collection
Romantic Danube: Prague to Erlangen
Romantic Danube: Viking Longships
Romantic Danube: Nuremberg, Germany
Romantic Danube: Weltenberg Abbey and the Danube Narrows
Romantic Danube: Regensburg, Germany

Once our tour of the Danube Narrows and Weltenberg Abbey were complete, we returned to the Njord for lunch.  That tour was optional (read: extra $$$) so many guests did not choose to go along.  Instead they took the Regensburg city tour in the morning and had the afternoon free.  But for those of us who did take the optional morning tour, our city tour was in the afternoon.

I found it interesting that the locals pronounce the last syllable of the city name as "bourg" - which seems more French to me - rather than "burg" - which I would associate more with Germany.  No matter, we once again boarded the motor coaches which took us for the short drive to meet our guides.

Our tour was of the medieval city center, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and our guide was Hubert.  It was difficult to forget his name because he had a hat with his name on it.  He had a delightful personality and was a member of a local men's choir.  Every now and then he'd burst into song about something related to whatever we were viewing at the time.

The Old Stone Bridge

Our tour began along the river near the Stone Bridge.  Charlemagne, who reigned in the late 8th and early 9th century, had built a bridge in this location but by the 12th century there was more traffic than that bridge could handle and so this "new" one was built.  It took 11 years to complete and was opened in 1146.  The knights of the Second and Third Crusades used it to cross the river.  For some 800 years it was the only bridge across the Danube anywhere in the area.  But it held up so well it was used as a model for other European bridges, including the Charles Bridge we saw in Prague.

During the bridge's construction, the workers needed somewhere to eat and so a kitchen was constructed.  Once the bridge was complete, the building became a restaurant and now houses the Regensburg Sausage Kitchen.  It is believed to be the oldest continually-operating public restaurant in the world.

Historische Wurstküche zu Regensburg

Next door to the Sausage Kitchen is the Visitor's Center, housed in a building that was once a salt warehouse.

Then: salt warehouse - Now: Visitors' Center

Regensburg has some interesting architecture and I especially liked all the different colors of the buildings.

Entrance to the Guild Hall

One well-known landmark of the area is the Goliathhaus, which was the largest castle within the old city walls.  Gollas was the guardian angel of theology students, called Gollards, and it is believed that this was the location for their living quarters.  When the castle was built on this site in 1260, it's believed the name morphed into Goliath.  The painting was not added until 1573.

Goliathhaus

It seems that no matter how large or small the European city, there's at least one majestic cathedral or church.  In Regensburg it's St. Peter's, a massive example of Gothic architecture that took over 250 years to complete principle construction in 1538.  However updates and renovations continued until 1871 and, as you can see, it's still getting freshend up even today.

St. Peter's Cathedral

Our group had chosen to take the city tour that included some extra stops pertaining to Jews and their mistreatment over the years.  Since at least the late 10th century Jews have been in Regensburg and it has the oldest Jewish ghetto referenced in historical sources.  As kings and emperors changed over the years, so did the fortunes of the Jews.  In 1096, during the First Crusade, they were persecuted but by 1182 were allowed to worship as they pleased.

But in the mid-1400s, regular persecution began anew though the Emperor Maximilian shielded them until his death in 1519.  After that, major destruction began as their synagogue and cemetery were destroyed and over 4000 gravestones were demolished or used as construction material for new buildings, including churches.  Eventually a new synagogue was built in 1841 but it was destroyed in WW II during Kristallnact.

Hubert pointed out this section of a building that contains a former gravestone.  The Hebrew writing is still visible.

In certain sections of town, brass markers are embedded in the cobblestones.  Each marker honors a persecuted Jew.  This marker memorializes a man who was imprisoned and interrogated by the Gestapo before his death in 1942.

Another plaque on the wall denotes a home where Oskar Schindler lived for awhile after World War II, though he did not prosper here.  Until doing a little research I had not realized how much of his personal fortune he spent on bribes and purchasing black-market supplies as he tried to rescue Jews during the war.  At one point he was even reduced to accepting assistance from various Jewish organizations but he did not prosper.  He eventually moved to Argentina but could not make a go of things there either and returned to Europe before his death in 1974.

Ludwig I was the king of Bavaria from 1825 until the revolutions began in some of the German states in 1848.  He was a great patron of the arts and apparently quite the ladies' man.   Catholic conservatives eventually brought about his abdication when they protested his affair with a dancer/actress and students used the same protests to bring about constitutional reform.  His son Maximilian II took his place and was much better at the "business of government" than his father.

King Ludwig I

Our tour complete, we had a short time to stroll the area and do a little shopping before returning to our motor coaches and the Njord for the evening.