Day 10 of 18: Regensburg, Germany

Day 10 (Wednesday, July 26) was a full day in Regensburg. I went for a run along the Danube in the morning and this afternoon we took a city tour, departing just 5 minutes before yet another downpour with high winds. This time we were equipped with heavy-duty Viking umbrellas. Many of our fellow passengers gave up on the tour after a few minutes, but our tour guide Sophie found ways to provide us with a bit of shelter along the way. Eventually the rain stopped and the sun came out.

Tour guide Sophie, clutching her umbrella blown inside-out, while describing Roman ruins across the street that form the current building's foundation 

Regensburg is one of Germany’s best-preserved city centers, untouched by World War II bombing and rich in architectural splendor. Located on the northernmost point of the Danube, Regensburg is one of Germany’s oldest cities, with Celtic settlements in the area dating from the Stone Age, and a major Roman river fort established in 179 AD. From about 530 to the first half of the 13th century, it was the capital of Bavaria. From 1663 to 1806, the city was one of the central towns of the Holy Roman Empire. In 1810, Regensburg was ceded to the Kingdom of Bavaria, something that still seems to bother the locals.

Taking shelter under a medieval archway while Sophie narrates our tour in the rain

13th century city wall from medieval Regensburg

The 12th-century Old Stone Bridge is a 16-arch marvel of medieval engineering that still carries traffic today. The famous St. Charles Bridge in Prague was patterned after Regensburg's Old Stone Bridge. 

Regensburg Old Stone Bridge

Old Stone Bridge south tower. Salzstadel (salt stores) were built adjacent to the tower in the 16th and 17th centuries

Old Stone Bridge, upstream side

Pedestrian, bicycle and automobile entrance to the Old Stone Bridge from the south

The famous Alte Wurstküche (Old Sausage Kitchen) is adjacent to the Old Stone Bridge. It is Germany’s oldest restaurant, dating to the 15th centiry, and claims to be the first fast food restaurant in the world. Although not crowded when we passed during the rain, two hours later is was packed with both locals and tourists grabbing a grilled sausage while on the go. They sell an average of 6,000 grilled sausages per day.

600 year-old Wurstküche (Old Sausage Kitchen)

Regensburg includes the largest medieval old town north of the Alps with nearly 1,500 listed buildings and a well-maintained cityscape. Highlights of the old city include the Altes Rathaus (Old Town Hall) and St. Peter's Cathedral. The Old Town Hall dates in part from the 14th century, and contains rooms occupied by representatives of the Roman Empire from 1663 to 1806. The Cathedral is regarded as the best example of German Gothic architecture in Bavaria. It was founded in 1275 and completed in 1634, with the exception of the towers, which were finished in 1869. 

Old Town Hall clock tower, 180' tall

Regensburg Old Town Hall

Current city administration is located in part of this building next to the clock tower, with painted corners intended to look like 3D stone

Entrance to Old Town Hall, with ornamentation depicting Strength and Protection of the City

We chose a tour that also covered Regensburg’s Jewish heritage. Anti-semetic hatred and violence dates back long before the Nazi regime of  WWII. The history of a Jewish community in Regensburg dates to the 10th century, making it the oldest Jewish community in Bavaria. The Jewish community enjoyed periods of mostly peaceful coexistence through the 15th century, interspersed with anti-Semetic Christian preachings and violence in the old Jewish quarter. During the early 16th century, the commuity was subjected to lies, anti-Semitic clichés and conspiracy theories, blaming tough economic times on the Jewish community. They came under attack and Jewish residents were completely driven out of Regensburg, with their synagogue destroyed in 1518. The Jewish cemetary was desecrated and tombstones were sometimes used as "trophies," mounted in public places. 

Gravestone of a 15th century Jewish woman was mounted on an old city building, not to honor her but to celebrate the destruction of the Jewish cemetary. It remains there today as a reminder.

Fifty Jewish families moved back to Regensburg in the 19th century and a new synagogue was in 1918 built along with a community center. The community grew, but again came under attack, this time on Crystal Night (kristallnacht), November 9-10, 1938. The synagogue was destroyed, as were Jewish businesses and residences. Several memorials have been erected by the City of Regensburg, for concentration camp inmates, prisoners of war and victims of the Holocaust. In 2005, a prominent memorial monument to the Jewish community was created by Dani Karavan, an Isreali sculptor, depicting the foundation of the original Regensburg synagogue, which was erected in 1210 to 1227 and destroyed in 1519. 

Memorial moument to the Jewish community, on the site of the 1227-1519 synagogue

View of the Jewish memorial monument from the other side, showing its prominent location in the old city center  

Oscar and Emilie Schindler (Schindler's List) initially lived in Regensburg following WWII. Outside their former residence is a memorial plaque noting their efforts to save the lives of 1,200 Jews during the Holocaust by employing them in his factories. 

Memorial plaque to Emilie and Oscar Schindler

Former Regensburg residence of Emilie and Oscar Schindler

The Stolpersteine ("Stumbling Stone") project, initiated by German artist Gunter Demnig in 1992, aims to commemorate individuals at exactly their last place of residency before they fell victim to Nazi terror. These Stumbling Stones, small brass plaques in the pavement, mostly commemorate Jewish residents who died in the Holocaust. We have seen these Stumbling Stones is many cities during our tour. There are more than 100 stumbling stones in Regensburg, and over 100,000 throughout Europe as of May, 2023.

Stumbling Stone for Johann Eibl, executed while fleeing Gestapo interrogation

Stumbling Stone for Suse & Nathan Gabriel Kahn, murdered in Auschwitz

Finally, we visited the new Synagogue in Regensburg. Opened in 2019, it was built on the site of the early 20th century synagogue that was destroyed in 1938 during Nazi Germany's November nights of terror. Today, there are over 1,000 members of Jewish community living in Regensburg. 

2019 New Regensburg Synagogue

Memorial plaque recognizing the destruction of the former synagogue in 1938 

Exterior foyer of the new Regensburg Synagogue

Regensburg Synagogue 1918-1938

It was encouraging to note that tour guides throughout our journey have been open and transparent in discussing Jewish history, WWII history and the Holocaust. They told us that school children study these topics extensively and are required to visit a concentration camp. They are also well aware of increasingly strong anti-Semitism in Europe and throughout the world. It seems that Europeans are generally more alarmed by this than Americans and are more willing to confront the problem before it escalates further.

On a lighter note, our guide pointed out that while Germans are generally known for following rules, that's not always the case. Here is a medieval couryard in Regensburg with a sign saying that bicycle parking is forbiden:

Abstellen von Fahrradern verboten!

Tonight we cruise back down the Danube to Passau, the convergence point for the Danube, Inn and Ilz rivers.