City Portrait Regensburg
June 18, 2006
The city of Regensburg, settled on the bank of central Europe's largest river, the Danube, was once a significant center of trade for wares of all kinds. With all the money they earned, the residents of Regensburg built magnificent houses and what was then the biggest stone bridge in the world -- over 300 meters (984 feet) long.
From the bridge, visitors can take in an impressive panorama of the city -- numerous church steeples and facades tinged with ocher and terracotta. The medieval architecture of the aristocratic manors, urban palaces and high towers can't be found in such splendor anywhere else north of the Alps. Regensburg is Germany's only remaining cosmopolitan city from the Middle Ages.
The medieval city center is an inviting place for a stroll, with over 1,400 houses separated by narrow streets, flanked by diverse facades nuanced with earthy tones. Many centuries old, the buildings boast trademarks from every époque -- Gothic tracery and murals, overlapping rows of windows from the Renaissance, Baroque gaudiness, Classical elegance.
Windows to the past
What used to be the dark, oppressive Old Town has been transformed through tasteful renovation into a wonder of urbanity. As a result, one tenth of the city's 150,000 residents live in the Old Town today.
The cathedral, which took 250 years to build, sets a majestic backdrop. It is considered to be one of the most significant examples of Gothic church construction in Germany. And the cathedral's stained glass windows, originals from the Middle Ages, are one of the reasons for its renown.
Subterranean quarters
In the year 179 AD, Emperor Marc Aurel had a military camp built on the Danube for the Roman legions. It was called Castra Regina. In 739, the missionary Bonifatius founded the Diocese Regensburg on the same site. Half a millennium later, in 1245, Regensburg became a free imperial city.
Israeli artist Dani Karavan has created a "walkable" monument on the foundations of the old synagogue on Neupfarr Square. Cubes and pillars imply the essential construction elements of the Jewish holy place at many levels.
Just a few steps beneath Neupfarr Square, in the so-called Document, 2,000 years of the city's history await curious visitors. These are the cellars that remain from what was the Jewish quarter in the Middle Ages. The only evidence of the quarter is subterranean -- the above-ground portion was destroyed in 1519.
Regensburg in 15 languages
In summer 2006, Regensburg was granted a coveted place on UNESCO's World Heritage List. The designation is an inevitable boost to the city's tourist industry and the department of tourism prepared by publishing info-flyers in 15 languages, including Ukrainian, Japanese, Korean, Chinese, Russian and Turkish.