Regensburg

Travel times from Wiesbaden:
Train – 4 hours
Car – 3 hours

When you arrive in Regensburg, you will be welcomed with legendary Bavarian hospitality into the best-preserved medieval city in Germany, where two thousand years of history remain alive today.

Regensburg was originally established around 500 B.C. as Radasbona, a Celtic settlement. But in 179 A.D., the Romans established a garrison there to guard the Empire’s frontier at the Danube’s northernmost point. The Romans named their camp Castra Regina for the Regen River on which it lay. Emperor Marcus Aurelius had the northern gate of the camp, the Porta Praetoria, built in the second century A.D. This onetime watchtower stands guard to this day.

Like other Roman camps, Castra Regina was laid out in a rectangular shape with two main crossing streets. Viewing a map, visitors can easily discern the outline of the ancient city. On foot, they can still walk the perimeter of original Roman garrison and in places see the remains of its walls. The present-day Bachgasse winds over the former streambed that paralleled the garrison wall. Visit the Historisches Museum der Stadt (Municipal History Museum) for an excellent exhibit on Roman times.

The city went on to flourish in medieval times, and her buildings from this period are remarkably well-preserved. Many grandiose patrician houses remain with Italian-style towers reaching to the heavens and embellishing the impressive city skyline. The buildings, towers and churches offer an unspoiled peek into the past. You need not be a student of history to get a strong sense of what life was like in the days of old in Regensburg.

Visit the Neupfarrplatz for a glimpse into the ancient and medieval city. This square was once the site of Roman officers’ homes. In the early Middle Ages, it became Regensburg’s Jewish quarter, later razed during economic hardships in 1519. Recent construction work uncovered the foundations of the former Jewish quarter built over Roman ruins. The main road of Castra Regina, the via principalis, ran through the present-day square. Descend into the excavations via stairs adjacent to the Neupfarrkirche to see cellars, walls, wells, steps and roads and gain a better insight into the lives of the ancient Romans and the medieval Jews of Regensburg.

Around lunchtime, be sure to stroll toward the Steinerne Brücke (Stone Bridge), an architectural achievement as impressive today as when it was built in the early 12th century. Nine centuries ago, workers constructing the bridge received their meals at a riverside kitchen. That same kitchen – the Historische Wurstküche (Historic Sausage Kitchen) – serves several thousand Regensburger Bratwurst each day to locals and visitors. On a sunny day, guests sit elbow-to-elbow on slat benches and devour platefuls of the little sausages, sauerkraut and sweet mustard.

One of the most important historic buildings in Germany sits in the heart of the medieval city – the Altes Rathaus (Old Town Hall). This complex of buildings and courtyards includes one of the last original torture chambers in Europe and the Imperial Hall, where the Perpetual Diet—in many ways Germany’s first parliament—met for nearly 150 years.