Regensburg
Historic and commercial city in Bavaria, Germany, on the River Danube at its confluence with the Regen, 100 km/63 mi northeast of Munich; population (2005 est) 129,900. It has mechanical and electrical engineering, pharmaceutical, and food-processing industries. It has many medieval buildings, including a Gothic cathedral (1275–1530), and is a ‘living museum’ of German culture and architecture from the early Middle Ages.
History
Regensburg stands on the site of a Celtic settlement dating from 500
BC. It became the Roman
Castra Regina AD 179, the capital of the Eastern Frankish Empire, a free imperial city in 1245, and seat of the German
Diet (parliament) 16th century–1806. It was included in Bavaria in 1810.
Features The Gothic cathedral contains beautiful stained glass. The Gothic Rathaus was formerly the meeting-place of the Reichstag. The palace of the Princes of Thurn and Taxis was formerly an abbey; its chapel is partly 8th century. The Danube here is spanned by a 12th-century bridge. There are numerous medieval churches, and 13th–14th-century tower houses, which are found nowhere else north of the Alps. There is an early music festival held in May. |
